Senior Sourcing & Vendor Manager - IT

How Is This Role Important to Our Work?

Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN is hiring a Senior Sourcing and Vendor Management professional to support our IT portfolio in Eagan, MN.As a key member of our Business Partnerships and Negotiations department, you will be responsible for sourcing, contracting, vendor management, negotiations, and fostering collaboration between our vendors and IT, Information Security, Data, and Analytics business partners. Your expertise in these areas will be crucial in ensuring efficient procurement processes, cost savings, and maintaining strong relationships with our vendors. This individual will work with IT, Information Security, Data, and Analytics business units to establish and monitor vendor scorecards, as well as quantitative and qualitative measures of performance against contracted Service Level Agreements (SLA). They will align to an assigned business portfolio of vendors under the direction of Business Partnerships and Negotiations Leadership.

This role is hybrid, 2 days a week in office, out of Eagan, MN.

A Day in the Life:

Sourcing:

• Identify and evaluate potential suppliers based on quality, cost, reliability, and other relevant factors.

• Conduct market research to stay informed about industry trends and best practices.

• Collaborate with IT, Information Security, Data, and Analytics internal stakeholders to understand their requirements and provide procurement support.

Contracting:

• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts, purchase orders, and service level agreements with suppliers.

• Ensure that contract terms and conditions are favorable and aligned with organizational goals.

• Mitigate contractual risks and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

Vendor Management:

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with vendors, fostering effective communication and collaboration.

• Monitor IT, Information Security, Data, and Analytics vendor performance, conduct regular reviews, and address any issues or concerns.

• Identify opportunities for performance improvement and cost reduction through vendor optimization.

• Works closely with business partners to ensure SLAs, deliverables, compliance requirements and expectations are adequately incorporated into RFXs and vendor contracts to facilitate the management of vendor performance.

• Communicates with assigned business partners to ensure they are properly educated on Blue Cross expectations throughout the lifecycle of the relationship.

• Works closely with Business Partnerships and Negotiations Leadership to ensure Relationship Managers understand their contractual requirements for any engagement.

• Establish and monitor vendor scorecards (quantitative and qualitative measures of performance against selected SLAs and metrics) to monitor and manage vendor performance based on a defined set of criteria.

• Provides on-going vendor scorecard reporting and analysis to Relationship Managers and Performance Managers to facilitate their ability to adequately monitor, review and act on vendors operational performance.

• Leads the execution of various vendor management programs, such as quarterly business reviews, semi-annual business portfolio reviews, vendor scorecards, as well as other performance management activities and reporting as required.

• Facilitate regular business reviews with assigned portfolio of vendors to discuss vendor performance reporting, SLAs, deliverables, compliance requirements, other contract expectations, relationship health and improvement plans.

• Provides support to Relationship Managers, Performance Managers and Compliance Managers for problem resolution with assigned Program portfolio vendors.

• Under the direction of the Business Partnerships and Negotiations Leadership, works closely with Business partners to diagnose poor vendor performance and assists to put in place "get well" plans. Jointly with the Leadership facilitates the resolution of escalated vendor-related issues.

Negotiations:

• Lead negotiations with suppliers to secure favorable pricing, terms, and conditions.

• Drive cost savings initiatives through effective negotiation strategies.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand their needs and align negotiation outcomes with organizational objectives.

Collaboration:

• Work closely with cross-functional teams such as operations, finance, compliance, security and legal to ensure seamless procurement processes.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to develop and implement procurement strategies that align with business objectives.

• Facilitate effective communication and collaboration between internal teams and external suppliers.

Nice to Have:

• Bachelor's degree in Business or related field.

• 2+ years working with IT Category Vendors/Management.

• Proven experience as a liaison between leadership and vendor partners to facilitate open communication and address any concerns promptly and effectively.

• Experience in redlining contracts to ensure compliance with company policies and negotiating favorable terms.

• Proven experience monitoring and managing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to ensure vendors meet performance standards and contractual obligations.

• Demonstrated experience in managing strategic vendors to meet organizational goals and drive business performance.

• Craft and deliver clear, concise, and impactful communications to executive leadership, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and strategic initiatives.