Merck KGaA Posted September 12, 2026

Key Suppliers Sourcing Manager / Direct Materials / EMEA

Mollet del Valles, Barcelona, Spain FULL_TIME
Procurement Manager
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Merck KGaA is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Work Your Magic with us!

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

Your Role:  At the heart of our global supply chain strategy, this role offers you the opportunity to shape how we source, qualify, and partner with key suppliers, driving measurable impact on supply security, financial performance, and sustainability across our operations within the region of EMEA.

As Sourcing Manager, you will lead the end-to-end strategic sourcing process for key suppliers, translating category strategies into actionable plans that directly support our business objectives. Working closely with Category Managers, you will identify opportunities, negotiate favorable terms, qualify suppliers, and build long-term partnerships that fuel growth and innovation. You will be accountable for supplier identification, performance management, and issue resolution, ensuring compliant, reliable, and high-quality outcomes at every stage.

You will develop, implement, and champion sourcing strategies aligned with industrial and commercial objectives, integrating quality and risk management considerations throughout. Balancing agility with discipline, you will deliver results at pace without compromising on standards. Drawing on your understanding of manufacturing processes and Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, you will continuously seek opportunities to reduce total cost of ownership while maintaining high levels of supplier performance.

You will build trusted relationships with cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders, analyze market trends, evaluate alternatives, and actively contribute to supplier diversification and supply chain resilience. This position is based in Mollet del Vallès, Spain, and requires up to 15% business travel.

Who You Are

Master's degree in Business Administration, Supply Management, Supply Chain, Procurement, or Life Sciences, or equivalent experience, engineering or technical background is of great advantage

Minimum of 5 years of experience in Strategic Sourcing, Category Management, or Procurement within the Life Sciences industry, with strong expertise in strategic supplier management, sourcing strategy development, and supplier relationship management; or a minimum of 5 years of experience in Supply Chain, Supplier Performance Management, or Operations, with proven expertise in supplier governance, performance reviews, continuous improvement, and supply assurance.

Experience within a multinational company in the Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, or Medical Devices sectors, ideally in a matrixed and international environment.

Proven ability to manage the full sourcing process end-to-end, including supplier identification, negotiations, qualification, and performance management.

Excellent negotiation, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across all organizational levels.

Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and functions.

Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, enabling data-driven decision-making in complex situations.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and experience with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, or equivalent; project management knowledge is an advantage.

Fluent in French and English, both written and spoken; Spanish is considered an asset.

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!

Job details

Seniority
Manager
Function
Procurement
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Mollet del Valles, Barcelona, Spain
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Procurement role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 99 comparable Manager Procurement roles across 15 biopharma companies.

99Comparable roles tracked
89Currently active
15Companies hiring similar roles
22Countries represented

Salary context

10 of 99 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Procurement Manager - EPNV/ (1 out of 4) · Johnson & Johnson $104,000/yr – $156,310/yr
Peer group range $130,155 – $206,900 (median $150,525)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 99 comparable roles

United States17
India13
United Kingdom11
Spain8
Belgium6
Netherlands5

+ 16 more countries

Seniority mix

99 of 99 peers have a known seniority level

Manager81
Associate Director16
Associate2

Therapeutic area mix

0 of 99 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
Sanofi-Aventis SA (Spain) Barcelona, Spain Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Roche Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Roche Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Roche Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Roche Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Mollet del Valles, Barcelona, Spain Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
Global Category Manager for Digital
Sanofi-Aventis SA (Spain) · Barcelona, Spain · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Global Category Manager - Product Engineering Services
Roche · Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Category Manager, Global Logistics/Transportation
Roche · Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
45%
Associate Manager -Indirect Category Management
Regeneron India Private Limited · Hyderabad, India · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.