Associate Director - Indirect Procurement
The person is responsible for developing and implementing Strategic Sourcing and Category Strategies as the Global Category Lead for Indirect goods and/or services within a defined portfolio of CSL Enterprise wide spend (for example Legal, HR and Corporate Services spend). They will be accountable for securing maximum value from the external spend of US$300M+, from our suppliers and creating competitive advantage for CSL by delivering year on year multi-million-dollar savings, mitigation of associated risks, implementing supplier relationship management, identifying and delivering innovation and protecting CSL through robust contractual negotiations. This role is seen as the Global SME for categories such as Finance, Legal, HR, Consultancy and is responsible for creating appropriate senior level stakeholder engagement & alignment plans to ensure the current and future needs of the business are addressed. The role will also provide guidance to the Sourcing Managers within the team.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Category strategy development
Develop and implement effective category strategies aligned with organizational priorities and objectives.
Analyze spend, market trends and supply risks to effectively manage procurement activities to ensure cost efficiency and optimal supplier performance.
Provide strategic direction and operational support to Sourcing Managers to execute procurement activities.
Define category roadmaps, sourcing pipelines, and performance metrics.
Supplier relationship management
Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers to foster collaboration and drive innovation.
Facilitate supplier business performance reviews and ensure alignment with contractual and CSL needs and priorities and establish supplier performance management (KPIs, scorecards, reviews) to improve performance Lead supplier risk management and continuity planning.
Lead Cross Functional Category Councils to ensure CSL and the Supply base are aligned both in the immediate term but also across a 5-year pipeline.
Execute sourcing and procurement activities
Engage with internal stakeholders across CSL to align procurement initiatives and saving opportunities.
Ensure compliance with procurement policies and governance frameworks and ethical sourcing standards.
Maintain accurate documentation and reporting of procurement activities and supplier engagements.
Identify and manage procurement-related risks within assigned categories.
Lead the Tendering process, negotiations, and contract awards for activities over US$500K.
Drive total cost of ownership (TCO) improvements, cost reduction, and value creation.
Monitor performance
Monitor category performance using key performance indicators (KPIs) and provide insights to the Category Director and key stakeholders across Legal, HR and Finance.
Cost analysis and budget management
Conduct detailed cost analysis and benchmarking to identify savings opportunities and ensure procurement activities align with financial objectives.
Monitor and report category performance against budget using KPIs and data-driven insights to support cost optimization and compliance.
Stakeholder Collaboration
Partner with internal stakeholders (Enabling Functions, Finance, Legal, etc.) to translate business requirements into sourcing and contracting strategies.
Act as the primary procurement point of contact for assigned categories.
Other responsibilities
Risk management.
Training and development.
Market intelligence sharing.
Support change initiatives.
Stakeholder engagement.
Education
Bachelor’s degree in business, Supply Chain, or related discipline; professional certification (e.g., CIPS) preferred.
Experience
Minimum 5+ years’ experience in procurement, sourcing, or category management roles.
Demonstrated success in developing category strategies and managing supplier relationships.
Experience in performance monitoring, risk management, and cross-functional collaboration.
Experience of multi-site organizations.
The role requires fluency in English and German
Travel Requirements (Domestic, International, frequency)
20% travel expected
About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by our promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, we discover, develop and deliver innovative therapies for people living with conditions in the immunology, hematology, cardiovascular and metabolic, respiratory, and transplant therapeutic areas. We use three strategic scientific platforms of plasma fractionation, recombinant protein technology, and cell and gene therapy to support continued innovation and continually refine ways in which products can address unmet medical needs and help patients lead full lives.
CSL Behring operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. Our parent company, CSL, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs 32,000 people, and delivers its lifesaving therapies to people in more than 100 countries.
To learn more about CSL, CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor visit https://www.csl.com/ and CSL Plasma at https://www.cslplasma.com/.
Our Benefits
For more information on CSL benefits visit How CSL Supports Your Well-being | CSL.
You Belong at CSL
At CSL, Inclusion and Belonging is at the core of our mission and who we are. It fuels our innovation day in and day out. By celebrating our differences and creating a culture of curiosity and empathy, we are able to better understand and connect with our patients and donors, foster strong relationships with our stakeholders, and sustain a diverse workforce that will move our company and industry into the future.
To learn more about inclusion and belonging visit https://www.csl.com/careers/inclusion-and-belonging
Equal Opportunity Employer
CSL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please visit https://www.csl.com/accessibility-statement.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, or related discipline
- Professional certification (e.g., CIPS)
- Minimum 5+ years' experience in procurement, sourcing, or category management
- Proven experience developing category strategies and managing supplier relationships
- Experience with performance monitoring, risk management, and cross-functional collaboration
- Experience operating in multi-site organizations
- Experience leading tendering, negotiations, and contract awards for activities over US$500K
- Leadership experience providing guidance to Sourcing Managers
- Fluency in English and German
What We Do
CSL is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of lifesaving medicines, including those that treat haemophilia and immune deficiencies, vaccines to prevent influenza, and therapies in iron deficiency, dialysis and nephrology. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL – including our businesses, CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus, CSL Plasma and CSL Vifor – provides lifesaving products to patients in more than 100 countries and employs 32,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. See our community guidelines: https://bit.ly/3Bs17Ra








