Manager, Supplier Relationships

Primary Work Address: 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. HHMI is focused on supporting and moving science forward in a variety of different ways ranging from conducting basic biomedical research, empowering educators, inspiring students, developing the next generation of scientists – even stretching into film and media production.

Our Headquarters is in the greater Washington, DC metro area and is home to over 300 employees with expertise in investments , communications, digital production, biomedical sciences, and everything in between. The work housed here supports and augments the groundbreaking research conducted in HHMI labs across the nation. As HHMI scientists continue to push boundaries in laboratories and classrooms, you can be sure that your contributions while working here are making a difference.

This is a role for someone who treats a supplier relationship as a long game, not a transaction to close and forget. The Manager, Supplier   Relationships   sits inside HHMI's Procurement team, supporting every lab and administrative group across the Institute. Whoever needs a supplier vetted, a contract negotiated, or an escalated problem resolved gets the same level of support, whether they sit at Headquarters or in a lab three time zones away.

Procurement at HHMI runs at real scale, and the tools available to do it well, including AI-assisted contract review and spend analysis, are moving fast. This role is expected to keep pace with them and bring the rest of the sourcing team along. The role runs the full sourcing cycle: researching the market, issuing RFPs, collaborating with the Office of General Counsel (OGC) to negotiate contracts, and managing the relationship after signature, using AI throughout to move faster while relying on sound judgment for the calls that matter.

It also involves directing a team, translating procurement strategy into day-to-day work, and giving people the kind of feedback that actually changes how they perform. This position works on a hybrid schedule, reporting in-person three days a week to our headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. How to Apply     Interested candidates are encouraged to  submit  a resume along with a cover letter describing their interest in this role and how their experience aligns with it.

We encourage qualified candidates who are eligible to work in the United States to apply. Please  note,  we  are not able to  sponsor a visa for this position  at this time . What you will   actually do   Own the sourcing cycle. Lead market research, RFP development, and supplier selection from open to close, using AI tools to speed up the process and   sound   judgment to close it out. Set the AI agenda.

Work with procurement leadership to decide how AI fits into sourcing and supplier   management, and   keep the team’s AI priorities aligned with where the Institute is headed. Negotiate and manage contracts. Negotiate pricing, service levels, and terms; manage renewals; and run regular supplier performance and risk evaluations. Direct the sourcing team. Assign work, hold it to productivity, efficiency, and accuracy targets, and coach a small team through the decisions they face day to day.

Coordinate the supplier lifecycle. Manage requests to add, change, or retire suppliers, and set up the administrative and catalog support that keeps ordering running once a contract is signed. Partner across the Institute. Work with the OGC to keep competitive sourcing fair, ethical, and consistent, and with purchasing leadership and stakeholders to turn business needs into procurement requirements.

Read the data and act on it. Track   spend, benchmark cost, and calculate ROI on sourcing decisions, using AI to speed up the analysis and   sound   judgment to decide what it means. Keep the process current. Review procurement policies, RFP templates, and due dilig