Sr. Director, Vendor & Relationship Management

Department: Development

Reports To: Vice President, Head of Development Services

Location: Princeton, NJ -On-site 4 days (M-Th)

*May consider candidates in South San Francisco

Travel: Up to 20–30% domestic and international travel as required

About Kardigan

Kardigan is a heart health company focused on modernizing cardiovascular drug development and advancing targeted treatments for cardiovascular diseases. The company is building a development model grounded in deep cardiovascular expertise, data, technology, and operational excellence to bring forward therapies that may meaningfully change outcomes for patients and families.

Role Summary

The Sr. Director, Vendor & Relationship Management will provide strategic and operational leadership for vendor governance, sourcing strategy, and relationship management across Kardigan’s clinical portfolio. This role defines and implements sourcing strategies and associated operating models that enable effective clinical trial execution through external partnerships, and is directly accountable for ensuring that CROs, central labs, and other clinical vendors meet performance, quality, and cost targets. The role oversees vendor selection, integration, governance, performance management, relationship health, and issue escalation, ensuring vendors are embedded effectively into Kardigan’s operating model, ways of working, and culture.

The Senior Director serves as a subject matter expert on vendor and relationship management best practices and industry trends, bringing external perspective to how Kardigan structures, governs, and matures its vendor relationships. This is a hands-on leadership role that requires the ability to operate strategically while also building fit-for-purpose governance structures, processes, and team capabilities — including providing leadership to and development of direct reports as the function scales. The Senior Director will partner closely with Development Operations, Clinical Operations, Biometrics, Business Operations, Procurement, Legal, Quality, and cross-functional clinical development teams to ensure clinical vendors are selected, onboarded, managed, and held accountable effectively across the portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

Sourcing Strategy and Operating Model Design

• Define and implement sourcing strategies and associated operating models that enable efficient, high-quality clinical trial execution through external partnerships.
• Assess portfolio resource demand and sourcing options — including build-vs-buy and vendor-mix decisions — to meet current and anticipated future portfolio needs, in partnership with Procurement and the functions.
• Serve as subject matter expert on vendor and relationship management best practices and industry trends, applying external benchmarking to continuously evolve Kardigan’s sourcing and governance models.

Vendor Governance and Relationship Management

• Lead the vendor governance model across Kardigan’s clinical portfolio, ensuring relationships between functional areas/study teams and their vendors are running smoothly and efficiently.
• Define, model, and reinforce Partnership behaviors that enable high-performing partnerships—transparency, trust, shared accountability, constructive challenge, timely decision-making, and a mutual commitment to outcomes—across Kardigan and its strategic vendors.

• Oversee the planning and leading of Joint Operations Committees, Executive Steering Committees, and other governance committees on behalf of Kardigan with key vendors — including agenda setting, metrics review, strategy formulation, and action follow-up.
• Serve as the senior point of contact for strategic, relationship-level vendor issues and escalations, distinct from day-to-day operational escalations managed within study teams.
• Develop and maintain vendor segmentation and oversight models that align governance intensity with vendor scope, risk, and criticality.
• Promote compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards related to vendor management and outsourcing, including the development and maintenance of appropriate partnership documentation.

Vendor Performance, Cost, and Operational Transparency

• Own vendor accountability for performance, quality, and cost targets across the portfolio, collaborating with Business Operations and Finance to align operational cost management with budgeting, forecasting, and accrual processes.
• Develop and enhance vendor performance scorecards and dashboards that monitor vendor performance and compliance with contracts, using analytics to drive early identification of risks and proactively initiating mitigations and contingencies against performance and cost risks.
• Collaborate with relevant functions to ensure vendors execute clinical trials within budget, on time, and to the highest quality, through cross-company and cross-partnership collaboration.
• Translate vendor performance, cost, and relationship data into concise insights for Development Operations leadership, executive leadership, and governance forums.
• Drive continuous improvement in vendor management processes, tools, templates, and reporting practices to increase speed, consistency, and inspection readiness.
• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, AI-enabled tools, and fit-for-purpose systems to improve vendor oversight, score carding, and relationship reporting.

