Head of API Procurement

Position Purpose

The Head of API Procurement plays a key leadership role in shaping Zentiva’s global sourcing strategy for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Key Starting Materials (KSMs). This role ensures security of supply, cost competitiveness, and strong supplier partnerships while supporting the company’s growth, profitability, and long-term sustainability.

You will lead a global procurement scope across Europe, India, and China, driving measurable business impact and positioning procurement as a strategic partner to the organisation. This role is central to strengthening supply resilience, enabling product launches, and supporting Zentiva’s ambition to become a cost-competitive and resilient European pharmaceutical leader.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES AND DUTIES

1. Category Strategy, Financial Performance & Decision Rights

• Define and execute the multi-year global category strategy for APIs and KSMs, aligned with Zentiva’s growth roadmap, portfolio priorities, and long-range financial ambitions.
• Own the annual budget, savings pipeline, PPV performance, and long-range planning inputs for the API portfolio in alignment with Finance and Operations.
• Deliver at least 5% year-on-year validated savings against the approved Finance baseline through price reductions, alternate-source implementation, demand optimization, specification changes, supplier competition, and other agreed value levers. Cost avoidance is tracked separately unless explicitly agreed with Finance.
• Apply market intelligence, should-cost models, total-cost-of-ownership analysis, cost-driver modelling, and scenario planning to strengthen decision-making and budget predictability.
• Own commercial supplier recommendations and API sourcing strategies, subject to applicable technical, quality, regulatory, financial, and governance approvals.
• Ensure category strategies support launch readiness, tender competitiveness, lifecycle management, working-capital improvement, and long-term product profitability.

2. Supplier Ecosystem & Commercial Leadership

• Build and maintain a competitive, compliant, innovative, and high-performing global API supplier ecosystem across Europe, India, China, and other strategic sourcing markets.
• Lead major supplier negotiations, long-term agreements, strategic alliances, commercial escalations, and executive-level supplier relationships.
• Own supplier segmentation and strategic relationship management, including QBRs, scorecards, joint business planning, supplier-development plans, and continuous-improvement programs.
• Identify and develop new suppliers to improve competitiveness, geographic balance, innovation, and long-term resilience.
• Partner with suppliers on process improvement, backward integration, capacity expansion, innovation, and structural cost reduction opportunities.

3. Supply Resilience, Quality, Regulatory & ESG

• Ensure uninterrupted supply of APIs and KSMs across Zentiva’s internal manufacturing sites and external supply network.
• Develop and execute risk mitigation plans, including dual sourcing, alternate supplier qualification, geographic diversification, inventory strategies, and business continuity planning.
• Anticipate and manage API-specific risks, including DMF/CEP dependencies, GMP compliance, raw-material volatility, capacity constraints, supplier financial health, geopolitical exposure, and market concentration.
• Partner with Quality and Regulatory Affairs to ensure supplier qualification, audit readiness, DMF/CEP alignment, change-control execution, regulatory compliance, and timely implementation of approved sources.
• Integrate responsible sourcing and ESG expectations into supplier selection, due diligence, performance reviews, and supplier development, in collaboration with the Procurement CoE.

4. Business Partnering, Governance & Transformation

• Act as the senior procurement partner for API-related topics with Operations, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Supply Chain, Finance, R&D, Portfolio, Commercial, and site leadership teams.
• Ensure early procurement involvement in new product development, technical transfers, supplier changes, launches, tenders, and lifecycle-management initiatives.
• Lead API category governance forums, category-strategy reviews, supplier escalations, executive updates, and cross-functional decisions on molecule and supplier strategies.
• Influence strategic decisions through robust business cases, cost-driver analysis, supplier risk assessments, and data-driven recommendations.
• Align with the Procurement CoE on standardized processes, contract templates, digital tools, analytics, ESG integration, and continuous improvement.

5. People Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead and develop a multicultural and geographically distributed API Procurement team.
• Set clear objectives, performance indicators, decision rights, and role expectations across the API Procurement organization.
• Build capability in category strategy, API market intelligence, cost modelling, negotiation excellence, supplier risk management, and stakeholder influence.
• Create succession depth for critical roles and actively develop the next generation of procurement leaders.
• Foster a high-performance culture grounded in Trust, Courage, Authenticity, Collaboration, Accountability, integrity, and continuous improvement.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

Essential

• Extensive experience (10+ years) in procurement or category management within pharmaceuticals, APIs.

• Proven track record in global category management and supplier relationship management for APIs and KSMs, including major negotiations, alternate sourcing, and business-continuity programs.
• Strong understanding of global API supplier markets and sourcing dynamics across Europe, India, China, and other strategic regions.
• Deep working knowledge of GMP, DMF/CEP requirements, supplier qualification, audits, change controls, and regulatory implementation.
• Demonstrated delivery of material savings, complex negotiations, alternate-source implementation, and business-continuity improvements.
• Strong financial acumen, including COGS, PPV, long-range planning, cost-driver modelling, FX exposure, and working capital.
• Proven people leadership across multicultural and geographically distributed teams.
• Excellent executive communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, and influencing skills.
• Fluent in English; additional European or Asian languages are an advantage.
• Willingness to travel approximately 20%.

Preferred

• Experience in complex generics, specialty pharma, or a private-equity-backed growth environment.
• Familiarity with digital procurement tools such as SAP Ariba, GEP, Coupa, advanced analytics, and supplier-risk platforms.
• Strong understanding of sustainable procurement and ESG principles, working in partnership with the Procurement CoE and Sustainability teams.

Our Recruitment Process:

To be considered for this role, please apply in our Applicant tracking system and refrain from sending your CV via email. Upon the completion of sourcing (CV collection) period, all received application will be reviewed by our Recruitment experts and evaluated against the needs of the open role. Successful candidates will be contacted by our Recruiting experts for an initial screening interview during which further details about the selection process will be shared. Successful candidates will progress to interviews with line managers, while not selected candidates will be informed in a written form as soon as possible.

Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is an act @Zentiva

At Zentiva, we are a team of 5000 unique talents bonded together by our purpose to provide health and well-being for all generations. We strive daily to create a work culture where everyone feels appreciated, can be their true selves, and contribute to the best of their ability. Seeking for a balanced team across the company, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates with various educational and industry experiences, cultural or ethnical backgrounds, and different life experiences or abilities, regardless of their religious or philosophical beliefs or whomever they choose to love.

Join our winning team! Be a part of our winning culture! Be Zentiva!

Minimum Gross Annual Salary in Italy: 70,000 EUR