Senior Director, Delivery Cell Therapy

At AstraZeneca, we are building the supply capabilities needed to deliver the next generation of cell therapies to patients around the world. As Senior Director, Delivery, you will lead the global enabling team responsible for strengthening and protecting the third-party supplier ecosystem across our Cell Therapy portfolio.

You will shape how we anticipate supplier risk, build strategic supplier relationships and secure the direct materials and external capabilities needed to support in-vivo, autologous and allogeneic cell therapies. Your leadership will help move the organization from reactive escalation toward proactive supply assurance, creating resilient, scalable supply networks that can grow from clinical development through commercial delivery.

Based in Gaithersburg Maryland, this role reports to the Executive Director, External Supply & Delivery and includes global travel to suppliers as needed.

Why This Role

Cell therapy supply chains operate with extraordinary complexity. Materials, manufacturing partners, logistics providers and technology platforms must perform reliably against highly regulated requirements and patient-critical timelines.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Build the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and supplier risk frameworks that shape how Cell Therapy manages its global external ecosystem.
• Provide forward-looking visibility of supplier and supply continuity risks across the Cell Therapy portfolio.
• Strengthen strategic partnerships with critical suppliers and prepare the supplier network for global commercial scale.
• Improve on-time, in-full (OTIF) performance and reduce the risk of patient-impacting supply disruptions.
• Advance dual-sourcing, business continuity, supplier development and new material introduction strategies.
• Use analytics, digital capabilities and AI to strengthen risk monitoring, supplier performance and supply assurance.
• Develop a global team with expertise spanning supplier risk, SRM, direct materials and supply assurance.

Accountabilities

Supplier Risk & Portfolio Resilience

• Develop, own and continuously improve the Risk Framework for External Supply & Delivery, including supplier risk assessment, risk taxonomy and scoring, mitigation standards, escalation triggers, business continuity and contingency planning.
• Lead risk management at the Cell Therapy Technical Operations (CTTO) portfolio level, maintaining consolidated, forward-looking visibility across CDMOs, direct materials, equipment and services, and logistics suppliers.
• Lead strategies addressing single-source dependencies, dual sourcing, alternate supplier identification, new material introduction (NMI) and product lifecycle risk.
• Strengthen resilience for critical plasmids, raw materials, cold chain and other supply dependencies.
• Maintain visibility of supplier sub-tier (n-1), geopolitical and China-related supply risks, including relevant BIOSECURE considerations.
• Drive mitigation actions to closure in partnership with External Supply, Quality, Planning and other stakeholders.

Supplier Relationship Management

• Develop and lead the enterprise Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) framework, including supplier segmentation, governance, service-level agreement (SLA) performance, scorecards, quarterly business reviews and continuous improvement.
• Establish and govern the Preferred Supplier List (PSL), helping identify suppliers positioned to support future clinical and commercial requirements.
• Establish expectations for root-cause analysis and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) within supplier performance management.
• Build consistent supplier performance dashboards covering portfolio health, on-time delivery, quality events, value delivery and suppliers at risk.
• Enable consistent adoption of the Risk and SRM frameworks across External Supply, Direct and Indirect Sourcing, Automation & Robotics and China operations.

Critical Supplier & Logistics Partnerships

• Lead strategic relationships with portfolio-critical suppliers across key materials, logistics, technology and platform capabilities.
• Establish executive sponsorship, joint strategic planning, capacity commitments and commercial readiness plans with critical partners.
• Lead strategic business reviews and executive-level supplier escalations.
• Strengthen the performance of cell therapy logistics partners with focus on patient-centric delivery, cold chain integrity, reliability and logistics cost optimization.
• Partner with External Supply on shared portfolio risk reviews, supplier watch lists, supplier development and escalations involving upstream materials or logistics dependencies.

End-to-End Direct Materials & Supply Assurance

• Own end-to-end direct materials delivery from sourcing outcome through receipt, aligning supplier commitments with manufacturing schedules, CDMO requirements and patient demand.
• Lead day-to-day expediting, first-line supply assurance and escalations, partnering with Direct Sourcing, External Supply, Planning and Logistics on recovery actions.
• Drive root-cause analysis and sustainable corrective actions to prevent recurring supply issues.
• Lead the Direct Sourcing organization through the Director, Supply & Delivery – Direct, enabling effective transition from sourcing and contracting into ongoing supplier management, material delivery and performance governance.

