Senior Category Management Executive - Indirect

Vizient; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 89,000 - 156,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits plan

Job summary

Vizient seeks a strategic sourcing professional to lead category initiatives across product and service areas. You will partner with clinicians, supply chain leaders, and suppliers to drive value, quality and cost improvements through rigorous market analysis and supplier evaluations.

In a hybrid environment, you will manage RFIs/RFPs, support negotiations, and develop category insights while leveraging AI tools to enhance research and reporting. Travel may be required to client sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher preferred.
• 5+ years in strategic sourcing or related field.
• Experience with supplier negotiations and category management.
• Strong analytical skills with spend data.
• Ability to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in healthcare, group purchasing, or regulated industries preferred.
• AI fluency to evaluate outputs and apply human judgment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies for assigned product and service categories.
• Manage sourcing initiatives from opportunity identification through implementation.
• Conduct category, market, supplier, utilization, and spend analyses to support strategy development.
• Develop sourcing plans, timelines, stakeholder engagement strategies, and implementation approaches.
• Research market conditions, emerging technologies, supplier capabilities, and industry trends impact categories.
• Collaborate with client sourcing representatives, clinicians, value analysis leaders, and stakeholders throughout sourcing initiatives.
• Support committees with agenda development, meeting facilitation, documentation, and follow-up.
• Provide category insights and recommendations to support stakeholder decision-making.
• Coordinate communications and activities for contract implementation and supplier management.
• Evaluate client spend, utilization, and contract performance data to identify savings and optimization opportunities.
• Develop analyses and presentations to support strategic sourcing recommendations.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Category management

Supply chain

Healthcare operations

Contracting

AI fluency

Education

Degree preferred

Job description

When you’re the best, we’re the best. We instill an environment where employees feel engaged, satisfied and able to contribute their unique skills and talents while living and working as their authentic selves. We provide extensive opportunities for personal and professional development, building both employee competence and organizational capability to fuel exceptional performance through an inclusive environment both now and in the future.

Summary

In this role, you will provide strategic sourcing, contracting, market intelligence, and category expertise in support of complex category initiatives. Working in partnership with cross‑functional stakeholders, you will help develop and execute category strategies that drive measurable financial, operational, and quality outcomes for clients. You will serve as a trusted advisor throughout the sourcing lifecycle by conducting market and spend analyses, supporting stakeholder engagement, facilitating sourcing events, and contributing to contract negotiations and implementation activities. You will develop deep category expertise and collaborate with clinicians, physicians, supply chain leaders, value analysis teams, and suppliers to identify opportunities that improve value and client satisfaction.

Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Sourcing

• Support the development and execution of category strategies for assigned product and service categories.
• Partner to manage sourcing initiatives from opportunity identification through implementation.
• Conduct category, market, supplier, utilization, and spend analyses to support sourcing recommendations and strategy development.
• Assist in developing sourcing plans, project timelines, stakeholder engagement strategies, and implementation approaches.
• Research market conditions, emerging technologies, supplier capabilities, and industry trends impacting assigned categories.

Stakeholder Engagement & Advisory Support

• Collaborate with client sourcing representatives, clinicians, physicians, value analysis leaders, and operational stakeholders throughout sourcing initiatives as appropriate.
• Support stakeholder committees through agenda development, meeting facilitation, documentation, and follow‑up activities as needed.
• Assist in gathering business requirements and identifying opportunities to improve quality, standardization, service, and cost performance.
• Provide category insights and recommendations to support stakeholder decision‑making.

Contracting & Supplier Management

• Support development of RFIs, RFPs, supplier evaluations, and sourcing event deliverables.
• Conduct supplier negotiations, contract development activities, and implementation planning.
• Analyze supplier proposals and contract opportunities to identify savings, value‑added services, and operational improvements.
• Coordinate communications and activities associated with contract implementation and ongoing supplier management.

Analytics & Performance Improvement

• Evaluate client spend, utilization, and contract performance data to identify savings and optimization opportunities.
• Develop analyses and presentations that support strategic sourcing recommendations.
• Monitor industry trends, market dynamics, and supplier developments that may impact category strategies.
• Support achievement of annual operational, financial, and category performance objectives.
• Leverage approved AI tools to enhance productivity, support research and analysis, develop stakeholder communications, summarize complex information, and improve work quality while applying sound judgment and validating outputs for accuracy, relevance, and business appropriateness.

Qualifications

• Relevant degree preferred.
• 5 or more years of relevant experience required in strategic sourcing, category management, supply chain, consulting, healthcare operations, contracting, and/or related field.
• Experience supporting sourcing initiatives, supplier negotiations, or category management activities.
• Strong analytical skills with experience utilizing spend, utilization, supplier, and market data.
• Ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Healthcare, group purchasing, consulting, or highly regulated industry experience preferred.
• Demonstrated AI Fluency with the ability to independently utilize AI tools to support day‑to‑day work activities, critically evaluate AI‑generated content, identify potential limitations or inaccuracies, and apply appropriate human judgment when making business recommendations and decisions.
• This role follows a hybrid work model, requiring three days per week in the office. Office locations include Irving, TX; Chicago, IL; Centennial, CO and Cape Girardeau, MO.
• Willingness to travel.

Estimated Hiring Range

At Vizient, we consider skills, experience, and organizational needs in our compensation approach. Geographic factors may adjust the range estimate and hires typically fall below the top range. Compensation decisions are tailored to individual circumstances. The current salary range for this role is $88,900.00 to $155,500.00.

This position is also incentive eligible.

Vizient has a comprehensive benefits plan! Please view our benefits here: http://www.vizientinc.com/about‑us/careers

Equal Opportunity Employer: Females/Minorities/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The Company is committed to equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, color, gender identity, ethnicity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status or any other category protected by applicable law.