SR. SOURCING ASSOCIATE (PROFESSIONAL SERVICES)

Remote within DMV only

Contract to Hire role

Top 5 Required Skills:
1. End to End Strategic Sourcing Execution: Ability to independently manage sourcing events from intake through contract execution, including RFx development, supplier evaluation, negotiation, and close out.
2. Stakeholder & Supplier Engagement: Strong capability to partner with business stakeholders, procurement leadership, legal, risk teams, and suppliers—especially when requirements are incomplete or evolving.
3. Contracting & Negotiation Expertise (in Regulated Environments): Experience drafting, redlining, and negotiating contracts while ensuring compliance with corporate policies, federal regulations, and audit requirements.
4. Analytical & Structured Problem Solving Skills: Ability to apply structured problem-solving to sourcing decisions, pricing analysis, supplier comparisons, price reasonableness assessments, and risk identification—supporting optimal value and defensible outcomes.
5. Project & Time Management in a Fast Paced Environment: Demonstrated strength in managing multiple concurrent sourcing events, meeting deadlines, proactively resolving blockers, tracking milestones, and maintaining strong follow through with minimal oversight.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:
Duties and Responsibilities
• Owns execution of sourcing events from intake through contract execution, ensuring timelines, quality, and documentation standards are consistently met.
Lead Stakeholder Engagement and Sourcing Initiatives:
• Collaborates with business stakeholders and procurement management to support development of sourcing approaches and category strategies.
• Partners with business stakeholders to clarify and refine project objectives and requirements, particularly when inputs are incomplete or evolving.
• Applies structured problem-solving to determine appropriate sourcing approach, including supplier selection, evaluation criteria, and negotiation considerations.
• Drafts and leads the applicable sourcing process through scoring and completion (e.g. RFx, sole source, etc.).
• Acts as primary contact with potential suppliers during the RFx, selection, and negotiation process.
• Supports and executes supplier negotiations throughout RFx and contracting process to achieve optimal savings, value, and risk outcomes.
• Proactively identifies and resolves blockers to keep sourcing events progressing and escalates risks when appropriate.
Negotiate and Draft Contracts:
• Ensures all sourcing and contracting documentation is complete, accurate, and audit ready.
• Implements the sourcing strategy and negotiation and redlining process with the supplier to draft contracts that accurately capture business, technical, and legal requirements (including contractual and purchase order documentation).
• Acts as liaison with business owner and supplier during negotiations.
• Works closely with legal and risk groups to ensure consistent communication and socialization of significant legal and risk issues throughout the negotiation process.
• Interacts routinely with legal and business owner to resolve issues.
• Supports preparation and submission of procurement documentation for regulatory or external approvals (e.g., Federal Government consent), ensuring completeness and accuracy.
• Ensures and adheres to corporate purchasing policy directives and Federal Government regulations.
• Ensures compliance with contractual requirements for Federal Employee Program and other state and local contracts specifically related to MBE/WBE requirements and reporting.
• Consolidates requirements and coordinates with management to determine the most suitable method of purchase such as spot purchase orders, contracts, blanket orders and supplier stocking arrangements.
Supplier Management:
• Ensures procurement process is followed and all documentation is complete and accessible in the Ariba source to pay system.
• Analyzes and compares service and/or product offerings and specifications, investigates future renewal requirements and options, and resolves contract and invoice discrepancies.
• Tracks contract milestones and renewal timelines to support proactive sourcing, renewals and continuity of services.
• Supports ongoing contract lifecycle activities including renewals, amendments, and issue resolution.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
Required: This position requires a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience; and at least six (6) to eight (8) years’ experience in Strategic Sourcing, supporting IT or professional services sourcing in complex or regulated environments
• Extensive experience in managing the end-to-end sourcing process from requirements gathering through RFx and contracting.
• Experience supporting pricing analysis and participating in supplier negotiations.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with stakeholders and suppliers.
• Ability to analyze pricing and support price reasonableness assessments.
• Proven experience with key category suppliers.

Skills and Abilities:
• Must have working knowledge of SAP Ariba.
• Excellent project and time management skills including but not limited to risk assessment, workplan development and management.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and coordination skills with attention to detail.
• Applies structured problem-solving to sourcing and contracting activities.
• Identifies issues early and communicates risks and dependencies clearly.
• Able to manage multiple sourcing events simultaneously with minimal oversight.
• Must be able to effectively work in a fast-paced environment with frequently changing priorities, deadlines, and workloads that can be variable for long periods of time.
• Must be able to meet established deadlines and handle multiple customer service demands from internal and external customers, within set expectations for service excellence.
• Must be able to effectively communicate and provide positive customer service to every internal and external customer.
• Demonstrates strong follow-through and accountability for timelines and deliverables
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced environments with changing priorities
• Demonstrates professionalism and sound judgment in stakeholder and supplier interactions

Desirable:
• Experience in the Health Insurance industry.
• Knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

EEO:
“Mindlance is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of – Minority/Gender/Disability/Religion/LGBTQI/Age/Veterans.”