Tricia Owen-Lyons, B. Sc., MBA
Tricia Owen-Lyons is an accomplished procurement and sourcing leader currently serving as Associate Director of Sourcing and Contracting at Merck. In this role, she is second in command for the U.S. hub—the execution arm of the organization’s procurement function—and also serves as Chief of Staff, providing strategic coordination across departments. Known for her strong organizational leadership and ability to drive alignment at the executive level, she plays a key role in optimizing operations and supporting senior leadership initiatives. Over the past nine months, she has made a significant impact by introducing innovative tools such as Microsoft Copilot and Planner to enhance efficiency, earning her multiple quarterly leadership awards.
With over two decades of global procurement experience, Tricia has built a career grounded in continuous improvement, negotiation excellence, and cross-functional collaboration. She is the founder of her organization’s first and only Negotiation Club, demonstrating her commitment to knowledge-sharing and professional development. A servant leader at heart, she leads by example—prioritizing the growth, well-being, and success of her team. Her leadership philosophy is centered on service, empowerment, and creating opportunities for others to thrive, which has helped elevate both team performance and organizational capability.
A first-generation college graduate, Tricia holds an undergraduate degree from St. Francis College and an International MBA from the University of the West Indies. She is trilingual in English, French, and Spanish, bringing a global perspective to her work. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is passionate about lifelong learning, giving back, and fostering inclusive environments. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening and the arts, reflecting her creativity and balance. Most proud of her role in helping transform her organization to the next level, Tricia continues to lead with authenticity, purpose, and impact.
• University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus IMBA, Human Resource Management
• Villanova University Master's Certificate in Contract Management, Contract Management
• St. Francis College BSc in Business Management, Spanish
• Quarterly Leadership Award at Merck
• Two-time winner of departmental awards in previous role
• Employee Business Resource Group participation and leadership
• Mentoring programs at Merck
What do you attribute your success to?
I really attribute my success to the culmination of experiences that I have had, which creates the drive. Of course, my children - everything I do now is really to help set them up for success. But in the back of my mind as well, I know that I am here because of my experiences, and I wouldn't think that they should have everything particularly easy, but I do want to create even more access for them than I myself even had. When I did my degree, I was a first generation, and they're not going to be first generation, but they don't have to go through that first generation struggle. My experiences give me a bigger outlook on life. Even at work, while other people may be fairly stressed out and making work things stress them out, I really don't make work things stress me out because I step back and realize what's really important. I'm replaceable to the job, but definitely not replaceable to my family, and everything I do is to help that.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I ever received was about salary negotiation. When I was younger and less experienced, moving from one job to the next, I didn't know how to negotiate salary or what benchmark to use. A friend of mine told me to always add $20,000 to your last salary when going into negotiation. I thought it sounded ridiculous at first, but that $20,000 rule has kind of held true and it worked for me. I didn't know the yardstick for that money part, and people feel really unsure with that. When I did my research, I found that it was well within the benchmark. It was a really good piece of advice because I didn't know what to target at the time. Of course, as you continue to move up, you continue to do your research, and that number may change, but it's a very good benchmark.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to other women trying to break into my field, test the waters first - don't just jump into it. It really was a slow build over a long time. Test the waters to understand if this is really something you would like. Really, in this field, you kind of do start small. This is a field where you really need to understand all of the areas because it's part of the finance organization, and you really need to have good business acumen. I would say start small, understand if you like it or not. If you do like it, then build your way up. You have to be able to know how to talk with the key business stakeholders - you have to know how to talk to legal, risk management people, and finance. You're not necessarily speaking the same language across the board, and everybody has different competing priorities. You need experience to understand all the competing priorities of all the various stakeholders that you deal with.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think one of the biggest challenges we're seeing in our industry right now is all of these socioeconomic factors that are affecting businesses in real time. You can see it affecting negotiations with suppliers because of all the uncertainty that exists. I'm seeing across industries that companies are laying off people again because of external socioeconomic and political factors happening that are constraining companies and forcing them to rethink about how they're structuring their organizations. That is translating into less and less opportunities for people.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
For me, across the board, my values are honesty, creativity, and authenticity. I feel that in every aspect of my life, I'm really guided by these values. They tie in well with my professional and personal style, and I'm pretty much the same across the board in how I interact professionally and personally - my values are consistent throughout.