Category Mgr Prin. REMOTE Job at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
About Blue Cross
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is one of the most recognized and trusted health care brands in the world with 2.9 million members. We’re committed to reinventing health care to improve health for our members and the community. We hope you'll join us.
How Is This Role Important to Our Work?
This role supports the strategic vendor, enGen/HMHS with contracting, performance and relationship management. This person will be the escalation point for the business and will need to do conflict management well.
This position supports projects with clients to develop annual procurement plans, develop and execute contracts, conduct needs assessment, review specifications, conduct RFIs/RFPs, perform contract administration, lead negotiations and dispute/conflict resolution. The position requires high level skills and relevant work experience in the field of category management and sourcing. Most important skills are contract management, dispute resolution, managing vendor relationships and communication with key stakeholders and suppliers. This position for the category team requires in-depth knowledge of the assigned category including, but not standard vendor product offerings, associated supplier market, methods of procurement, and understand software license negotiations.
A Day in the Life:
- Conducts procurement, sourcing and category management
- Understands client’s needs, generates solicitations and manages sourcing process for assigned areas; collaborates with clients in developing procurement plans; carries out market research to identify sources of supply; reviews technical specifications for completeness, errors, omissions and competitive qualities; develops vendor pre-qualifying and evaluation criteria; and prepares contracts and conducts pre-bid or proposal conferences.
- Familiar with software contract terms and conditions
- Ability to analyze financial reports of major corporations considered for contract awards and conduct marketplace analysis.
- Plans and manages negotiation process, resolves purchase and contract issues.
- Maintains effective relationships with Relationship Managers, Performance Managers, and Compliance Managers for assigned vendors to provide support necessary for on-going management and oversight of a particular vendor including problem resolution.
- Establish and monitor vendor scorecards 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 portfolio reviews, as well as other performance management activities and reporting as required.
- Provides support to Relationship Managers, Performance Managers and Compliance Managers for problem resolution with assigned category vendors.
- Works closely with Business partners to put in place "get well" plans. Jointly with the Manager, facilitates the resolution of escalated vendor-related issues.
- Participate along with client project manager to ensure timely delivery and quality of services, expedites delivery as appropriate.
- Conducts research, trend analysis and benchmarking in markets including category management.
- Supports Category Manager in preparation of presentations to procurement review committees.
- Undertakes contract administration to ensure compliance with policies and contract terms. May provide guidance and direction to Project Managers on contract management issues.
Nice to Have:
- Bachelor's degree.
Required Skills and Experiences:
- 7+ years of related professional experience. All relevant experience including work, education, transferable skills, and military experience will be considered.
- Proven experience as a Supply Chain / Procurement professional with extensive Category management working with Tier 1 strategic vendors.
- Demonstrable knowledge and experience in managing complex contract negotiations
- Experience conducting procurement, sourcing, contracting, and category management, including category strategy and industry benchmarking.
- Project management skills, dispute resolution skills.
- Excellent communication skills both verbal and written with results orientation.
- Ability to gain consensus/get results in a complex, often ambiguous, environment.
- Self-directed, ability to handle multiple tasks and projects in a timely manner
- Knowledge and ability to expand industry practices to BCBSMN.
- Ability to deal sensitively in multi-cultural environments and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues.
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Strong client service orientation!
Role Designation:
Teleworker
Role designation definition: Teleworking is working full time remote. Hybrid is a combination of working onsite and remotely. Onsite is full-time onsite.
Make a difference
Blue Cross is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer that values diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other legally protected characteristic.
Reasonable Accommodation for Job Seekers with a Disability: If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to talent.acquisition@bluecrossmn.com.
All roles require a high school diploma (or equivalency) and legal authorization to work in the U.S.
Blue Cross® and Blue Shield® of Minnesota and Blue Plus® are nonprofit independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Please Note :
bankofmontserrat.ms is the go-to platform for job seekers looking for the best job postings from around the web. With a focus on quality, the platform guarantees that all job postings are from reliable sources and are up-to-date. It also offers a variety of tools to help users find the perfect job for them, such as searching by location and filtering by industry. Furthermore, bankofmontserrat.ms provides helpful resources like resume tips and career advice to give job seekers an edge in their search. With its commitment to quality and user-friendliness, Site.com is the ideal place to find your next job.