Project Coordinator III

Overview: Business Title: Procurement Specialist, Lab Capital & Biology Position Title: Business Support III Division: Consumer Products Services Entity: ATL Location: Indianapolis, IN Reports to: ATL Manager FLSA: Non-exempt Hours Worked: Typically, Monday through Friday, forty hours per week. However, must be flexible to meet the needs of the department and complete other projects as assigned. Position Summary: The Procurement Specialist, Lab Capital & Biology is responsible for supporting the transactional, operational, and contracting activities of the LRL Discovery and Pre-Clinical Research Procurement team for the Biology and Lab Equipment categories. The role executes against the category strategy and purchasing process set by the category owners, helping scientists navigate purchasing decisions, ensuring compliance with Lilly policies and pricing agreements, negotiating where needed to support business objectives, executing agreements, and reviewing and approving purchase orders. The ideal candidate is self-motivated, comfortable working independently, and focused on balancing speed, risk, and cost while identifying process improvement opportunities. This is a full-time, fixed-duration position for 18 months (approximately October 2026 – April 2028).

Duties and Responsibilities:

It is everyone’s responsibility to live out our Values and Absolutes by Shaping a World of Trust while ensuring responsible progress.

• Review and approve purchase requests promptly in SAP Ariba, ensuring compliance with the capital and CIR process for equipment purchases over $20K, commodity code accuracy, PO approval, and contract signature.
• Execute against the category strategy and purchasing process set by the category owners for Biology and Lab Equipment (approximately 50%/50%, subject to change with Lilly portfolio needs), helping scientists navigate purchasing decision trees and checking for compliance against Lilly policies and pricing agreements.
• Serve as the main point of contact between end users and suppliers for daily purchasing needs, including guidance on purchasing strategy for an area, general issue resolution, and subject matter expertise on Ariba, P2P, and new supplier setup.
• Direct purchasers to self-service resources or escalation points when questions are outside of role scope (e.g., invoicing, PO challenges).
• Negotiate key business terms and quotes aligned to the category strategy.
• Independently manage supporting agreements, including CDAs, licensing, equipment evaluation and demo agreements, and work orders, and upload executed agreements into Ariba within 30 days of signature.
• Assess risk and contracting needs when supplier or contract circumstances change, and drive resolution with the category owners and other partners to protect business continuity.
• Resolve invoicing and payment issues across suppliers, P2P, and Finance, anticipating problems and fixing root causes such as incomplete or inaccurate PR data.
• Partner with category owners to surface, prioritize, and deliver efficiency opportunities that reduce manual touch time for the business and procurement through process improvements, technology, or AI, including reporting and guided buying where needed.
• Capture and record savings from purchases and aggregator activity, and support LRL Research savings and supplier development targets.
• Challenge the status quo and recommend alternative approaches when processes, templates, or tools fall short, including developing contracting approaches that make the team faster.
• Lead small projects and troubleshooting investigations, such as RFPs or process improvement opportunities, within the scope of the role.
• Act as a change agent who helps business partners understand, support, and adopt strategies and improvements.
• Partner closely with category owners, the Operations team (including ATL contractors who oversee part of the process), Purchase to Pay (P2P), Finance, suppliers, the Contract CCOE, and occasionally Legal or other SMEs.
• Action and coordinate work independently as needs arise, with minimal supervision, in a highly regulated environment.
• Manage sensitive and confidential information appropriately.
• Report progress on milestones, goals, and workload to the N+1 on a regular basis.
• Responsible for and demonstrates a safe work environment. Complies with all safety and confidentiality policies and protocols, and reports safety incidents or near misses in real time to the Manager.
• Follow the guidelines set forth with clients and Company Quality, Health, Safety, Security and Environmental policies and procedures, and comply with clients’ and Company management systems in accordance with appropriate regulatory agencies.
• Perform other essential tasks, projects, and responsibilities as required.

Skills & Proficiencies:

• Demonstrated ability to influence peers and partners across related teams.
• Strong organization, project coordination, and communication skills, with the ability to manage high work volumes.
• Demonstrated ability to appropriately prioritize between requirements, schedule, price, and quality.
• Experience managing PRs and POs and resolving invoicing and payment issues in Ariba or a similar procurement system.
• Experience working directly with suppliers in an operational or transactional capacity.
• Maintains a composed, professional image with clients and team members; excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail.
• Technical problem solving and process improvement skills.
• Preferred: previous lab equipment, capital purchasing experience, and/or Biology background.
• Preferred: experience negotiating commercial terms such as discounts and payment terms.
• Preferred: familiarity with contracting tools such as LEAH.
• Preferred: proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, and PowerPoint.
• Preferred: experience using AI tools such as Copilot or Claude to improve productivity and reporting.

Education and Experience:

• Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in a scientific, business, finance, supply chain, procurement, or related field, or equivalent work experience
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in procurement, purchasing operations, contracting, or a related business support role

An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted in lieu of above. Compensation Range: $27.50-$30.00 per hour (e.g., the job posting is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, and actual compensation is subject to variation due to such factors as location, education, experience, and skillset).