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.

About the Position 

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 can independently run sourcing initiatives and RFPs, drive operational excellence in our purchasing processes, and serve as a trusted partner to stakeholders across the company.

This role will primarily focus on day-to-day buying and sourcing activities, while also having the opportunity to take on category ownership (e.g., IT or other indirect categories) as the company scales. You will play a critical role in transitioning core procurement workflows,  including intake, vendor onboarding, and purchasing operations, into Procurement, helping to build scalable processes from the ground up.

This is an ideal role for someone with experience in project management, sourcing, or running RFPs who is excited to grow into a broader procurement career. You will partner closely with the Head of Procurement, who will focus on strategy and long-term process transformation, while you drive execution and operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Own and independently run end-to-end sourcing events and RFPs, including requirements gathering, vendor identification, bid evaluation, negotiation support, and stakeholder communication
• Serve as the primary Buyer for assigned business units, managing purchase requests, vendor selection, and commercial coordination
• Become a subject matter expert in Zip and lead day-to-day administration and optimization of procurement workflows within the platform
• Partner with stakeholders across IT, G&A, Clinical, and other teams to ensure timely, compliant, and cost-effective purchasing
• Transition and operationalize key procurement processes (e.g., vendor onboarding, intake management, purchasing workflows) into Procurement
• Support and help execute a major P2P platform process improvement initiative, ensuring scalable design and strong adoption across the organization
• Develop category insights and potentially assume ownership of specific categories (e.g., IT) depending on business needs and growth trajectory
• Maintain documentation, playbooks, and SOPs to improve procurement consistency and scalability
• Track and report on sourcing metrics, cycle times, savings, and process performance

About You 

• 3-5+ years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, project management, operations, consulting, or a related field
• Demonstrated experience running RFPs or managing structured vendor selection processes independently
• Experience working cross-functionally with technical and non-technical stakeholders
  Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives
  
  

• Experience implementing 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 self-starter who is comfortable with ambiguity and building processes from scratch
  High ownership and accountability — you take initiatives from concept to completion
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Detail-oriented with strong operational discipline
• Excited to help build a modern, tech-enabled procurement function