Manager/Director, Procurement and Materials (Contract Role)

Job Description

Job Description

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 investigational 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.

Position Summary 

Orca Bio is seeking an experienced Procurement & Inventory Management Consultant to support sourcing, procurement, materials management, inventory planning, and forecasting activities for research, development, manufacturing, and business operations. This contract role will be responsible for managing and optimizing procurement strategies, developing and improving forecast inventory and purchasing tools, ensuring the timely acquisition and availability of goods and services while balancing quality, cost, and delivery. 

The ideal candidate is a hands-on procurement professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and can partner cross-functionally to optimize purchasing and inventory processes. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead procurement activities for direct and indirect materials, laboratory supplies, equipment, and services.  

• Manage and optimize sourcing strategies that align with business objectives for quality, cost, supply continuity, and operational efficiency.  

• Manage inventory levels and partner with internal stakeholders to develop forecasts that ensure material availability while minimizing excess inventory.  

• Monitor inventory trends, usage patterns, supplier lead times, and demand forecasts to proactively mitigate supply risks.  

• Support material sourcing and new material introductions including Identify, qualify, and manage supplier. 

• Trouble shoot supplier events and issues, including supplier performance, risk assessments, and continuous improvement initiatives.  

• Partner with Manufacturing, Technical Operations, Quality, Finance, Facilities, and Research teams to understand business needs and drive procurement and inventory needs.  

• Manage purchase requisitions, purchase orders, and vendor onboarding while ensuring compliance with company policies and procedures.  

• Resolve supplier and inventory issues while implementing corrective actions to maintain continuity of supply.  

• Analyze procurement and inventory data to identify cost savings, process improvements, supplier consolidation opportunities, and inventory optimization strategies.  

• Develop and report procurement and inventory metrics, including supplier performance, inventory health, forecasting accuracy, and cost savings.  

Deliverables 

• Optimize inventory forecasting based on inventory consumption data, supplier lead times, internal test and release times and demand forecast needs and project needs.  

• Develop a process for purchase order review prior to submission for approval process.  

• Support  material sourcing initiated to deliver required materials and inventories. 

Duration 

4 months with option to extend based on need. 

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.  

• 5+ years of procurement, strategic sourcing, inventory management, or supply chain experience.  

• Experience with inventory planning and procurement strategies.  

• Proven experience managing supplier relationships.  

• Strong analytical, organizational, and project management skills.  

• Excellent communication and negotiation skills with the ability to collaborate across multiple functions.  

• Experience using ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, or similar) and Microsoft Excel.  

• Ability to work onsite in Sacramento, California.  

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, life sciences, cell therapy, gene therapy, or medical device industry is preferred but not required.  

• Knowledge of GMP/GxP environments and regulated procurement practices.  

• Experience sourcing laboratory equipment, raw materials, single-use manufacturing components, or contract laboratory/manufacturing services.  

• Familiarity with supplier quality management, vendor qualification, and risk assessment processes.  

• Experience with MRP systems, procurement analytics, and inventory optimization.  

• Professional certifications such as CPSM, CSCP, APICS, or CPIM are a plus.  

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.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.