Do you want to be part of an inclusive team that works to develop innovative therapies for patients? Every day, we are driven to develop and deliver innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians. If you want to be part of this exciting work, you belong at Astellas!

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are committed to turning innovative science into medical solutions that bring value and hope to patients and their families. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the world. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com .

This position is based in Northbrook, Illinois. Remote work from certain states may be permitted in accordance with Astellas’ Responsible Flexibility Guidelines. Candidates interested in remote work are encouraged to apply.

Purpose and Scope:

  • The GCO Process & Systems Lead will design, manage and continuously improve the third-party supplier contracting process. They will be proactive with changes and/or improvements to align with evolving business needs. This role interfaces with GCO team members, GCO Engagement Partner, GCO Program Manager, Legal subject matter experts, Information Systems, and other internal and external stakeholders as required to identify and execute new processes, changes, and improvements. Contributes to the improvement of the contract process by being an active member of the Astellas Global Contracting Office.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

  • Owning responsibility for the GCO contracting processes and ensuring that the objective of each process aligns with the GCO’s strategy and delivers the intended outcomes with efficiency and speed.

  • Communicating and providing training on the processes and their activities to process users (and to their functional managers) to ensure proper execution.

  • Engaging stakeholders to ensure process alignment with their requirements and expectations.

  • Defining process control indicators, monitoring performance, and conducting audits to verify user compliance and identify improvement opportunities.

  • Managing process change requests, approvals, and related communications.

  • Working with GCO team members and internal and external stakeholders to identify process bottlenecks and drive solutions.

  • Working cooperatively with other linked processes, process owners and subject matter experts to ensure enterprise-wide continuity and optimization.

  • Influencing process stakeholders to adopt change to advance improvements/efficiencies.

  • Proactively learning about internal and external best practices and using such learnings to develop and drive continuous improvement to GCO processes.

  • Updating and maintaining process diagrams and work instructions to ensure they always reflect current work practice; maintaining procedures and documentation for the use of the myContract and any other system used by the Global Contracting Office.

  • Owning GCO relationship with Astellas’ Information Systems department; leading and/or participating on GCO application and workflow projects.

  • Supporting a culture of continuous improvement across the end-to-end process from Source to Contract to Purchase via effective collaboration with Procurement, GBS, and Finance; coordinating closely with other Astellas Corporate Functions, including Information Systems, Procurement, GBS, and Ethics & Compliance.

  • Contributing to the development and optimization of the GCO strategy and vision for contract management and contract operations.

  • Supporting a legal culture of excellence, which includes driving and fostering: (1) an agile, adaptive culture; (2) a value-based organization based on Legal’s Mission and objectives; (3) a culture of innovation, transparency and trust; (4) proactive identification/mitigation of risk in a balanced approach; (5) empowerment and engagement of the team members; (6) a collaborative culture with close coordination with other members of Legal and IP as appropriate to leverage synergies and efficiencies; (7) a culture of compliance and good corporate governance; and (8) a continuous expectation of high performance, where “ok” is not good enough.

  • Leading and supporting other projects as may be requested by the GCO Lead, Legal Governance, Corporate Strategy and Administration Head, or General Counsel.

  • Overnight travel, including international travel, as needed.

Organizational Context:

  • The GCO Process & Systems Lead reports to the GCO Lead.

  • Works closely, collaborates, and coordinates with others in the Global Contracting Office (“GCO”), including Directors, GCO Contracting, GCO Engagement Partner, GCO Program Manager, GCO Contract Content Lead, and Legal subject matter experts.

Qualifications:

Required

  • Bachelor’s Degree is required, preferred if in a healthcare-related discipline, life sciences, law, or business.

  • Legal background, contracting expertise, and/or familiarity with global source-to-pay contracting processes.

  • Experience with business process management preferred.

  • Solid experience and knowledge of best practices relating to contract matters preferred.

  • Strong work ethic and ability to manage a large workload, multi-task and focus on critical priorities and otherwise effectively meet client needs.

  • Excellent customer service; demonstrated understanding and ability to deliver in support of internal stakeholder’s priorities and needs. Able to balance competing project priorities from multiple global client groups.

  • Demonstrated and proven experience working with teams in the delivery of results. Team player and able to build relationships both internally and externally.

  • Strong attention to detail and ability to produce quality work under pressure and to deliver tasks against tight deadlines. Self-motivated and conscious of both the quality and timeliness of the work completed.

  • Good analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to acquire process knowledge quickly.

  • Inspires trust and confidence through effective communication and interpersonal skills.

  • Ability to function autonomously with little supervision.

  • Computer literacy, including Microsoft Office Suite.

  • Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills required, including fluency in written and spoken English.

Benefits:

  • Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance

  • Generous Paid Time Off options, including Vacation, Sick time, plus national holidays including Heritage Days, and Summer and Winter Breaks

  • 401(k) match and annual company contribution

  • Company paid life insurance

  • Annual Corporate Bonus and Quarterly Sales Incentive for eligible positions

  • Long Term Incentive Plan for eligible positions

  • Referral bonus program

*LI-JB1

Category Legal Governance, Corporate Strategy and Administration

Astellas is committed to equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment.

EOE including Disability/Protected Veterans

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