Senior IT Sourcing & Vendor Relations Lead

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina; Idaho; Hybrid; USD 89,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Cross NC in the United States is seeking a Senior IT Category Manager to lead sourcing and vendor governance for IT hardware, software, and services. You will partner with stakeholders to negotiate contracts, drive cost reductions, and ensure vendor obligations align with business needs.

The role emphasizes total cost of ownership optimization, risk mitigation, and cross-functional collaboration with Corporate Services.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or advanced degree (where required).
• 5+ years of experience in related field.
• In lieu of degree, 7+ years of experience in related field.

Responsibilities

• Establish sourcing strategies for an assigned category(ies) in conjunction with internal stakeholders and their associated business strategy.
• Conduct sourcing events, including development of project work plan, category profile, category strategy, minimum requirements and evaluation criteria, solicitation
• Develop and implement assorted bid documents and requests (i.e. RFP, RFI, RFQ); and manage status reporting and performance metrics of sourcing and category management activities.
• Understand, analyze and forecast complex market and industry dynamics and share subject matterexpertise and industry knowledge within the established portfolio of products and services.
• Partner with stakeholders to source products and services using proven tools, processes, and analytics to drive and achieve business results.
• Evaluate analyses of sourcing results from a total cost of ownership perspective and provide optimization recommendations
• Participate in cross-functional teams responsible for complex vendor negotiations, including those that require specialized subject matter expertise, nonstandard risk mitigation solutions, and coordination of multiple arrangements.
• Review and lead supplier relationship management and performance within an assigned category
• Proactively establish and foster successful, positive working relationships with vendor personnel. Drive vendor engagement through formal and informal transactions.
• Engage stakeholders to implement and execute vendor relationship management plan.
• Coordinate and host vendor business reviews
• Develop, track and manage yearly vendor plans for assigned vendors within the assigned category(ies) and ensure vendor compliance.
• Coordinate vendor risk assessments and develop plans to track and address significant risks.
• Serve as an escalation point for the business in resolving vendor contractual issues. issue resolution.
• Manage contracts and collaborate effectively with Corporate Compliance, Legal, Audit and Risk Management and other internal stakeholders for compliance activities to ensure regulatory conditions are met.
• Develop new procedures, training, initiatives, specifications and recommendations for process or policy changes and improvements, as appropriate.

Skills

5+ years experience

Education

Bachelor's degree or advanced degree

7+ years experience in related field

Job description

Blue Cross NC in the United States is seeking a Senior IT Category Manager to lead sourcing and vendor governance for IT hardware, software, and services. You will partner with stakeholders to negotiate contracts, drive cost reductions, and ensure vendor obligations align with business needs.

The role emphasizes total cost of ownership optimization, risk mitigation, and cross-functional collaboration with Corporate Services.