Category Management Advisor

The Category Management Advisor will be accountable for assigned sourcing activities to negotiate contracts and conduct competitive events for the purchase of services to support the Corporate Services activity across the enterprise, inclusive of Human Resources, Finance, Travel, Legal Services, Real Estate & Facilities, and Marketing categories.

This will include market analyses, RFI/RFP's, direct supplier negotiations, and assistance with annual Category Plans.

The Advisor will leverage industry expertise, structure of related contracts, as well as Cigna Global Procurement processes to select the external provider that will meet the needs of Cigna, while optimizing cost and maximizing value.

Primary Duties:
• Lead medium and large sized strategic sourcing projects and cross-functional project teams
• Negotiate contract terms and determine contract structure
• Work with Cigna business partners to determine project requirements and relationship improvement opportunities
• Develop sourcing strategies for related projects to drive cost savings and maximize strategic value to Cigna
• Build strong partnerships with Cigna business partners and ensure sourcing processes and policies are consistently followed
• Keep up to date on corporate service related industries, suppliers, and sourcing best practices to define alternative supplier relationship structures and pricing models

Expected Deliverables:
• Development and negotiation of contracts - including but not limited to pricing, terms and conditions, and SLA/KPI's
• Drive cost savings and value
• Effectively facilitate and manage the creation of business requirements for all projects
• Support the creation and delivery of category plans that result in improved quality and drive business value

Functional Responsibilities:
• Negotiate, coordinate, and redline contracts with suppliers
• Review, revise and/or edit contracts, SLAs, deliverables, Change Orders, and Statements of Work to optimize value and mitigate risk to Cigna
• Provide analysis and support of business decision making to align with Cigna Corporate Initiatives
• Drive internal and external adherence to Cigna's sourcing policies and processes
• Establish role as a valued business advisor to business partners
• Function as a valued member of the Global Procurement team

Qualifications:
• BA/BS in Business, Finance, Supply Chain Management, Procurement/Sourcing, Project Management, or related field
• 3-5 years Strategic Sourcing project experience
• Experience using Procurement software (Ariba & Icertis), preferred
• Strong negotiation and listening skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent project management skills
• Strong customer service experience in dealing with internal business partners
• Efficient in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint )
• Strong time management skills; highly organized and detailed oriented
• Strong analytical, cross-functional com...