In Biotechnology Sourcing, ‘No Two Days Are the Same’
Amanda Kachinsky
Title: Head of global indirect and commercial strategic sourcing
Company: Bluebird Bio
Location: Cambridge,
Massachusetts
Pet: I have a cat, which is somewhat different from a pet — it’s still not clear which of us is in charge.
Favorite food: Homemade pasta and tomato sauce.
Favorite pastimes: Spending time with family and friends, exercise and being outdoors. It’s especially great when these activities overlap.
Describe your job in one sentence.
I partner with internal business stakeholders and suppliers to ensure strategic alignment of goals and business needs — establishing strong relationships to mutually achieve positive outcomes.
How long have you worked for your company?
I've worked for Bluebird Bio for three years, with my role evolving and scaling to best fit the needs of the company.
What one word describes you best?
Leader.
How do you approach change?
I embrace and encourage change in the workplace and my personal life. I aim to inspire others to be open to change and adopt a mindset of continuous improvement. As sourcing professionals, we are change agents fostering new and more efficient ways of working with people, processes, tools or technology.
What do you like best about what you do?
Two things: That no two days are the same, and that I am ultimately working to make a difference for patients. The ability to collaborate cross-functionally on new engagements that support company goals and contribute to improving a patient’s quality of life is rewarding.
How did you get into the supply management profession?
Although my first procurement position was as an undergraduate intern at Pfizer, I didn't think of the function as a career path until my tenure at Liberty Mutual Insurance. There, I was introduced to procurement and sourcing best practices before transitioning to the department’s strategic sourcing side, a shift that led me to opportunities of greater responsibility in sourcing, supplier management and supply chain. At Bluebird Bio, I have applied those learnings to the biotech industry and introduced the strategic-sourcing process to the company through establishing strong partnerships with my internal stakeholders and preferred suppliers.
How do you define work/life balance?
Having fulfillment in the work I do, pride in the company I work for and time to enjoy my personal life. If you love what you do and the people you do it with, then it’s all the same thing.
Through mentoring, I hope to excite, inspire and develop the profession's next generation of talent. The benefit for me is that I am ‘mentored’ in return — with every experience, I learn and grow as well.
Why is contributing to the profession so important to you?
I believe it's important to encourage and teach young professionals through mentoring and to sharing the great opportunities available in supply management. Through mentoring, I hope to excite, inspire and develop the profession’s next generation of talent. The benefit for me is that I am "mentored" in return — with every experience, I learn and grow as well. I enjoy giving back to the procurement community that mentored and coached me along the way, which helped me achieve my successes in the profession.
What is the biggest challenge facing supply management organizations?
With the rapid growth in the economy, many companies have scaled faster than they could have imagined. This has necessitated accelerated timelines for building supply management and strategy teams to handle the sharp increase in corporate spend that comes during high-growth periods.
The biggest challenge supply management organizations face is the ability to (1) move quickly, (2) innovate and (3) leverage machine learning to better understand data trends and gain efficiencies that support this hypergrowth. Furthermore, the profession’s need for a robust talent pool is becoming more evident, as demand is greater than available resources.
What is your vision of the future of the profession?
The supply management role is shifting from that of a business partner to a strategic innovator. This transformation is requiring professionals to become a supplier coach, legal and financial expert, risk adviser and internal consultant.
Supply management professionals will adopt these roles and more, exhibiting a behavior of boldness and innovation that will positively drive change and impact business objectives more significantly than ever before.