Procurement Specialist

Overview

MSD Animal Health Innovation is offering a temporary project assignment for a Senior Specialist focused on Lab Supplies, Equipment & Services. The assignment supports a major global transformation effort and sits within the Multi-Year Optimization (MYO) Program, a company-wide initiative aimed at improving productivity, freeing up resources, and creating capacity for strategic growth.

The role is based in Germany, with a preference for the Schwabenheim / Rhine-Main area. Remote working is possible. The position works closely with the Lab Supplies & Equipment and Lab Services Category Procurement Lead and contributes to savings, cost-of-goods improvement, simplification, standardization, demand optimization, and the removal of activities that do not add value.

This is a highly execution-oriented role. It involves turning ideas into analysis, decision support, and implementation steps, without any direct people-management duties. The work is carried out in a matrixed, international environment with collaboration across regions and sites.

What you will do

• Support the Lab Supplies & Equipment and Lab Services Procurement Category Lead on project delivery as a hands-on contributor.
• Review, interpret, compare, and synthesize complex data sets relating to lab supplies, equipment, services, spend, and demand patterns.
• Create strong business cases for change, including financial impact assessments, risk reviews, and rollout plans.
• Turn meeting decisions into concrete outputs such as sourcing plans, communication drafts, and tracked action items.
• Carry out sourcing and optimization work such as market scans, RFP preparation, supplier assessments, and negotiation preparation.
• Take ownership of assigned initiatives, step in for the Category Lead when needed, and represent the category in meetings while documenting decisions, analyses, actions, and follow-ups.
• Build practical decision-support materials, including recommendations and decision trees, and convert them into implementation steps.
• Work with Quality, R&D, Procurement, Operations, and where relevant Human Health colleagues to maintain alignment.
• Help drive simplification and standardization efforts through documentation, process mapping, and identification of non-value-added work.

Key stakeholders

• Quality
• R&D
• Global Procurement
• MYO Program leadership
• Human Health counterparts
• Global network stakeholders

Profile required

The ideal candidate has a bachelor’s degree or comparable experience, preferably in Science, Engineering, Business, Supply Chain, or a related discipline. You should bring strong analytical skills, be confident working independently, and have a track record of turning data into practical recommendations.

This role suits someone who is highly self-directed, comfortable with remote work, and able to thrive in a fast-moving, high-demand environment with shifting priorities. You should be able to move between multiple topics quickly, work through ambiguous problems, and build structure where little exists.

Experience in cross-functional, international settings is important, ideally in pharmaceutical, biotech, animal health, or other regulated environments. Strong written and spoken English is essential because all meetings and documentation are in English. Good organization, the ability to manage several workstreams at once, and comfort with virtual meetings plus occasional on-site travel are also required.

Additional information

This is a temporary project role. Remote work is possible, although the preferred base location is Schwabenheim / Rhine-Main area in Germany. The job involves limited travel and participation in both virtual and occasional in-person meetings.

Terms and conditions

The assignment is temporary and supports a global transformation program. No people-management responsibility is attached to the role. The work is expected to be performed in English and may require adapting to evolving requirements and unclear problem statements.