Senior Director, Strategic Sourcing and Contracts

About Xaira Therapeutics Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London. Role Overview The Senior Director, Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing will lead and integrate Xaira’s supply chain, procurement, and contract governance functions, ensuring reliable access to the external partners, platforms, and services that support Research, Biomedical AI, Platform Engineering, and Corporate teams. This role is responsible for establishing disciplined sourcing strategy, strengthening vendor management, building contract governance infrastructure, and ensuring operational continuity across critical suppliers and service providers. The individual will provide strategic oversight while elevating two existing functions, procurement and contracts, into a cohesive, scalable supply chain capability. Operating at the intersection of research, technology infrastructure, and external partnerships, This role is responsible for bringing strategic focus to how Xaira engages its external partners, ensuring that sourcing, vendor, and contract decisions serve the company's mission, growth, and long-term goals Key Responsibilities Supply Chain Leadership Develop and lead overall supply chain strategy Ensure continuity, reliability, and risk mitigation across critical vendors and external partners Oversee vendor selection, onboarding, performance monitoring, and renewal planning Provide leadership with visibility into external dependencies and operational risk exposure Map and monitor critical vendor dependencies across research services, cloud infrastructure, data providers, and platform suppliers Strategic Sourcing Guide category strategy development across cloud infrastructure, AI/ML platforms, research services, data providers, lab suppliers, and corporate systems Oversee competitive sourcing processes and major vendor negotiations Ensure cost discipline and long-term value across supplier relationships Partner with Finance to strengthen forecasting, budget alignment, and spend transparency Contracts and Governance Oversee contract negotiation and execution standards across MSAs, SOWs, SaaS agreements, data licenses, and research vendor agreements. Ensure structured intake, review, and lifecycle management processes are followed Establish clear governance for renewals, amendments, and contractual obligations Strengthen coordination between Legal, Finance, and operational stakeholders Build contract architecture that gives Legal and leadership a strategic view of risk Leadership Lead and develop procurement and contracts team members Establish performance expectations, KPIs, and operating cadence Build scalable systems and processes appropriate for company growth Elevate supply chain operations from reactive processing to a strategic operational partner   Core Capabilities Supply Chain Integration and Operational Continuity Ability to ensure reliable supply and vendor performance across research services, cloud infrastructure, laboratory suppliers, and external partners while identifying and mitigating operational risks before they impact the organization. Advanced Strategic Sourcing and Negotiation Demonstrated ability to structure and lead complex negotiations across cloud infrastructure, software platforms, research services, and vendor agreements while balancing cost, flexibility, speed, and long-term value. Contract Architecture and Governance Design Ability to design and implement structured contract frameworks, approval workflows, and lifecycle management processes that create visibility, enforce standards, and reduce legal and financial exposure. Financial Stewardship and Vendor Risk Management Strong analytical capability to model vendor spend, forecast commitments, evaluate total cost of ownership, and proactively surface financial and operational risk. Cross-Functional Partnership and Organizational Influence Ability to align Legal, Finance, Research, and Engineering stakeholders around sourcing strategy, vendor commitments, and contractual decisions while balancing operational needs and risk management.   Qualifications 10+ years of experience in supply chain, procurement, or strategic sourcing leadership Experience operating in biotech, life sciences, or technology-driven R&D environments Demonstrated experience managing vendor ecosystems spanning cloud in