Associate Director, Strategic Sourcing And Supplier Management

Kyverna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage cell therapy company with the mission of engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune diseases. The Kyverna therapeutic platform combines advanced T cell engineering and synthetic biology technologies to suppress and eliminate the autoreactive immune cells at the origin of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Be at the forefront of cell therapy innovation by joining scientists, industry veterans and healthcare visionaries and help transform how autoimmune diseases are treated.

Kyverna is recruiting an Associate Director, Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Management in its Technical Operations organization to help advance its mission to transform the treatment of autoimmunity for the benefit of patients. The ideal candidate will contribute to our goals of navigating what's next in synthetic biology, immunology and cell engineering while living our core values: Bring Intellectual Rigor, Elevate Each Other, and Stay True To Why.

Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing and Supply, the Associate Director will be responsible for leading the Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Management efforts. This role will require you to establish and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, develop sourcing strategies, and drive continuous improvement in supplier performance to ensure the highest quality and reliability of our supply chain and ensure sufficient manufacturing capacity to support global demand.

Responsibilities:

• Strategic Sourcing: Develop and implement comprehensive sourcing strategies for critical materials (vector, cells, editing agents), manufacturing capacity, raw materials, critical components, equipment, and services required for cell therapy production, ensuring cost-effectiveness, quality, and reliability.
• Supplier Management: Lead the evaluation, selection, and management of suppliers, including negotiating contracts, terms, and agreements to secure a stable and high-quality supply chain.
• Supplier Performance: Continuously assess and monitor supplier performance, implementing key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive improvements in quality, cost, and delivery.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate potential risks in the supply chain, including supplier-related risks, to ensure uninterrupted production. Develop risk registry and heat maps for performance for all critical suppliers.
• Develop risk-based sourcing strategy that evaluates second sourcing options/requirements, and geographic spread leading to robust supply capacity and capability.
• Supplier Collaboration: Foster strong relationships with key suppliers, working collaboratively to drive innovation, quality improvements, and cost reductions.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure that suppliers adhere to all relevant regulatory and quality standards, maintaining the highest level of compliance.
• Cost Management: Manage the budget for the Sourcing and Supplier Management, seeking cost-saving opportunities while maintaining quality and compliance.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate with various internal departments, including Technical Development will be responsible for leading the Strategic Sourcing and supply management efforts for, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, and Regulatory Affairs, to align sourcing strategies with organizational goals.
• Market Research: Stay up-to-date with industry trends, market dynamics, and emerging technologies to inform sourcing decisions and strategic planning.
• Use operational excellence mind-set and tools to review processes, procedures, and documentation to maintain simplicity, accuracy and robustness in the operational approach.
• While creating and improving documentation, process flows and internal business processes, the Associate Director will proactively work with internal and external stakeholders to evaluate business needs and collaborates with and executes on projects as needed to support Manufacturing and Supply Chain. Processes related to interfaces and coordination between Kyverna and its external CDMOs and Suppliers, interfaces with internal quality and supply chain to support improvements in Vein to Vein time, supporting regulatory filings and continuous improvement.
• In collaboration with program teams, execute and support program goals, including document revision and process definition.
• Lead interactions with internal and external partners by developing agendas, setting priorities for discussions, capturing meetings minutes, and tracking action items across the governance model.
• Implement and monitor activities of partnerships in collaboration with internal functional leadership teams. Drive and support teams in resolution of conflicts and issue triage with Suppliers/CMOs.
• Identify and document best practices for different partnerships to evaluate and implement with Kyverna's Suppliers / CMOs and develop a supplier contact database.
• Work with functional leadership to design, implement and maintain Risk Based Quality Management strategies in support of Kyverna's clinical programs.
• Serve as a talent magnet and develop, coach, and retain top talent in the team. Set clear performance standards and holds self and organization accountable for achieving results.
• Support business development due diligence projects as needed in order to support analysis and assessment of external opportunities.

Requirements:

• Degree (Bachelors or higher) or equivalent experience in life sciences, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology.
• 10+ years of manufacturing, sourcing, supply chain or BD experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with at least 4 years experience in the field of cell therapies.
• Expertise with cGMP manufacturing as well as regulatory regulations and requirements for biopharmaceutical products and ATMPs.
• Knowledge of the suppliers and their performance for supplying cells, materials and services for Cell Therapy products.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully negotiate contracts and terms favorable to the organization that minimizes risk to supply of cell therapy products.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex relationships.
• Ability to think critically, and demonstrated troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Strategic thinking and high emotional intelligence.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to function efficiently and independently in a changing environment.
• Manage and advance multiple projects simultaneously and dynamically reprioritize as needed.
• Demonstrated success in leading high performing teams.
• Ability to communicate effectively with Kyverna Leadership, clinical, biomarker, biostatistical, and pre-clinical scientists, and with external business partners and Regulatory Authorities.

The base salary range for candidates residing in California for this position is $160,000 - $200,000 USD annually. This salary range is an estimate of what we reasonably expect to pay for this posted position, and the actual salary may vary based on various factors, including without limitation individual education, relevant experience, tenure, skills and abilities, geographic location, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. This position is also eligible for bonus, benefits, and participation in Company's stock option plan.

Kyverna is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. Kyverna is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identify, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other legally protected status. EOE/AA/Vets