Commercial Supply & Contracting Director

Role Summary

The Commercial Supply & Contracting Director is a critical leadership role with significant accountability across the business and externally, accountable for the commercial supply, contracting and service approaches that ensure Pfizer medicines can be reached and accessed customers and patients now and in the future. The role sets direction across commercial supply strategy and customer supply policy, delivered in partnership with Global Supply Chain (GSC); the One Pfizer Tendering and Contracting strategy for the UK; and Homecare and patient services.

The colleague in this role is the recognised subject matter expert across this remit and works across One Pfizer — with the BUs, GSC, Country Access & Value, Finance, Legal and Medical — so that supply, contracting and channel decisions are taken once and applied consistently. Understanding the commercial supply needs of the UK market, our customers, patients and portfolio, the role partners with GSC to ensure those needs are delivered, holds oversight of customer supply policy, delivers the UK tender and contract platform from strategy through submission to contract performance, and manages our Homecare and patient services delivery partners.

As a Leadership Team member, the role brings market, customer and channel insight into portfolio and brand decisions, defines the medium and long term priorities for our UK distribution models and evolving channels, and represents Pfizer externally with Contracting Bodies, distribution partners and pharmacy bodies. It line manages — the Customer Supply Manager, the Tenders and Contracts Team, Commercial Operations Senior Manager and the Patient Services Optimisation team — and embeds the governance and process oversight needed where accountability spans multiple teams and reporting lines.

 

 

Key Responsibilities

Supply Strategy, Policy & Oversight

Pfizer UK does not own the supply chain. This role understands the commercial supply needs of the market, our customers, patients and portfolio, and partners with GSC to ensure those needs are delivered.

 

Understanding and representing commercial supply needs

•    Understand the current and future supply needs of the UK market, our customers, patients and portfolio, and translate these into clear commercial requirements for GSC.

•    Anticipate and influence external supply needs and market evolution to ensure organisational preparedness, and facilitate supply approach changes where the portfolio requires them.

•    Ensure UK distribution approaches meet the needs of One Pfizer, customers and patients now and in the future, and unlock commercial advantage v market.

•    Identify, scope and project lead critical transformation and continuous improvement supply initiatives, working with Global teams to ensure programmes enhance UK capabilities.

 

Partnering with GSC and vendors to deliver them

•    Partner with GSC UK and Global teams to deliver equitable UK supply and continuity of patient access, and lead communication and management of potential out of stock situations, internally and externally.

•    In collaboration with GSC, be Commercial lead for vendor partnerships with LSPs, supporting the GSC lead on contractual KPI compliance and operational excellence; lead commercial input at quarterly strategic vendor partnership reviews and support monthly LSP KPI meetings.

•    Co-lead the RFP process for UK distribution LSPs with GSC and Pfizer procurement, and represent Biopharma UK for external vendor partnerships with UK distribution partners.

•    Lead the cross-functional monthly Operational Excellence forum across GSC and Commercial, and the UK Supply Chain Council; be the commercial decision maker for non-standard or out of policy approaches, assessing GSC proposals with commercial impact and seeking approval where required.

•    Ensure compliance with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) regulations to maintain product quality and integrity of the distribution chain, and support development of customer service interactions in line with the ABPI Code.

 

Customer supply policy

•    Set the direction for the One Pfizer Customer Supply Policy strategy across the UK supply chain and portfolio, and oversee the continual evolution of supply policy and processes for all Pfizer medicines sold in the UK, to ensure continuity of supply for UK patients and meet all GDP requirements.

•    Ensure UK commercial sales volumes enable continuity of supply of Pfizer medicines to UK patients, in line with Legal policies and regulations.

•    Ensure full UK compliance with the European Supply Policy Guidelines and UK Supply Policies, in partnership with the European Trade Operations Director and Trade Legal Counsel.

•    Line manage the Customer Supply Manager, retaining direction, prioritisation and escalation at Director level while the team owns policy operation.

 

Tenders & Contracting

Strategy and growth

•    Define and manage the One Pfizer Tendering and Contracting strategy, aligning BU contracting and pricing strategies by working with Contract Leads and Commercial Directors across the business.

•    Execute the strategy to secure the base business and drive incremental growth for Pfizer UK.

