Sr. Director, Vendor & Relationship Management

The posting, as Kardigan wrote it

About Us

Kardigan is a heart health company working to make cardiovascular disease preventable, curable and no longer the leading cause of death in the world.

It is Kardigan’s mission to develop multiple targeted treatments in parallel that bring people with cardiovascular diseases to the cures they deserve.

Led by Tassos Gianakakos, Jay Edelberg, M.D., Ph.D., and Bob McDowell, Ph.D., Kardigan’s co-founders have reunited after leading MyoKardia to discover and develop mavacamten, the first cardiac myosin inhibitor, resulting in an acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020.

We have a cutting-edge discovery and translational research platform, a pipeline of late-stage candidates, and an industry-leading team that is driven to improve the lives of patients.

At Kardigan, we are motivated by our values which guide how we work, interact, and achieve our goals. Driven by patients and their families , we are deeply committed to improving the lives of patients and prioritizing their needs above all else. We believe in being authentic —leading with truth to bring out the best in others by creating an environment where every person knows they will be fully accepted. With an eagerness to learn , we encourage the highest levels of curiosity and are open to changing our minds. We are committed to winning as a team with urgency, excellence, and intention, and support each other no matter what role we play or where we sit. Lastly, we strive to enable the impossible because patients are counting on us. We are not afraid to take risks to unlock innovation and advance scientific discoveries.

These values are the foundation of our work, empowering us to make a real difference, every day.

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 escalat
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rowing 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)

Exact Compensation may vary based on skills, experience and location.

Pay range
$244,000 — $318,000 USD