Supplier Development & Scale Readiness

• Lead supplier development strategies that strengthen capacity, scalability, quality consistency and business continuity across the cell and gene therapy supplier ecosystem.
• Conduct capacity assessments and proactive scale-up planning to prepare suppliers for global demand.
• Advance dual-source strategies and alternate supplier qualification recommendations for critical materials and categories.
• Partner with Automation & Robotics Supply to strengthen supplier readiness for platform deployment.
• Build joint development plans for emerging CDMOs and critical vector, plasmid and material suppliers.

Leadership, Digital & Organizational Capability

• Build, lead and develop the global Delivery team, creating clear career pathways and capabilities across SRM, supplier risk and supply assurance.
• Embed analytics and AI into supplier risk monitoring, performance management and expediting.
• Leverage enterprise platforms including SAP, Coupa and supplier portals to support data-driven decision-making.
• Build a risk-aware culture where early identification, clear ownership and proactive mitigation are valued.
• Lead through influence across External Supply, Procurement, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, CMC, PSAT, F&E, Planning, Logistics, Finance, China, and Automation & Robotics.
• Maintain clear accountability across the operating model: Delivery establishes risk and SRM frameworks and leads critical non-CDMO supplier relationships, while External Supply maintains accountability for CDMO execution and manufacturing, quality and cost performance.

Essential Skills/Experience

• 12+ years of experience across supply chain, sourcing, supplier management or risk management within pharmaceutical, biotechnology or life sciences environments, including 5+ years of leadership experience.
• Advanced degree, such as an MSc, MBA or equivalent, in supply chain, life sciences, engineering, business or a related discipline.
• Experience designing and leading supplier risk management and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) frameworks within a regulated life sciences environment.
• Significant direct materials, supply assurance or supply chain leadership experience within pharmaceutical, biotechnology or Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) environments.
• Experience leading critical supplier relationships and executive-level supplier engagements.
• Demonstrated experience scaling supplier ecosystems from clinical development through commercial supply.
• Experience managing supply-critical escalations, recovery activities and systemic corrective actions.
• Experience developing suppliers and implementing dual-source or alternate-source strategies.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams through both direct leadership and indirect influence.
• Experience managing and developing leaders and subject-matter experts.
• Working knowledge of GxP, supplier qualification, quality systems and cold chain logistics.
• Understanding of direct material flows, supply assurance, supplier performance management, capacity planning and business continuity.
• Experience working across global supplier ecosystems, including the United States, Europe and China.
• Strong analytical and digital fluency, with the ability to use dashboards and data to evaluate supplier performance, risk and business priorities.
• Ability to balance supply continuity, quality, compliance, cost and patient impact when making complex decisions.
• Ability to travel globally to suppliers as needed.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Direct experience with CAR-T, autologous cell therapy, allogeneic cell therapy, in-vivo cell therapy or other ATMP supply chains.
• Experience working with CDMOs and complex cell and gene therapy supplier ecosystems.
• Experience leading logistics supplier performance for time- and temperature-critical products.
• Experience with cold chain logistics supporting patient-critical or advanced therapy products.
• Familiarity with plasmids, vectors, critical raw materials and other specialized cell therapy supply dependencies.
• Experience deploying digital risk, supply control tower or supplier performance analytics platforms.
• Experience leveraging SAP, Coupa, supplier portals, analytics or AI within supply chain or supplier management environments.
• Knowledge of supplier scorecards, SLAs, CAPA, Preferred Supplier Lists, supplier segmentation and quarterly business review models.
• Familiarity with BIOSECURE Act implications, geopolitical supply risk and China sourcing considerations.
• Lean/Six Sigma or project management certification.
• Experience working across Procurement, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, CMC, PSAT, F&E, Manufacturing, Planning and Logistics functions.

Why AstraZeneca

Here, courage, curiosity, and collaboration fuel a relentless focus on transforming cancer outcomes, powered by a pipeline that fuses cutting-edge science with advanced technology. You will work in an environment where unexpected teams come together to spark bold ideas, backed by meaningful investment and a clear path from discovery to impact. We value kindness alongside ambition, and we empower leaders at every level to ask sharp questions, take smart risks, and turn data into decisions that help patients sooner.

Compensation & Benefits

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $170,456.80 - $255,685.20. Our positions offer eligibility for various incentives—an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles and commissions for sales roles. Benefits offered include qualified retirement programs, paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves), as well as health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans.

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions.

That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility.

Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

Date Posted

Closing Date

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.