•    Lead secondary care tendering and contracting across One Pfizer, and manage the team to ensure timely identification, submission and award of hospital contracts.

•    Monitor and identify national and regional trends in the tender and contract environment to inform future strategy, and influence the external procurement environment in partnership with Corporate Affairs.

•    Contribute to the development of post-patent strategies where appropriate.

 

External customers and relationships

•    Be the single point of leadership and accountability for the interaction and management of external National Customer Bodies and UK Contracting Bodies, and the key contact on all tender and contract matters.

•    Prioritise and resource key procurement customers across England, the Devolved Nations and DHSC, plus selected secondary care and ICS accounts, in alignment with the Country Access & Value team.

•    Develop partnerships with key external stakeholders to create win-win opportunities, and leverage the One Pfizer network to influence the environment and develop differentiation initiatives.

•    Develop cross-functional relationships across the BUs to enable the exchange of information from procurement customers and leverage opportunities across One Pfizer.

 

Commercial advantage, compliance and performance

•    Act as subject matter expert for internal stakeholders, guiding and advising on tender submissions and individual contracts to ensure commercial advantage is maximised.

•    Provide expertise and education to Commercial and Brand Leads across One Pfizer to develop and enhance the tenders and contracts value propositions and commercial offers.

•    Lead tender consultation with internal stakeholders to ensure commercial opportunities are maximised and risks minimised.

•    Be accountable for ensuring all tender submissions are compliant with both the tendering organisation’s terms and conditions and Pfizer’s operating procedures.

•    Track tender outcomes and analyse contract performance, identifying under and over performance, to build the intelligence that optimises future bidding decisions.

 

Governance and team

•    Be accountable for up-to-date SOPs covering NHS tenders and contracts, individual contracts and commercial offers, price maintenance and off-contract claims; for sign off of credits, recharges and off-contract claims; and for accuracy of Pfizer data on external procurement applications. (See Decision D3.)

•    Lead and coach the Tenders and Contracts Team, and lead the development of tenders and contracts capabilities across One Pfizer.

 

Homecare & Patient Services

•    Leverage insights to strengthen the current and develop the future Homecare approaches.

•    Ensure successful transition of brands onto Homecare Services and, where appropriate, into other approaches.

•    Partner with internal and external stakeholders to ensure delivery of Homecare KPIs in line with contractual obligations.

•    Plan and prioritise patient services priorities, assessing patient, customer and commercial impact, aligning stakeholders and engaging CMF for approval where required; provide transparency of commercial focus, measure impact and share outcomes.

•    Lead the Patient Services Optimisation team, and be accountable for resource prioritisation across Commercial Partnerships and Homecare.

 

Cross-Cutting Accountabilities

Commercial strategy and channels

•    Collaborate across One Pfizer to identify short and long term (3-year horizon) portfolio needs, and define the medium and long term strategic priorities for our One Pfizer UK distribution models and evolving channels.

•    Ensure BUs have clarity on support across the lifecycle, across channels and for commercial procurement, supply and patient services.

•    Leverage market, channel and customer insight to support development of therapy area and brand strategies and decisions.

•    Work with the BUs to define and enable experimentation and pilots offering new channels and alternative sites of care and dispensing, ensuring alignment with commercial priorities.

 

Governance and capability

•    Embed efficient and effective governance and processes which enable oversight of complex processes, where accountability spans multiple teams and reporting lines.

•    Represent the commercial supply and contracting position to key internal bodies, and provide performance updates to the Leadership Team.

•    Grow and evolve the capabilities, tools and technologies which drive impact across our partnerships, including digital and AI-enabled approaches across supply, contracting and patient services.

 

Leadership and culture

•    Lead and coach three teams, ensuring they are equipped to perform and that resources are deployed against conflicting business requirements.

•    Build a team culture that develops capabilities and talent, recognise those performing well, and role model our values of Courage, Excellence, Equity and Joy and a culture of wellbeing.

•    Provide strong change leadership, support thoughtful risk taking and enable rapid decision making; role model a One Pfizer and enterprise leader mindset, and connect the Global Blueprint through to UK priorities.

