Procurement + Spend Management Manager

What We Do 

Forma is a next-generation Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) based in Irvine, California. The company was recently formed through the acquisition of the Irvine operations from BioDuro and is operating as a newly established, independent entity. As a result, Forma’s standalone online presence is still being built. 

We are a lean, entrepreneurial organization focused on drug product development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. 

Why Forma? 

Unlike large, highly layered organizations, Forma operates with a hands-on, execution-driven model. Our teams work closely across functions to solve complex technical and operational challenges, move quickly, and deliver consistently high-quality results.  

Employees at Forma are expected to take on meaningful responsibility, collaborate directly with colleagues and clients, and contribute to building scalable systems and processes as the company grows. This is an environment well suited to individuals who value autonomy, technical excellence, and the opportunity to help shape a growing organization. 

 
Position Summary

Forma Life Sciences is seeking a Procurement & Spend Management Manager to oversee procurement, vendor management, sourcing, spend analysis, and budget support across the organization.

This role will be responsible for managing supplier relationships, negotiating commercial terms, supporting annual and periodic budgeting activities, monitoring actual and committed spend, and identifying opportunities to improve cost efficiency. The position will work cross-functionally with Finance, Manufacturing, Quality, Facilities, Technical Operations, and other departments to ensure purchasing decisions support operational requirements, budget objectives, and business priorities.

The Procurement & Spend Management Manager will also be responsible for improving visibility into company spend, strengthening vendor performance, and supporting the development of scalable procurement and spend management processes.

Key Responsibilities

Budgeting and Spend Management

• Play a significant role in the development of annual departmental and company operating budgets, particularly for materials, services, contractors, facilities, equipment, and other third-party spend.

• Partner with Finance and department leaders to develop purchasing forecasts based on historical spend, operational requirements, planned activities, and expected business needs.

• Track actual and committed spend against approved budgets and identify potential variances or overruns.

• Maintain visibility into recurring vendor costs, open purchase commitments, contract renewals, and planned expenditures.

• Support periodic reforecasting and budget updates throughout the year.

• Analyze budget variances and work with department leaders to understand and address material deviations.

• Identify areas of excessive, fragmented, or nonessential spend and recommend corrective actions.

• Prepare regular reporting on spend trends, budget performance, savings opportunities, vendor commitments, and procurement risks.

Strategic Sourcing and Negotiation

• Lead sourcing activities for materials, equipment, services, and other significant purchases.

• Conduct competitive bidding and supplier evaluations where appropriate.

• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, minimum order quantities, service levels, and other commercial terms.

• Identify and evaluate alternative suppliers to improve pricing, service, quality, or supply continuity.

• Support negotiation and administration of supply agreements, master service agreements, statements of work, and other vendor contracts.

• Develop sourcing strategies for significant categories of spend.

Vendor Management

• Manage commercial relationships with key suppliers and service providers.

• Establish and communicate expectations for pricing, delivery, responsiveness, quality, and service.

• Monitor vendor performance, including on-time delivery, service quality, responsiveness, and adherence to agreed commercial terms.

• Address vendor performance issues and coordinate resolution with internal stakeholders.

• Conduct periodic reviews of key vendors and identify opportunities to improve commercial terms or service levels.

• Maintain visibility into contract expiration dates, pricing changes, and upcoming renewals.

• Lead or support vendor renewal negotiations as appropriate.

Cost Reduction and Procurement Strategy

• Analyze company spend to identify cost reduction and cost avoidance opportunities.

• Benchmark pricing and evaluate market alternatives for significant categories of spend.

• Identify opportunities to consolidate vendors, purchasing volume, or services where consolidation may improve pricing or efficiency.

• Establish and track measurable savings initiatives.

• Review recurring expenditures to identify opportunities for renegotiation, replacement, or elimination.

• Evaluate contract structures, purchasing patterns, and supplier concentration to improve overall cost management.

Supply and Delivery Management

• Track critical orders and ensure materials, equipment, and services are available when required.

• Identify long lead time items, supply constraints, and potential delivery risks.

• Work closely with internal departments to understand upcoming purchasing requirements and priorities.

• Coordinate with suppliers to address late deliveries, backorders, quality concerns, and other supply disruptions.

• Support planning for recurring materials and operational needs to minimize shortages and excess inventory.

Procurement Operations

• Manage the company’s accounts payable function, including invoice processing, payment coordination, vendor inquiries, approval workflows, and timely payment of invoices.

• Partner with Finance and department leaders to resolve invoice discrepancies, ensure appropriate approvals, and maintain accurate vendor and payment records.

• Support purchase requisition, purchase order, supplier onboarding, and procurement approval processes.

• Ensure procurement activities are appropriately documented and consistent with company procedures.

• Maintain organized records of supplier agreements, pricing, commercial terms, and purchasing commitments.

• Work with Finance to improve alignment between purchase orders, invoices, budgets, and actual spend.

• Support the development and continuous improvement of procurement policies, processes, and controls.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Operations, or a related field preferred.

• 5 to 8 years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain, vendor management, spend management, or a related function.

• Demonstrated experience negotiating supplier contracts and commercial terms.

• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, spend analysis, and variance analysis.

• Strong financial and analytical skills.

• Strong proficiency in Excel and experience with ERP and purchasing systems.

• Ability to analyze purchasing data and identify cost savings opportunities.

• Strong communication, negotiation, and vendor relationship management skills.

• Ability to work effectively across Finance, Operations, Manufacturing, Quality, and other functional areas.

• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, or another regulated manufacturing environment preferred.

• Experience with NetSuite or similar ERP systems preferred.

• Experience with Ramp or a similar spend management, accounts payable, or corporate purchasing platform preferred.

Performance Measures

Performance in this role will be evaluated based on:

• Performance against departmental and company budgets.

• Accuracy of purchasing and spend forecasts.

• Cost savings and cost avoidance achieved.

• Reduction in unnecessary or noncompetitive spend.

• Improvement in supplier commercial terms.

• Vendor on-time delivery and service performance.

• Visibility into committed and forecasted spend.

• Reduction in unplanned expenditures and budget overruns.

• Effectiveness of procurement and vendor management processes.

Position Benefits 

We offer full health benefits, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, 401(k), paid vacation and sick leave, an aggressive bonus structure, and market-competitive salaries to all our employees. In addition, Forma provides employees with a variety of engaging employee and community outreach events.  

EOE and Accommodation 

We value diversity and are proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, pregnancy, citizenship, marital status, gender expression, genetic information, political affiliation, or any other characteristic protected by law. Forma provides reasonable accommodation in job application procedures for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need accommodation in connection with the recruiting process due to a disability, you may use the alternative methods by emailing humanresources@formalifesciences.com. If you are selected to interview for a position, you may also request an accommodation with our team directly.  

Notice to Agency and Search Firm Representatives 

Forma is not accepting unsolicited resumes from agencies and/or search firms for this job posting. Resumes submitted to any Forma employee by a third-party agency and/or search firm without a valid written & signed search agreement, will become the sole property of Forma. No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired for this position as a result of an unsolicited agency or search firm referral.