CRB, a provider of sustainable engineering, architecture, construction, and consulting solutions to the food and beverage and life sciences industries, announced that Valerie Silva has joined the company as its new director of procurement.

Silva, a procurement leader with deep global experience in cost optimization, project management and supply chain issues in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, will work within CRB’s innovative Global Technical Operations team. Silva has helped large organizations develop and execute cost-saving strategies, negotiated high-value and complex international supply agreements, and led capital program management initiatives to achieve speed-to-market success and manage risk. 

That focus is especially important to CRB’s primary industries—life sciences and food and beverage manufacturing—where clients cite speed to market and risk management in today’s uncertain business environment as critical factors in their capital expenditure strategies.

“We are focused more than ever on working with clients to overcome these challenges, and Valerie’s expertise will provide tremendous value to clients and our internal teams as we grow our procurement and risk management capabilities,” said Mike Barrett, CRB’s vice president of project delivery services.

Noted Silva: “By driving consistent, industry best practices and processes globally, we can maximize the strategic impact of procurement and unlock additional value for our clients.”

Silva will also grow CRB’s Supply Chain Risk Management practices to help mitigate supply chain challenges, while working closely with CRB’s strategic Life Sciences and Food & Beverage partners to develop a robust supplier diversity program and align best practices with CRB’s sustainability goals.

Silva graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in pre-law from Michigan State University and earned her MBA in supply chain concentration from the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business.