TOP 100 WOMEN

Title: Chief Procurement Officer Company: Merck & Co Industry: Pharmaceuticals

Susanna Webber’ s procurement career is a study in breadth. Eighteen years at General Motors, spanning procurement and general management across Europe and Russia, gave her a foundational understanding of how multinational organisations procure at scale, and how cultural and regional complexity can be a competitive advantage, depending on how leadership approaches it. When she joined Merck in 2015 to lead indirect sourcing, she brought that international perspective to one of the world’ s most demanding procurement environments. Her appointment as CPO and Senior Vice President in 2020 formalised what her tenure had already demonstrated: the strategic range to oversee not only all procurement operations, but also global workplace services, a remit that goes well beyond conventional functional boundaries. Three themes define her leadership at Merck: strategic value creation, a commitment to innovation, and an inclusive approach to talent development.

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