Sr Manager, IT Vendor / Contract Mgt - Hybrid Work Schedule

About City of Hope
City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment organization for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.
Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hope's translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin, monoclonal antibodies and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. AccessHope™, a subsidiary launched in 2019 serves employers and their health care partners by providing access to City of Hope's specialized cancer expertise.
A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is ranked among the nation's "Best Hospitals" in cancer by U.S. News & World Report and received Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California and in Arizona.

City of Hope's commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe diversity, equity and inclusion is key in serving our mission to provide compassionate patient care, drive innovative discovery, and advance vital education focused on eliminating cancer and diabetes in all of our communities. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ensures we bring the full range of skills, perspectives, cultural backgrounds and experiences to our work -- and that our teams align with the people we serve in order to build trust and understanding. We are dedicated to fostering a community that embraces diversity - in ideas, backgrounds and perspectives; this is reflected in our work and represented in our people.

Position Summary
The Senior Contracts Manager leads all phases of a contract, from initiation, negotiations to maintenance and review, proactively driving performance and cost optimization. Working with IT, Legal, Corporate Contract Management and Finance, the Senior Contracts Manager ensures that:
All contracts from Master Service Agreement (MSA) terms and conditions, as well as each Statement of Work (SOW) contains provisions that result in performance optimization with specific audit/true-up clauses, if applicable
Proposals for new contracts are thoroughly analyzed and vetted with discipline and rigor that establish the standard RFI/RFP process, particularly for large contracts
Proactively manages all contracts well ahead of renewal timelines to engage in timely renewals and to leverage opportunities for negotiations, while engaging appropriate stakeholders to result in maximum benefit for the entire contract portfolio
Works effectively with cross-functional senior management teams to find opportunities for improved vendor/contract management and drives continuous process improvement
Aligns with Supply Chain department to further leverage "bulk" buys for the enterprise to result in greater cost savings
All contracts are up-to-date and in the best interest of City of Hope, protecting its assets and intellectual capital

The Senior Contracts Manager also monitors the performance of service providers to ensure that all terms of the agreements are met.

Key Responsibilities include:
MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Establishes policy and procedures around regular reviews (with the following departments: IT, Finance, Contract Management, Legal) the basic guidelines which mandate "expert review" of contracts and proposals, as well as work with cross-functional teams to ensure Request for Proposals (RFPs) and SOWs are thorough and conform to company standards, including but not limited to:
• Price, cost
• Length of term
• Uniqueness of contract (service, product)
• Vendor marketplace: financial viability, depth of product/service offerings, ranking in the marketplace, performance track record
• Risk identification/remediation
• Manages up to a team of 10, overseeing purchase order requisitions, administration of PO's through the contract pipeline for execution, as well as conducting vendor performance and financial analysis of contracts
• Establishes and maintains a body of components that support the sound structure of contractual agreements (professional services, hardware, software and other relevant terms and conditions) including, but not limited to:
• Relevant functional and technical specifications
• Deliverables, milestones, terms, price, payment schedule, penalties, renewals, cancellations and implications of early exit clauses, financial impacts, risks
• Ensures that internal processes are in place (at time of signing or before) that appropriate invoicing and payment mechanisms are in place and will be persistently shepherded by the project manager, functional "champion" or other appropriate party

TECHNICAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• Extensive knowledge of the industry and contract management best practices including:
• Knowledge of the acute health care industry and key players' general technology-related needs
• Knowledge of Information Security-related validations around Protected Health Information (PHI) as part of vendor screening and final sign-off
• Knowledge of relevant business/functional priorities in order to ensure that end-users' most critical needs and concerns are met
• Knowledge of the interrelationships of clinical care, medical records and the billing/collection functions and how technology serves each
• Knowledge of the audit and compliance functions and the interrelationship of those functions with the execution and maintenance of relevant contracts
• Knowledge of the basic components of contract law and the critical elements of negotiating: terms, pricing, escalations, risks, deliverables, cancellation, product/service description
• Expertise in most common flaws in contracts which persistently lead to contention, lawsuit or other negative consequence
• Knowledge of the relevant vendor marketplace to ensure that vendors' strengths, weaknesses and track records are well understood and considered in negotiations
• Has expertise in developing, maintaining and refining a "library" of sentinel components of technology-related contracts for services, hardware and software
• Has expertise in leading stakeholders in developing functional and technical specifications, as well as weighting and scoring methodologies as part of vendor evaluations
• Is skilled at producing financial analyses and business cases for relevant scenarios
• Has extensive experience mapping timelines and deliverables to payment schedules, including appropriate forecasting of payments and analyses of variance to schedule
• Is able to create clear, crisp written communications, including detailed negotiating points for review by the Legal Department and vendors
• Is skilled at preparing high-level executive presentations
• Has excellent verbal skills including negotiating skills to achieve the most productive outcomes
• Is able to hold all stakeholders accountable for deadlines and deliverables, acknowledging that they often represent a wide spectrum of departments and interests
• Is able to maintain focus on numerous negotiating points at the forefront of negotiations so that important items are not lost or diminished
• Is able to initiate, participate, and cooperate with audit and compliance activities, providing full, detailed evidence required for appropriate closure

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:

• Possesses excellent interpersonal skills to work with direct reports, peers and management teams
• Establishes and communicates a clear set of success criteria for project performance
• Provides clear, consistent, regular communication with the project team, executive leadership, and project stakeholders at all levels
• Effectively collaborates with peers and leadership to share resources and information on critical projects; seeks opportunities to help other projects by sharing resources and reallocating team members' priorities and assignments
• Creates a positive, collaborative project team environment that encourages support and success
• Other duties as assigned

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• A 4-year Bachelor's Degree is required, and relevant work experience cannot be substituted
• 10+ years of vendor/contract management experience, 5+ years in health care and in leadership positions
• Advanced Excel, data manipulation skills

Preferred education experience and skills:

• Certifications in Purchasing and Vendor/Contract Management
• Master degree, experience in IT project management, business administration, or technical management
• Effective written and oral presentation skills

Additional Information:

• As a condition of employment, City of Hope requires staff to comply with all state and federal vaccination mandates.

City of Hope is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

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