Why Real Chemistry is Putting Procurement Centre Stage

When Ontonia Hamlin joined Real Chemistry four years ago, the company’s procurement function was not yet wholly formalised.

As a result, contracts were managed across individual teams, creating some duplication and limiting enterprise‑wide visibility.

Today, procurement sits right at the heart of Real Chemistry’s commercial strategy and Ontonia has been the architect of that change.

Ontonia is the Senior Vice President of Procurement and Real Estate at Real Chemistry, a global commercialisation partner for the healthcare and life sciences sectors.

In that role, she has helped to make procurement into a strategic centre of the operation, supporting responsible spending, strengthening vendor relationships, mitigating risk and freeing up internal teams to focus on delivering value to clients.

Right now, Real Chemistry employs more than 2,000 experts across advertising, marketing, communications, media and data analytics, and has plans to keep expanding.

Its client base largely consists of pharmaceutical and life sciences companies that are seeking to reach and engage healthcare professionals and patients.

In this video, hear from Ontonia as she details the ins and outs of the modern procurement department, discussing everything from representation, to technology, to the importance of human relationships, both internally and externally.