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Senior Procurement Specialist

Catalent · Madison, WI · Full time

Posted Sep 29, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

This role buys consumables, indirect materials and supplier services for a biologics site. What categories have you bought before, and how did you manage them?

What they are checking: Whether their buying experience fits a GMP manufacturing environment with many consumables and service contracts.

Tell me about a negotiation where you saved money without hurting quality or supply reliability.

What they are checking: Whether they negotiate for total value and reliability rather than chasing unit price alone.

Tell me about a time you worked with Quality to qualify or change a supplier.

What they are checking: Whether they understand that procurement cannot change GMP suppliers alone and how to work with Quality on it.

What would you do

A key single-use supplier tells you lead times are jumping from eight weeks to twenty-six. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they act quickly on supply risk with planning, alternates and escalation before production is affected.

An engineer placed an order directly with a supplier and now wants you to issue a purchase order after the fact. How do you handle it?

What they are checking: Whether they enforce purchasing controls while fixing the process that led to the workaround.

How would you prioritize your work when manufacturing, engineering and labs all say their request is urgent?

What they are checking: Whether they rank requests by real production impact and communicate clearly rather than working on whoever is loudest.

About the work

How is buying a single-use consumable for GMP manufacturing different from buying office supplies?

What they are checking: Whether they understand supplier qualification, change notifications and quality agreements that come with GMP materials.

How do you measure supplier performance, and what do you do with a supplier that keeps missing delivery dates?

What they are checking: Whether they use scorecards and business reviews to fix performance before switching suppliers in a validated process.

How would you set up a service contract for something like equipment maintenance or calibration services?

What they are checking: Whether they know how to define scope, response times and pricing so the site gets what it actually needs.

Which ERP or procurement systems have you used, and how do you keep purchase order data clean?

What they are checking: Whether they keep accurate records that support planning, spend analysis and audits rather than messy workarounds.

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The full job description

As published by Catalent.

About Site Catalent’s Madison, Wisconsin site is a state‑of‑the‑art biologics development and manufacturing facility supporting customers from research through early‑ and mid‑stage clinical production. Located at 726 Heartland Trail in Madison, the approximately 102,700‑square‑foot GMP facility specializes in mammalian cell line engineering, drug substance biomanufacturing, and biopharmaceutical development, utilizing flexible single‑use systems to enable rapid scale‑up and customization. The site is home to Catalent’s proprietary GPEx® and GPEx® Lightning technologies, which are used to generate high‑yielding mammalian cell lines for biologic therapies, and supports production scales ranging from 50 to 4,000 liters for clinical manufacturing. Following a $45 million expansion announced in 2025, the Madison site has significantly increased capacity, added new equipment, and created approximately 200 highly skilled biohealth jobs, further strengthening its role within Catalent’s global biologics network and Wisconsin’s growing life sciences ecosystem. Position Summary We have an opportunity for a Senior Procurement Specialist to join our team supporting the Biologics business. This role focuses on procurement activities for consumables, indirect materials, and supplier services while ensuring reliable supply and strong supplier performance. The position collaborates with cross‑functional teams to support sourcing initiatives, contract management, and process improvements. It’s an exciting opportunity to contribute to a growing biologics organization dedicated to advancing innovative therapies. Shift : M-F 8am-5pm Location: Madison, WI 100% Onsite The Role • Create and manage purchase orders for materials, services, and operational needs. • Work directly with suppliers on pricing, availability, delivery schedules, and issue resolution. • Support sourcing activities including Requests for Quotation, Requests for Information, and Requests for Proposal, and compare supplier bids. • Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Finance, and Facilities teams to ensure the site has what it needs to operate. • Analyze spend data, supplier performance, pricing trends, and procurement metrics to identify savings opportunities and reduce risk. • Track supplier performance and help resolve supply, service, or quality issues. • Maintain procurement documentation, supplier records, contracts, pricing files, and savings trackers. • Support contract compliance, supplier onboarding, and procurement process improvements. The Candidate • Bachelor's degree in Procurement, Business, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, or related field. • Minimum 3 years of procurement, sourcing, supply chain, planning, or supplier management experience. • Experience supporting procurement activities such as supplier communications, purchase order management and follow‑up, Requests for Information/Proposal/Quotation support, pricing analysis, supplier performance tracking, contract support, and issue resolution. • Strong Excel skills and experience working with Enterprise Resource Planning or procurement systems and reporting tools. • Strong analytical skills with experience evaluating pricing, spend data, supplier performance, and commercial terms. • Ability to work cross‑functionally with Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, Engineering, and Procurement teams. • Strong written and verbal communication skills. Preferred Skills & Background • Experience in biologics, pharmaceutical manufacturing, life sciences, or another regulated manufacturing environment. • Master's degree and/or procurement certifications. • Experience with sourcing events, supplier negotiations, spend analysis, and cost savings initiatives. Why You Should Join Catalent • Defined career path and annual performance review and feedback process. • Diverse, inclusive culture. • Potential for career growth on an expanding team within an organization dedicated to preserving and bettering lives. • Competitive paid time off plus 8 paid holidays. • Community engagement and green initiatives. • Medical, dental, and vision benefits effective day one of employment. • Tuition reimbursement. Catalent offers rewarding opportunities to further your career! Join the global drug development and delivery leader and help us bring over 7,000 life-saving and life-enhancing products to patients around the world. Catalent is an exciting and growing international company where employees work directly with pharma, biopharma and consumer health companies of all sizes to advance new medicines from early development to clinical trials and to the market. Catalent produces more than 70 billion doses per year, and each one will be used by someone who is counting on us. Join us in making a difference. personal initiative. dynamic pace. meaningful work. Visit Catalent Careers to explore career opportunities. Catalent is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and veterans. If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process due to a disability, you may submit your request by sending an email, and confirming your request for an accommodation and include the job number, title and location to DisabilityAccommodations@catalent.com . This option is reserved for individuals who require accommodation due to a disability. Information received will be processed by a U.S. Catalent employee and then routed to a local recruiter who will provide assistance to ensure appropriate consideration in the application or hiring process. Notice to Agency and Search Firm Representatives: Catalent Pharma Solutions (Catalent) is not accepting unsolicited resumes from agencies and/or search firms for this job posting. Resumes submitted to any Catalent employee by a third party agency and/or search firm without a valid written & signed search agreement, will become the sole property of Catalent. No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired for this position as a result of an unsolicited agency or search firm referral. Thank you. Important Security Notice to U.S. Job Seekers: Catalent NEVER asks candidates to provide any type of payment, bank details, photocopies of identification, social security number or other highly sensitive personal information during the offer process, and we NEVER do so via email or social media. If you receive any such request, DO NOT respond— it is a fraudulent request. Please forward such requests to spam@catalent.com for us to investigate with local authorities. California Job Seekers can find our California Job Applicant Notice HERE . Volunteer Work Disclosure: Applicants for employment in Massachusetts may include in their employment history any verified work performed on a volunteer basis. Massachusetts Lie Detector Test Notice: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law may be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability. Consistent with Massachusetts law, Catalent does not require or administer lie detector tests as a condition of employment or continued employment.

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