Associate Strategic Buyer

Advancements in AI and drug discovery are creating more candidate drugs than the industry can progress because of the high cost and time of clinical trials. Recognizing that this development bottleneck may ultimately limit the number of new medicines that can reach patients, Formation Bio, founded in 2016 as TrialSpark Inc., has built technology platforms, processes, and capabilities to accelerate all aspects of drug development and clinical trials. Formation Bio partners, acquires, or in-licenses drugs from pharma companies, research organizations, and biotechs to develop programs past clinical proof of concept and beyond, ultimately helping to bring new medicines to patients. The company is backed by investors across pharma and tech, including a16z, Sequoia, Sanofi, Thrive Capital, John Doerr, Spark Capital, SV Angel Growth, and others. 

You can read more at the following links:

• Our Vision for AI in Pharma
• Our Current Drug Portfolio
• Our Technology & Platform

At Formation Bio, our values are the driving force behind our mission to revolutionize the pharma industry. Every team and individual at the company shares these same values, and every team and individual plays a key part in our mission to bring new treatments to patients faster and more efficiently.

Formation Bio is building a best-in-class Procurement function to support our rapidly growing organization. We are looking for a high-ownership Buyer who will drive operational excellence across our procure-to-pay (P2P) processes, serve as a trusted partner to stakeholders, and support sourcing initiatives as needed.

This role will primarily focus on day-to-day buying activities, including purchase order management, vendor onboarding, and intake workflows, with a strong emphasis on building scalable and efficient P2P processes within Zip. You will play a critical role in transitioning core procurement workflows into Procurement and ensuring they operate smoothly as the company grows.

While the core of this role is P2P execution, this individual will also support sourcing initiatives and RFPs as capacity permits, particularly on the administrative and coordination aspects. Over time, there will be opportunities to grow into category ownership (e.g., IT or other indirect categories) depending on business needs and individual interest.

This is an ideal role for someone with experience in procurement, operations, or project management who is excited to build strong operational foundations while developing broader sourcing and category management skills. You will partner closely with the Head of Procurement, who will focus on strategy and long-term transformation, while you drive execution and process excellence.

• →Project manage a major P2P platform improvement initiative, owning workstream execution, cross-functional coordination, timeline management, and adoption tracking to ensure scalable and consistent procurement operations
• →Lead and project manage the transition of key procurement processes (e.g., vendor onboarding, intake management, PO request workflows) into the procurement function, including milestone tracking, stakeholder alignment, and change management. 
• →Own day-to-day administration, configuration and incremental process improvement of the P2P platform (Zip), serving as the internal subject matter expert and primary point of contact for purchase requests. 
• →Drive P2P platform adoption internally, ensuring compliance, process consistency, and ongoing optimization of procurement workflows
• →Partner with stakeholders across IT, G&A, Clinical, and other teams to ensure timely, compliant, and cost-effective purchasing, serving as a key liaison between business units and procurement.
• →Support supplier performance tracking and vendor relationships management across key spend areas, ensuring alignment with procurement policies and business requirements.
• →Maintain and continuously improve procurement documentation, playbooks, and SOPs to help drive procurement process consistency and operational scalability.
• →Track and report on key procurement KPIs including purchase order cycle times, P2P platform utilization, compliance rates, and cost savings to support data-driven process improvements

• 3-5+ years of experience in procurement, purchasing, operations, project management, consulting, or a related field
• Experience supporting procure-to-pay (P2P) processes such as purchase orders, vendor onboarding, or intake/workflow management, utilizing a P2P platform such as Zip, Coupa, etc.
• Experience communicating and working with a variety of cross-functional stakeholders including up to the Executive level. 
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent requests and priorities

• Exposure to managing sourcing or RFP processes, with the ability to support or run structured vendor selection over time with guidance
• Experience implementing, managing or administering procurement tools (Zip experience strongly preferred)
• Experience supporting or owning an indirect spend category such as IT, G&A, or professional services
• Experience in a high-growth startup or scaling environment
• Exposure to life sciences, biotech, pharma, or other regulated industries

• A person who thinks in “first-principals” that can challenge core assumptions before nominating a solution. 
• Someone with an Entrepreneurial mindset that takes initiative and is comfortable operating in an evolving organization.
• A highly reliable operator who can own and improve day-to-day procurement processes
• Strong attention to detail, communication skills, and operational discipline
• A self-starter who is comfortable with ambiguity and building processes based on limited information
• High ownership and accountability — you take initiatives from concept to completion
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills up to the executive level.
• Interest in growing into category management responsibilities over time