 

 

What You’ll Bring

•    Pharmaceutical industry experience, including supply chain knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of external customers and channels

•    Industry knowledge, ideally in public procurement and NHS contracting, and good awareness of policies and strategies that impact upon tendering

•    Very strong business, commercial and financial acumen

•    Strategic thinking and implementation excellence

•    Strong project and change leadership skill

•    Strong negotiation skills and persuasive oral communication, influencing internally and externally

•    Demonstrable ability to build credible relationships with senior customers and vendor partners

•    Account management capabilities at a senior level in secondary care

•    Entrepreneurial mind-set and eagerness to challenge the status quo

•    Thoughtful risk-taking and acting decisively

•    Results orientated with a high commitment to quality and performance

•    Ability to coach, develop and grow others, and strong networking skills

•    AI fluency, with the ability to drive adoption and change

 

Core Competencies

•    Demonstrates Business Acumen (Critical) — Connects contracting, supply, channel and service decisions to commercial outcomes.

•    Leads Change (Critical) — Drives change across contracting, distribution and service models while holding operational stability.

•    Acts Decisively (Critical) — Makes well-reasoned calls at bid speed, and supply calls under continuity pressure.

•    Builds Effective Teams (Critical) — Builds high-performing teams across three distinct functions.

•    Seizes Accountability (High) — Owns outcomes for tender performance, supply continuity and service delivery.

•    Grows Others (High) — Coaches and builds bench strength across contracting, supply and patient services.

•    Commits to ‘One Pfizer’ (High) — Holds a single external position and internal standard across all BUs.

Key Relationships

Internal

Direct reports

Customer Supply Manager and the Supply Management and Account Executive · Tenders and Contracts Team · Patient Services Optimisation team

Primary partner

GSC UK — distribution, forecast accuracy, equitable supply, vendor management, out of stock response, RFP co-leadership

Commercial

BU Contract Leads and Commercial Directors · Brand and TA Leads · Commercial Portfolio & Operations Director (portfolio P&L and brand lifecycle interface) · Country Access & Value

Enabling functions

Pfizer Procurement · Finance · Legal, Regulatory and Compliance · Trade Legal Counsel · Medical · Master Data and Customer Validation · Biopharma Operations

Governance forums

Leadership Team · UK Supply Chain Council · monthly Operational Excellence forum with GSC · CMF for approvals · BU and country governance bodies

Above-country

European Trade Operations Director · GSC Global teams · Global tendering and contracting functions

 

External

Procurement customers

UK Contracting Bodies and National Customer Bodies · DHSC · Devolved Nations procurement bodies · prioritised secondary care and ICS accounts

Distribution partners

LSPs and UK distribution partners — Commercial lead for the partnership, KPI compliance and strategic reviews

Service providers

Homecare service providers and patient services delivery partners

Pharmacy and trade bodies

Key pharmacy bodies, acting as an ambassador for Pfizer on a sustainable marketplace for the One Pfizer portfolio

Wider ecosystem

Cross-industry and external partners for supply and channel transformation

Purpose 

Breakthroughs that change patients' lives... At Pfizer we are a patient centric company, guided by our four values: courage, joy, equity and excellence. Our breakthrough culture lends itself to our dedication to transforming millions of lives.  

Digital Transformation Strategy

One bold way we are achieving our purpose is through our company wide digital transformation strategy. We are leading the way in adopting new data, modelling and automated solutions to further digitize and accelerate drug discovery and development with the aim of enhancing health outcomes and the patient experience.

Flexibility  

We aim to create a trusting, flexible workplace culture which encourages employees to achieve work life harmony, attracts talent and enables everyone to be their best working self. Let’s start the conversation!  

Equal Employment Opportunity 

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial to building a successful business. As an employer, Pfizer is committed to celebrating this, in all its forms – allowing for us to be as diverse as the patients and communities we serve. Together, we continue to build a culture that encourages, supports and empowers our employees.

DisAbility Confident

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and we encourage you to put your best self forward with the knowledge and trust that we will make any reasonable adjustments necessary to support your application and future career. Our mission is unleashing the power of our people, especially those with unique superpowers. Your journey with Pfizer starts here!

To learn more about acceptable and prohibited uses of AI during the recruitment process, please review our candidate AI-use guidelines available on Pfizer Careers.

 

 

Mkt & Sales/Commercial Bus