Category Sourcing Consultant Senior – Remote

CSAA Insurance Group (CSAA IG), a AAA insurer, is one of the top personal lines property and casualty insurance groups in the U.S. Our employees proudly live our core beliefs and fulfill our enduring purpose to help members prevent, prepare for, and recover from life’s uncertainties, and we’re proud of the culture we create together. As we commit to progress over perfection, we recognize that every day is an opportunity to be innovative and adaptable. At CSAA IG, we hire good people for a brighter tomorrow. We are actively looking for a Sr. Category Sourcing Consultant to join us and support CSAA IG in achieving our goals.

Procurement’s mission is to provide value to the business through our third-party supplier activities. There are multiple processes and strategies to consider. We need a Sr. Category Sourcing Consultant that will report directly to the Sr. Manager, Category Sourcing and will be responsible for the creation and execution of category strategies with a focus on Technology with emphasis on software licensing and professional services. The Sr. Category Sourcing Consultant will be Procurement’s main driver for going out to market, securing savings, and leading quality contract negotiations.

We need an innovative Sr. Category Sourcing Consultant with the experience and vision to compliment and provide category guidance to other sourcing professionals.

Provide end-to-end service and support to assigned internal stakeholders and their portfolio of suppliers. Understand major categories of spend and develop short, medium, and long-term Supplier and Category Spend Strategies. Act as key advisor and educator to internal stakeholders on all matters related to third parties, supplier risk, and supply chain strategies.

Frequently engage with internal stakeholders to educate and “sell” sourcing services and benefits of early engagement. The Sr. Category Sourcing Consultant will lead major projects and initiatives that require mobilizing and focusing cross-functional teams for high visibility, large dollar, complex, high-risk projects. At the same time, will be a role model of using Procurement technology and completing all required tasks needed.

The Category Sourcing Consultant will have considerable expertise in drafting and negotiating a full array of high-quality agreements.

Your work:

• Understands major categories of spend and develops or oversees the development of short, medium, and long-term Supplier and Category Spend Strategies focused on supplier service and price optimization.
• Successfully develops and negotiates a wide array of contracts at all levels of complexity or dollar thresholds.
• Performs contract construction, negotiations, and policy interpretations for internal stakeholders.
• Above average knowledge and understanding of contracting methods, operational norms, supplier demands, and market trends.
• Acts as a consultant and mentor in negotiating large, complex, and/or highly visible contracts and facilitates communication and process development between internal stakeholders, Legal and suppliers.
• Is a positive advocate and champion for, and of, sourcing both within and outside the organization.
• Expert in understanding, managing, and implementing best practice sourcing processes and procedures
• Continuous Improvements – facilitate the development of self-service programs to control and automate appropriate categories and processes.
• Key participant in procurement transformation efforts, and all continuous improvement needs for the department. Is responsible and accountable.
• Able to perform highly visible projects while independently tracking information via Procurement/Enterprise tools
• Requires little to no guidance on process or handling research request or disputes
• Has high quality PowerPoint skills

Communication:

• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and advanced collaboration skills
• Outstanding contract development and negotiation skills
• Ability to present ideas and sell concepts
• Ability to connect with business leaders to define and strategically leverage spend
• Experienced in facilitating cross-functional teams
• Presentation at C-Suite Level

Essential Functions/Principal Responsibilities

• Demonstrates considerable subject matter expertise related to their assigned lines of business and spend categories.
• Builds and manages relationships with internal stakeholders, leveraging influence to achieve agreement, understanding, acceptance, and commitment to execution of sourcing strategies.
• Interface with and present sourcing strategies to senior leadership.

Contracts:

• Develops complex contracts, amendments, renewals, and extensions; contracts should be operationally effective and easily executed or implemented.
• Leverages the various forms of contractual documents and their structure.
• Keeps abreast of contract law
• Identifies issues and applies appropriate level of risk mitigation
• Incorporates business/technical requirements into agreements
• Understands minimum requirements of all types of technology licensing and procurement contracts.

Negotiations:

• Develops and proposes effective negotiation strategies which include educating and preparing the internal team to deal with supplier negotiation tactics.
• Effectively lead team of stakeholders to build consensus on contract negotiation objectives
• Responsible for running and managing negotiation sessions with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
• Influences and persuades internal stakeholders and suppliers toward a middle ground solution in the event of an impasse.
• Identifies risks associated with contract terms and develops strategy to effectively mitigate impact to the company.

Sourcing Process:

• Advanced knowledge of market conditions and sourcing best practices (seven step process) and how they are effectively applied.
• Advise internal stakeholders and business leaders to support effective application of sourcing processes
• Ensure compliance with company sourcing and contract policies
• Has gained significant subject matter expertise in the lines of business and categories they support.

Competitive Bid Process:

• Leads complex events and ensure team maintains integrity of competitive bid process
• Understands market conditions and performs market analysis that may influence the direction or strategy for the process
• Develops complex and higher risk RFP’s, RFI’s and RFQ’s, integrating requirements from business and technical internal stakeholders, including functional and operational requirements

Supplier Management:

• Maintains healthy relationships with suppliers
• Acts as supplier advocate to promote ethical and fair treatment of supplier partners
• Post award activities – contract implementation – contract debrief with stakeholders and supplier
• Supports customers with supplier management effort for effective and strategic supplier relationship
• Facilitate complex escalations and problem resolution

Maintaining Customer Relationships:

• Makes favorable impression and easily gains acceptance by others to build and maintain strong relationships
• Understands, anticipates, and co-defines customer needs and/or strategies
• Understands stakeholder’s goals and objectives, as well as their specific needs and preferences.
• Serves as a “thought leader” and is viewed as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert capable of offering value added solutions
• Capable of assessing complex problems and defining solutions for customer’s needs, considering restrictions, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Social Awareness:

• Familiarity with topics/programs relating to supplier diversity, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and innovation.

Financial Modeling:

• Advanced understanding of supplier pricing methodologies
• Assists with development of spend analysis that includes business plans and growth projections as input to the financial model
• Develops cost forecasting models (MS Excel) based on usage and growth projections

What would make us excited about you?

• Proven track record of increasing contracting and purchasing compliance across an organization
• Experience implementing significant improvements or establishing procurement industry best practices for contract management and sourcing to include governance, processes, and success measures
• Strong demand management and capacity management experiences to ensure the functions you are responsible for are ready to meet the businesses seasonal needs at the lowest possible operating cost
• Direct negotiation of large enterprise contracts to achieve a positive result
• Knowledgeable of insurance business environment, culture, products, and services
• A strong fundamental understanding of procedural and substantive law
• Effective oral and written advocacy skills and well-developed negotiation tactics
• Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. But we’ll let you in on a secret: there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate. CSAA IG is a place where everyone can grow. So, however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if you meet most of the requirements (not all) and this is a role that would make you excited to come to work every day.

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CSAA Insurance Group