Procurement Specialist (12-month contract)

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, daring thinking, and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions and even the globe.

Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to build a strong culture of collaboration and partnership by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week. Our head office and BlueSky Hub in downtown Toronto are purposely crafted with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm, and connect on key projects.

Our dedication to sustainability is also central to our culture and part of what makes AstraZeneca a great place to work. We know the health of people, the planet and our business are interconnected, which is why we are taking bold actions to address some of the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to healthcare and disease prevention.

Summary of Position:

The Procurement Specialist plays a critical role in delivering strategic and operational procurement support across the Canadian business. In this position, you will work in a fast‑paced, constantly evolving environment where priorities may shift quickly. Success in this role requires comfort navigating ambiguity, strong judgment to determine what matters most, and the discipline to follow through with precision and accountability.

You will partner with cross‑functional teams, global category leads, and external suppliers to lead sourcing activities, manage the contracting process, and drive compliance with procurement policies. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, can confidently make decisions with incomplete information, and thrives in a dynamic, matrixed organization.

You will focus on a variety of spend categories and will work with regional category teams to support local deployment of Global Category strategy. The role provides deep Procurement experience as well as vast engagement experience across senior partners, global functions, external suppliers, and a diverse and global network of Procurement colleagues. This role is a steppingstone towards advancement within the broader Procurement organization.

This is a 12-month contract position. Hybrid (3 days per week in-office).

What You will Do:

• Lead and prioritize day‑to‑day procurement activities across purchase‑to‑pay processes and tools, ensuring compliance with AZ procurement policies while confidently navigating shifting business needs and ambiguity. Drive awareness and usage of local and/or global preferred supplier minimizing number and frequency of new supplier requests.
• Drive process simplification and continuous improvement by identifying unclear or inefficient steps in current workflows and ensuring clear follow‑through to implement enhancements (e.g., internal guidelines, legal support model, templates).
• Deliver exceptional customer service to internal and external stakeholders, proactively managing competing requirements and making informed decisions even when full information is not yet available.
• Own the end‑to‑end contracting process—drive the contracting process, recommending the right template or contracting approach, managing contract renewals and leading new contracts creation, negotiations/renegotiations of the T&C’s that leverage spend and minimizes business risk, contracts administration activities (tracking, reporting).
• Lead sourcing events (RFP/RFQ) and manage procurement of services, applying sound judgment in evaluating proposals, making recommendations, and advancing decisions in situations where supplier data or business inputs may be incomplete.
• Collaborate closely with Global and Regional Category Leads, translating high‑level global strategy into clear local actions, and resolving challenges by proactively prioritizing next steps and ensuring outcomes are delivered. You will give guidance on local requirements, identify challenges & opportunities, and drive the global sourcing strategies into local market
• Work cross‑functionally to drive progress, mitigate risk, and identify opportunities—often in situations with multiple stakeholders, evolving needs, and limited guidance—while ensuring alignment, deadlines, and follow‑through.
• Analyze data and prepare insights‑driven recommendations using advanced analytical tools, helping leadership make decisions quickly even when operating with shifting or ambiguous information sets.

What We are Looking For:

• 5+ years of relevant procurement work experience, with a background operating in a complex, global organization, or heavily regulated industry.
• Post-Secondary Diploma or Degree or equivalent experience in Procurement or a related field (Business, Finance or Supply Chain).
• Experience in leading procurement initiatives (e.g. sourcing) aligned with enterprise-wide business/procurement needs.
• Experienced with indirect procurement categories.
• Working knowledge of SAP and Coupa.
• Experience with Microsoft Office Tools, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint
• Data-driven mindset with advanced analytical skills including Pivot Table, Lookup formulas, Conditional Formatting, etc.
• Experience in contract negotiations with an understanding of commercial terms & conditions, contract life cycle, legal parameters.
• Strong interpersonal and business partnering skills.
• Strong communications and presentation skills with ability to communicate clearly and concisely both verbal and written, with ability to craft a message that gets through to the audience.
• Strong influencing, negotiation, and analytical skills with ability to handle scoring for varied types of procurement projects and to evaluate pricing proposals.
• Strong project management skills: ability to lead to multiple projects/tasks, prioritize and work in a demanding face-paced environment.

Who We Are:

Great People want to Work with us! Find out why:

• GTAA Top Employer Award for 10 years
• Top 100 Employers Award
• Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture
• Learn more about working with us in Canada
• View our YouTube channel

Are you interested in working at AZ, apply today!

AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion and providing a workplace that is free from discrimination. AstraZeneca is committed to accommodating persons with disabilities. Such accommodation is available on request in respect of all aspects of the recruitment, assessment and selection process and may be requested by emailing AZCHumanResources@astrazeneca.com.

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Annual base salary for this position ranges from 94,693.60 to 124,285.35.

AstraZeneca is committed to providing fair and equitable compensation opportunities to all colleagues. Our compensation policies and practices have been designed to allow colleagues to progress through the salary range over time as they progress in their role. The range provided in this posting represents an offer pay range used in a majority of situations. The base pay offered will vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including the candidate's skills and experience, job-related knowledge, and other specific business and organizational needs.  In some cases, offers outside the range may also be considered to address unique circumstances.

In addition, our permanent positions offer an annual Variable Pay Bonus/Short Term Incentive opportunity as well as eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (if applicable to role).  Benefits offered for permanent roles include a competitive Flex Benefits & Retirement Savings Program, 4 weeks’ paid vacation, and annual Personal Days. Fixed Term Contract/Temporary positions (excluding students) are offered a Contract Benefits Program.

We are using AI as part of the recruitment process.

This advertisement relates to a current vacancy.