Global Category Lead; Manufacturing

At Fresenius Medical Care , we are the global leader in kidney care, committed to improving the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease. Our mission is to deliver high-quality, innovative products, services, and care across the entire healthcare journey. Guided by our vision—“Creating a future worth living. For patients. Worldwide. Every day.”—we work with purpose and compassion, supported by a global team of over 125,000 employees.

As a part of Global Functions , our Procurement Department is driving transformation through our FME Reignite strategy, which focuses on innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth. Our values are the foundation of our culture:

• We Care for our patients, each other, and our communities.

• We Connect across teams and borders to deliver excellence together.

• We Commit to doing things the right way—growing with purpose and leading kidney care with integrity and innovation.

The Director Global Contract Manufacturing is responsible for establishing and executing the global procurement strategy for Contract Manufacturing, ensuring alignment with Fresenius Medical Care’s strategic, operational, financial, sustainability, and risk management objectives. The role serves as the global procurement leader for the category and is accountable for maximizing value creation, ensuring supply continuity, driving innovation, and managing strategic supplier partnerships across multiple regions.

The Director leads a team of Category Managers and procurement professionals, providing strategic direction, talent development, and performance management while partnering with senior business leaders across Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Operations, R&D, Legal, and Finance. The incumbent acts as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and contributes to procurement transformation initiatives across the enterprise.

Your Role:

Strategic Leadership

• Define and own the global Contract Manufacturing category strategy and roadmap.
• Develop and implement multi-year category plans supporting business growth and manufacturing network optimization.
• Establish long-term supplier portfolio strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Drive procurement excellence through innovation, sustainability, digitalization, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Lead category governance and strategic business reviews.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, develop, and manage Category Managers and assigned procurement personnel.
• Establish performance objectives and development plans.
• Build talent pipelines and succession plans.
• Foster a high-performance and collaborative procurement culture.
• Drive employee engagement and capability development across the category organization.

Commercial Leadership

• Lead executive-level supplier negotiations and commercial discussions.
• Approve sourcing recommendations and supplier award decisions.
• Ensure achievement of annual savings, productivity, and value-creation objectives.
• Drive working capital improvement initiatives and payment term optimization.
• Own strategic contracting approaches for critical suppliers.

Supplier Relationship Management

• Establish executive governance models with strategic contract manufacturing partners.
• Lead supplier segmentation and performance management programs.
• Drive innovation, quality improvement, and business continuity initiatives through supplier partnerships.
• Ensure supplier compliance with quality, regulatory, ESG, and sustainability requirements.

Risk Management and Compliance

• Lead supplier risk assessment and mitigation activities.
• Develop and oversee business continuity and supply resilience plans.
• Ensure compliance with procurement policies, healthcare regulations, competition laws, and corporate governance standards.
• Manage…