Derek Wishert: Category Manager in San Diego, California

* Lead the function providing procurement expertise to relevant stakeholders in the company, in a collaborative manner. * Coordinate with research, CMC and clinical teams to ensure accuracy and competitive pricing of purchased items and their specifications, determine alternate equivalent items when necessary. * Oversee and manage full life cycle of vendor relationships including RFPs, selection, onboarding, negotiation, pricing, specifications, prioritization, timing, shipping, discrepancies, etc. * Coordinates and follows up with internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate procurement, scheduling, and movement of materials and services. * Lead the creation, negotiation, and finalization of contractual documents (MSAs, Work Orders, Change Orders) for various departments in a timely manner.Perform risk management for supply contracts and agreements. * Drive best value including cost, quality, timing, and delivery for purchased goods and services meeting the business needs.

* Plan and procure materials and services to support build plans, forecasts, and changing demand. * Maintain and promote strong relationships with suppliers and any other internal customers. * Actively participate in efforts to drive down material costs. * Coordinates and follows up with internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate procurement, scheduling, and movement of materials and services. * Partner with Finance and Accounting teams to ensure purchase requisites are progressing through approvals and that purchase orders are updated in P2P / ERP system. * Perform risk management for supply contracts and agreements. * Control spend and build a culture of long-term saving on procurement costs.

* Provides regular updates to the executive team on supplier, CMO, and production risks and works with executive team to reduce those risks * Own vendor and contract manufacturer relationships and drive forecasting, planning, ordering, and improvements in cost and efficiency. * Develop strategy for strategic sourcing key components * Develop and maintain process for maintaining safety stocks of critical components and optimal inventory levels * Improve processes for customer ordering and execute on incoming orders * Work with operations manager on internal production planning on a weekly basis to ensure sufficient quantity of finished goods * Responsible for internal and external forecasting of both raw and finished goods

* Plan, schedule, and manage the materials for delivering time-critical components to support assigned projects * Create Purchase Orders; maintain accurate open PO lines to define inbound quantities and due dates from vendors * Identify potential supply risks and inventory exposures by aligning supply chain processes with product development project plan milestones * Collect and analyze data needed to enable successful New Product Introduction (NPI) * Identify critical path to come up with risk mitigation/contingency strategies for potential schedule slips/material shortages

* Ensure all raw materials are ordered and delivered in accordance with planned production schedules to minimize any disruptions to the supply chain. * Manage monthly physical inventory and valuation process and seek on-going improvements to process * Manage all Operations associated Purchase Orders which includes managing the cash-flow forecast impact of open Purchase Orders * Ensure Bill of Materials is updated on a monthly basis by day 5 of every month. Provide commentary on trends, fluctuations on the bill of materials. Include Bill of Materials forecast as well. * Provide on-going Operations financial/metric reporting to management with recommendations on any cost reduction opportunities

* Support the pursuit of quality, cost, delivery and service performance objectives enabling bottom line performance and strategic leverage across the designated region. * Effectively manage and improve the supplier portfolio, developing relationships to ensure best practice, value and performance. * Identify performance indicators and analyze, seek opportunities for delivery and service improvement, and plan and execute improvement actions. * Manage resources and ensure physical delivery of material product or purchased services within timeframe and cost required. * Manage procurement activities such as goods in, control of all inventories, shipping/receiving, material movement and purchasing. * Manage procurement process in relation to vendor qualification process, price negotiation, terms and conditions reviews, purchase order generation, transmittal and tracking.

* Coordinating, managing, and maintaining the procurement strategy of the organization. * Maintain knowledge of supply base and pre-qualified supply sources to assure market competitiveness. * Manage supplier performance for purchased products and assure that all aspects of the purchase to payment process are maintained. * Measure and monitor compliance to supplier agreement and results. * Develop and deploy key standard purchasing practices and procedures. * Optimize capital and operating spend through technology and creative strategies. * Drive timely and accurate reporting to senior company management. * Work to implement best practices across procurement function in a growing organization by leveraging prior experience with procurement systems and technologies.