Global Director, Supplier Agency Performance & Innovation

Make your mark for patients

We are seeking a strategic, detail-oriented procurement leader to serve as our Director, Supplier & Agency Performance & Innovation – Global. This is a hybrid position in Atlanta, GA.

About the Role

In this newly created role, you will establish and run supplier/agency performance management, and procurement best practices across the marketing and indirect procurement organization. You will drive continuous improvement and supplier-enabled innovation across the ecosystem, turning performance insight into measurable improvement, new capabilities, and strategic value-creation projects with our most important agencies and suppliers. This role spans > $800M in marketing and indirect spend across a wide range of strategic suppliers and agencies in the U.S. and EU.

Who You’ll Work With

You will report to the Global Head of Marketing/Selling & Impact Procurement and will partner closely with the Director, Agencies & Media, and the Director, Market Insights & Patient Services Procurement, as well as business stakeholders across Marketing, Finance, Patient Insights, and Patient Services, to:

Build performance standards into contracts at signature

Elevate agency and supplier performance through continuous improvement after signature

Establish enterprise-wide governance and best practices

Report performance results with clear, data-driven narratives

Drive supplier-enabled innovation and new agency/supplier operating models across the ecosystem

What You’ll Do

Supplier/Agency Performance Management Framework : KPIs, SLAs, and scorecards tied directly to MSA/SOW commitments, balanced across cost, quality, service, innovation, and sustainability, used to surface improvement and value-creation opportunities, not only to monitor

Continuous Improvement Program : Design and lead a structured continuous-improvement program across the supplier and agency ecosystem, benchmarking, maturity assessment, and joint improvement roadmaps that raise quality, speed, and effectiveness year over year

Supplier-Enabled Innovation : Build a supplier-/agency-led innovation pipeline, source new capabilities, ways of working, and emerging technologies from partners; run innovation forums and pilots; and scale what works across markets

Strategic Partnerships & SRM : Segment suppliers and agencies into strategic, preferred, and transactional tiers with differentiated engagement, executive sponsorship and joint business planning that turn top partners into sources of competitive advantage

Agentic AI & Emerging Technology in the Ecosystem : Shape how agentic and generative AI is deployed across the agency and supplier ecosystem as an innovation and productivity lever, setting standards for quality, data privacy, IP, brand safety, and human oversight, and reflecting AI-driven productivity in commercial models and ways of working

Contracting/Procurement Best Practices : Partner with category leadership.  Establish and document procurement best practices, playbooks, and standards across the function, and embed a continuous-improvement capability within the category teams so improvement and innovation become business-as-usual

Quarterly/Annual Business Reviews (QBRs) : Lead with top-tier agencies and suppliers, presenting performance data and improvement plans. Run a tiered cadence where each review drives a decision (retain / expand / reduce / remediate / exit) and advances a joint innovation and improvement agenda, not a read-out

Vendor Improvement Plans : Identify underperformance trends and drive corrective action plans in partnership with category leads, using structured root-cause / CAPA methodology with timelines, measurable targets, and tracking to closure

Agile Teams & Strategic Value-Creation Projects : Develop agile methodology to partner with adjoining Marketing & Selling Procurement teams to assist with major PR/RFP processes with best practices / performance improvement. Stand up and lead cross-functional agile squads that deliver strategic value-creation projects with our most important agencies and suppliers, e.g., agency-model redesign, ways-of-working and speed-to-market improvements, and co-innovation initiatives, mobilizing the right experts, running in sprints, and delivering measurable outcomes

Sustainability & Supplier Diversity : Advance ESG and supplier-diversity goals as part of the improvement and innovation agenda, partnering with suppliers and agencies on responsible, sustainable, and inclusive practices

Minimum Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred, in business or a related discipline

12+ years in procurement, supplier/vendor management, or contract management, ideally within marketing or indirect procurement

Experience building supplier performance management frameworks, scorecards, and supplier-enabled innovation / continuous-improvement programs that delivered measurable value

Strong analytical and reporting skills; experience with BI/dashboard tools.

Track record of leading cross-functional, agile value-creation and supplier-innovation initiatives with senior stakeholders

Ability to influence senior-level stakeholders through clear, concise, executive-ready communication

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in pharma or life sciences procurement or in strategic consulting in a related field.

Experience establishing governance frameworks in a matrixed, multi-region organization

Strong digital and innovation fluency

Known for elevating organizational clarity through structured reporting and narrative leadership

Experience designing supplier and agency innovation ecosystems and new operating models

This position’s reasonably anticipated base salary range is $184,000 to $241,500 per year. The actual salary offered will take into account internal equity and may also vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, among other factors.

Are you ready to ‘go beyond’ to create value and make your mark for patients? If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you!

About us 

UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company, focusing on neurology and immunology. We are over 9.000 people in all four corners of the globe, inspired by patients and driven by science.

Why work with us? 

At UCB, we don’t just complete tasks, we create value. We aren’t afraid to push forward, collaborate, and innovate to make our mark for patients. We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone feels included, respected, and has equal opportunities to do their best work. We ‘go beyond’ to create value for our patients, and always with a human focus, whether that’s on our patients, our employees, or our planet. Working for us, you will discover a place where you can grow, and have the freedom to carve your own career path to achieve your full potential.

At UCB, we’ve embraced a hybrid-first approach to work, bringing teams together in local hubs to foster collaborative curiosity. Unless explicitly stated in the description or precluded by the nature of the position, roles are hybrid with 40% of your time spent in the office.

UCB is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions will be made without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. UCB invites you to voluntarily self-identify during the application process. Provision of self-identification information is entirely voluntary and a decision to provide or not provide such information will not have any effect on your application for employment, your employment with UCB, or otherwise subject you to any adverse treatment. Any information you provide will be considered confidential and will be kept separate from your application and/or personnel file and will only be used in accordance with applicable laws, orders, and regulations.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us on [email protected] for application to US based roles. Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments; we will not be able to support you through this channel.