Director, Development Sourcing and Partnerships

Job Description

Why Join Us?

Be a hero for our rare disease patients

At Ultragenyx, we fundamentally believe that taking real impactful action to care for the needs of patients and our people is always the right thing to do. To achieve this goal, our vision is to lead the future of rare disease medicine. For us, this means going where other biopharma companies won’t go – challenging the status quo and creating a new model that advances our field so more patients and caregivers can benefit from life-changing treatments. We do this by following the science, applying a novel rapid development approach, making innovative medicines at fair and reasonable prices, and creating a collaborative ecosystem to reach patients in ways that are most meaningful for them.

Our commitment and care for patients extends to our people, so culture is an essential cornerstone for Ultragenyx. We remain continuously focused on creating a supportive and inclusive environment of profound learning and growth – so employees can thrive in all areas of their lives, in and outside of work. Ultimately, we want to be an organization where we would be proud for our family, friends and children to work.

If you want to have a meaningful impact, do the best work of your career, and grow a lot, both professionally and personally, come join our team .

Position Summary:

ultra focused – Work together to fearlessly uncover new possibilities

The Director, Development Sourcing & Partnerships serves as a strategic partnership leader for external GCP vendors supporting the Development organization. This role is accountable for shaping and executing sourcing and vendor partnership strategy across the Development portfolio, ensuring partnership activities, sourcing approaches, and vendor engagement decisions are aligned with Development objectives, broader portfolio priorities, outsourcing strategy, and enterprise expectations.

The Director leads strategic sourcing and partnership activities across programs and vendor categories, including vendor selection, contracting alignment, governance, and performance-related partnership discussions. This leader partners with cross-functional and senior stakeholders to drive consistent sourcing approaches, support timely escalation resolution through appropriate stakeholder engagement, and promote scalable best practices across programs.

This role strengthens strategic external partnerships and advances effective, value-driven sourcing and partnership approaches across the Development portfolio.

Work Model:

Remote: Officially documented as working full-time from home, with travel to Ultragenyx’s offices or other locations on occasion as needed.

Responsibilities:

1. Early engagement planning

Define and execute sourcing strategies aligned to pipeline, portfolio priorities, and enterprise objectives.

1. Vendor selection

Lead RFIs/RFPs, competitive bidding, vendor evaluations, bid defense strategy, and onboarding alignment for complex and high-impact initiatives to support fit-for-purpose vendor selection and successful engagement start-up.

1. Contracting alignment

Lead alignment across scope, budget, and contracting considerations, ensuring consistency and scalability between operational requirements, financial assumptions, and vendor agreements.

1. Strategic vendor partnership management

Serve as a senior strategic partnership lead for external GCP vendors across service categories, driving partnership alignment, performance expectations, strategic engagement, and ongoing relationship management across the vendor partnership.

1. Governance & oversight

Lead governance forums and support timely escalation resolution through appropriate senior stakeholder engagement, while driving KPI/performance discussions, quality alignment, consistent oversight, accountability, and strategic alignment across partners.

1. Sourcing and partnership optimization

Drive complex cross-program sourcing initiatives, vendor/category alignment activities, and partnership optimization efforts to establish consistency of sourcing and partnership approach, strengthen vendor engagement, and scale effective practices across programs and vendors.

1. Lessons learned / continuous improvement

Drive continuous improvement by identifying cross-program insights, scaling best practices, and strengthening sourcing and partnership approaches across the portfolio.

1. Stakeholder engagement

Engage and influence senior cross-functional stakeholders to support sourcing decisions, align vendor partnership strategy with execution needs, and drive strategic and portfolio alignment across programs and vendors.

Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Business Administration, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
2. Minimum of 10 years of experience in clinical vendor management, outsourcing, strategic sourcing, clinical operations, or related roles within the pharmaceutical, biotech, or CRO industry.
3. Minimum of 3–5 years of experience leading vendor relationships, sourcing activities, contracting alignment, governance, and performance oversight in a clinical development environment.
4. Experience leading RFIs/RFPs, competitive bidding, vendor evaluation, selection, and engagement start-up for complex or high-impact clinical development initiatives.
5. Experience leading alignment of scope, budget, contracting, and vendor agreement considerations for outsourced services.
6. Experience driving vendor governance, performance discussions, KPI review, issue escalation, and partnership management across programs and vendor categories.
7. Strong understanding of clinical development, clinical operations, GCP, ICH guidelines, and regulatory expectations related to vendor oversight.
8. Knowledge of quality expectations, internal SOPs, and compliance considerations applicable to vendor selection, oversight, and performance monitoring.
9. Ability to interpret KPIs, performance data, dashboards, and financial information to inform sourcing strategy, vendor partnership decisions, and portfolio-level oversight.
10. Strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder engagement, communication, relationship management, and influencing skills.
11. Ability to influence senior stakeholders, drive alignment across functions, support timely escalation resolution, and promote scalable best practices.
12. Strong organizational skills, sound judgment, strategic thinking, and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
13. Travel up to 30% may be required for vendor meetings, governance forums, site visits, audits, or industry conferences.

#LI-CS1 #LI-Remote

The typical annual salary range for this full-time position is listed below. This range reflects the characteristics of the job, such as required skills and qualifications and is based on the office location noted in this job posting. The range may also be adjusted based on applicant’s geographic location.

This position is eligible for annual bonus and equity incentives. Actual individual pay is determined by demonstrated experience and internal equity alignment.

Pay Range

$206,500—$255,000 USD

Full Time employees across the globe enjoy a range of benefits, including, but not limited to:

·         Generous vacation time and public holidays observed by the company

·         Volunteer days

·         Long term incentive and Employee stock purchase plans or equivalent offerings

·         Employee wellbeing benefits

·         Fitness reimbursement

·         Tuition sponsoring

·         Professional development plans

\* Benefits vary by region and country

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin/ancestry, age, disability, marital and veteran status, and any other status or classification protected by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws. Reasonable accommodation will be provided for all protected statuses or classifications protected by applicable law, including individuals with disabilities, disabled veterans, for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, and based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Applicants can request an accommodation prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, you may contact Talent Acquisition by emailing us at [email protected] .

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It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Note to External Recruiters: All candidate activity and open positions are managed strictly through our Human Resources Department. Our Human Resources Department kindly requests that recruiters not contact employees/hiring managers directly in an attempt to solicit business and present candidates. Please note that failure to comply with this request will be a factor in determining a professional relationship with our organization. Submission of unsolicited resumes prior to an agreement set in place between the Human Resources Department and the recruiting agency will not create any implied obligation.  Inquiries on developing a recruiting relationship with us, may be directed to : [email protected] .