Director, Portfolio Management and Supplier Strategy

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

How You Will Make an Impact

The Director, Supplier Strategy & Portfolio will build and lead the supplier and portfolio strategy for Production Chemicals and Services (PCS).

This leader will develop a differentiated supplier ecosystem that strengthens the core PCS business, improves profitability and supply resilience, and enables the growth of Bioproduction Services.

The Director will establish how PCS segments, prioritizes, develops, and governs supplier relationships; identify opportunities to expand and optimize the portfolio; and translate supplier capabilities into differentiated customer value.

This role directly leads a team of Supplier Strategy Specialists and partners closely with Commercial, Supply Chain, Corporate Procurement, Finance, Marketing, Quality, and Bioproduction Services.

What You Will Do

Supplier Strategy & Strategic Partnerships

• Develop and execute the PCS supplier strategy aligned to growth, profitability, customer needs, and supply continuity objectives.
• Establish supplier segmentation and differentiated engagement models for strategic, growth, transactional, and emerging suppliers.
• Develop multi-year strategies for priority suppliers, including growth, margin improvement, portfolio expansion, and risk mitigation.
• Build executive relationships with strategic suppliers and lead joint business planning and strategic business reviews.
• Identify opportunities for preferred partnerships, differentiated access, joint growth initiatives, and supplier-enabled services.
• Partner with Corporate Procurement to leverage enterprise scale, market intelligence, sourcing capabilities, and negotiation expertise.
• Establish supplier performance metrics and governance that drive measurable business outcomes.

Portfolio Strategy & Growth

• Develop the PCS portfolio and category strategy across critical chemicals and bioproduction raw materials.
• Assess portfolio performance, customer demand, competitive position, supplier capabilities, and profitability to inform investment decisions.
• Identify portfolio gaps, white-space opportunities, new suppliers, and category expansion opportunities.
• Lead recommendations for portfolio optimization, rationalization, and strategic sourcing alternatives.
• Partner with Finance and Commercial leadership to establish supplier- and portfolio-level growth and profitability objectives.
• Provide supplier and portfolio strategy inputs into STRAP, AOP, and other business planning processes.

Enable Business Unit Growth

• Partner with Commercial leadership to identify supplier- and portfolio-enabled opportunities to protect and grow the core PCS business.
• Identify opportunities to increase customer share of wallet through portfolio expansion and differentiated supplier capabilities.
• Partner with Bioproduction Services leadership to identify supplier capabilities, alternate sourcing strategies, and partnerships required to scale new services, and future offerings.
• Support strategic customer pursuits where supplier capabilities or portfolio access create competitive differentiation.
• Partner with Marketing, Commercial, and Finance to translate portfolio differentiation into market positioning, commercial strategy, and margin opportunities.

Leadership & Capability Building

• Build and directly lead a team of Supplier Strategy Specialists.
• Establish the methodologies, tools, governance, and operating mechanisms required to create a differentiated supplier strategy capability within PCS.
• Personally lead the highest-priority strategic supplier relationships while developing increasing ownership within the team.
• Coach team members in supplier strategy, category analysis, negotiation, joint business planning, and executive supplier engagement.
• Establish clear supplier portfolio assignments, performance expectations, and development plans.
• Serve as the strategic advisor to the PCS General Manager and leadership team on supplier ecosystem and portfolio decisions.

How You Will Get Here

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, Life Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, or related field required.
• MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred.

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in supplier management, strategic sourcing, procurement, category management, portfolio strategy, business development, or related commercial roles.
• 5+ years of leadership experience with demonstrated success building and developing teams.
• Demonstrated experience developing supplier or category strategies within a complex global organization.
• Experience leading strategic supplier relationships, negotiations, joint business planning, and executive-level engagement.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including revenue, margin, portfolio, and business-case analysis.
• Life sciences, biopharmaceutical manufacturing, specialty chemicals, raw materials, or distribution experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across Commercial, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, Marketing, Quality, and Operations in a matrix organization.

Key Capabilities

• Supplier and category strategy
• Strategic supplier relationship management
• Portfolio optimization and white-space identification
• Strategic sourcing and negotiation
• Commercial and financial analysis
• Market and competitive intelligence
• Executive relationship management
• Cross-functional leadership
• Talent and capability development
• Strategic planning and executive communication