Vendor Onboarding and Strategic Partnership Development

• Play a pivotal role in the identification, evaluation, selection, and onboarding of new vendors, in partnership with Procurement/Business Operations, Development Operations, and functional business partners.
• Cultivate and model effective partnerships that foster robust relationships with key external partners, leading the integration of new vendors into Kardigan’s operating model and ways of working.
• Drive vendor-enabled process improvements and innovation initiatives that enhance efficiency, quality, and relationship value over time.

Issue Resolution and Cross-Functional Escalation Management

• Apply strong negotiation and honest-brokering skills to drive resolution of relationship, performance, and commercial issues, partnering with Procurement/Business Operations and Legal on formal contract terms and amendments.
• Partner with internal stakeholders, such as Clinical Operations, Biometrics, Business Operations, Legal, Quality, and external partners to resolve relationship, performance, and delivery escalations that could impact study timelines or execution quality.
• Address areas of vendor performance and cost concern directly and effectively, providing recommendations to mitigate against poor performance and, where needed, driving corrective action plans.
• Liaise with Procurement, Legal, and Finance/Business Operations to ensure vendor relationship issues are addressed holistically alongside contractual and financial considerations.

People Leadership and Team Development

• Provide leadership to and development of direct reports, including coaching, performance management, delegation of responsibilities, and succession planning as the function scales.
• Build, lead, and mentor internal vendor management capabilities, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.
• Serve as a senior business partner to Development Operations and cross-functional clinical development teams, bringing strong judgment, operational discipline, and a collaborative problem-solving mindset.
• Represent Partner Strategy and Relationship Management in governance forums, project team discussions, and operating model initiatives as needed.
• Foster strong working relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendor partners, balancing strategic influence with hands-on execution.
• Contribute to departmental SOPs, working practices, and operating model improvements that enable Kardigan to execute efficiently and with quality.

Qualifications and Preferred Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, life sciences, healthcare administration, or a related field required; advanced degree such as MBA or MS preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of relevant experience in vendor management, operational leadership, procurement, or related roles within the biopharmaceutical industry, with experience overseeing CROs and other clinical vendors; advanced degree with 10+ years of relevant experience may be considered.
• Proven track record of building and managing relationships with external partners and vendors, with strong negotiation and honest-brokering skills.
• Demonstrated experience defining and implementing sourcing strategies and operating models, and building and leading vendor governance frameworks, performance scorecards, and relationship management programs in a biotechnology or pharmaceutical environment.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements and industry standards related to vendor management and outsourcing in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Thorough understanding of the drug development process and experience managing vendor relationships across the clinical trial lifecycle.
• Experience supporting global clinical trials and cross-functional development teams; late-stage clinical development experience is required.
• Strategic partnership or alliance management experience preferred.
• Strong analytical capability with the ability to translate vendor performance and cost data into practical insights, recommendations, dashboards, and executive-ready communications.
• Experience building scalable governance processes, tools, templates, and operating rhythms in a growing organization.
• Working knowledge of GxP, sponsor oversight expectations, and inspection readiness considerations as they relate to vendor oversight.
• Proven ability to lead through influence across matrixed teams and to partner effectively with Business Operations, Procurement, Legal, Clinical Operations, Quality, and external partners.
• Demonstrated experience leading, developing, and growing a team of direct reports.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex operational, cost, and relationship information for senior leadership audiences.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial biotechnology environment with a high degree of ownership, adaptability, and accountability.

Success Profile

• Strategic operator: Applies business acumen and strategic agility to connect sourcing strategy, governance design, and portfolio-level trade-offs, maintaining perspective on what matters most as priorities shift. (Business Acumen, Strategic Agility, Perspective, Organizational Agility)
• Decisive executor: Solves problems and drives results in ambiguous, fast-moving situations, taking action and maintaining momentum even when the path forward isn’t fully defined. (Problem Solving, Dealing with Ambiguity, Action Oriented, Drive for Results)
• People leader: Delegates effectively, develops and cares about the growth of direct reports, and directs others with clarity while holding the team accountable to high standards. (Delegation, Developing Direct Reports, Directing Others, Caring about Direct Reports)
• Relationship navigator: Navigates conflict constructively, builds strong peer relationships, and reads organizational and political dynamics to get things done through influence rather than authority alone. (Conflict Management, Interpersonal Savvy, Peer Relationships, Organizational Savvy)