Associate Director, Procurement & Materials

More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a commercial-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.   We have built a state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA (7910 Metro Air Pkwy) to ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of our high-precision cell therapy products. This site is essential to advancing our clinical pipeline and supporting future commercial availability of our life-saving therapies. Associate Director/Director - The Associate/Director of Procurement and Materials is responsible for leading the end-to-end procurement, inventory management, and materials master data functions in support of GMP manufacturing operations. This role ensures uninterrupted supply of raw materials, consumables, packaging components, and indirect materials by overseeing purchasing, supplier management, inventory forecasting, and inventory control processes.  The Associate Directory/Director serves as the primary operational liaison with suppliers regarding purchase orders, material availability, stock shortages, quality issues, delivery performance, and supply continuity.  Key Responsibilities

Essential Duties & Key Responsibilities: 

Procurement 

• Lead the procurement team responsible for purchasing raw materials, consumables, packaging components, capital equipment, and indirect supplies.  

• Ensure timely issuance, confirmation, and follow-up of purchase orders through delivery.  

• Negotiate pricing, contracts, and commercial terms with suppliers in partnership with Strategic Sourcing and Legal as appropriate.  

Purchase Order Management 

• Oversee the complete purchase order lifecycle from requisition through receipt.  

• Ensure purchase orders accurately reflect material specifications, quantities, pricing, and delivery requirements.  

• Monitor supplier acknowledgements and delivery commitments.  

• Escalate supplier delays and coordinate recovery plans to minimize production impact.  

• Maintain purchasing metrics including on-time delivery, purchase order cycle time, and supplier responsiveness.  

Inventory Forecasting & Materials Planning

• Lead inventory forecasting activities in partnership with Supply Chain Planning and Manufacturing.  

• Review demand forecasts to determine future procurement requirements.  

• Establish inventory targets including safety stock, reorder points, and minimum/maximum inventory levels.  

• Balance inventory investment while minimizing stockouts and excess inventory.  

• Monitor inventory health, slow-moving inventory, excess inventory, and expiration risks.  

Supplier Relationship Management 

• Build and maintain strong strategic relationships with suppliers.  

• Conduct regular business reviews with key suppliers.  

• Monitor supplier performance using key performance indicators including:  

• On-time delivery  

• Lead time adherence  

• Quality performance  

• Identify alternate suppliers and mitigate supply risks.  

Stock-Out & Supply Issue Management 

• Serve as the primary escalation point for supplier stock shortages and material availability issues.  

• Coordinate supplier recovery plans for backorders and constrained materials.  

• Communicate supply risks to Planning, Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership.  

Supplier Quality & Delivery Performance 

• Partner with Quality Assurance on supplier quality issues.  

• Coordinate supplier investigations for nonconforming materials.  

Inventory Management 

• Partner with Warehouse and Materials Management to maintain accurate inventory.  

• Review inventory accuracy, cycle count performance, and inventory reconciliation.  

  Minimum Qualifications

Minimum Experience, Education, Certifications, Licenses: 

Associate Director 

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, Business, or related field  

• 8–10 years of progressive procurement, materials management, inventory management, or supply chain experience in a GMP-regulated manufacturing environment  

• 3–5 years of people leadership  

• Experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, etc.)  

• Experience managing procurement operations, inventory management, supplier performance, and materials management  

Director 

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, Business, or related field  

• 10–15+ years of progressive procurement, materials management, inventory management, or supply chain experience in a GMP-regulated manufacturing environment  

• 5+ years leading procurement and materials organizations  

• Demonstrated success building scalable procurement organizations and improving supplier performance, inventory health, and operational efficiency  

• Experience leading organizational and system improvements 

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, or related fields. 

Reporting Structure & Authority:  

• Direct reports include Procurement Manager and procurement specialist(s) 

• Define Supervisory responsibilities include, 

• Oversees the daily workflow of the department and performance to goals and deliverables 

• Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new staff  

• Provides constructive and timely performance feedback and evaluations  

• Other related supervisory responsibilities as assigned  

Training & Continuous Improvement: 

• Certification in Production and Inventory Management or Logistics, such as APICS are a plus  

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with autologous or allogeneic cell therapy supply chains.

Familiarity with both clinical and commercial supply chain models.

Knowledge of manufacturing, chain of identity/custody requirements, and vein-to-vein workflows.

Personal Qualities & Physical Demands

Demonstrates strong work ethic, curiosity to learn and contribute in a fast-paced collaborative environment. 

Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively. 

Ability to work in a collaborative manner. 

Strong problem-solving skills. 

Domestic and international travel may be required from time to time as needed (approximately 10-25%). 

May require occasional lifting up to 25 lbs. and gowning into cleanroom areas. 

Requires sitting, standing, working in an office environment and computer use.

The anticipated annual salary range for this job is based on prior experience in the role/industry, education, location, internal equity, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. For remote-based positions, this range may vary based on your local market. Full-time employment positions will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity and annual bonus, in addition to competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, PTO, 401(k) plan, life and accidental death and disability coverage, and parental leave benefits. Other perks include subsidized daily lunches and snacks at our on-site locations.

Who we are

We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them.

We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.

We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo.

We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers.

Notice to staffing firms

Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent team, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we rarely outsource recruitment.