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Senior Specialist Vendor Contracts

Milwaukee, United States

Overview:

Versiti is a fusion of donors, scientific curiosity, and precision medicine that recognize the gifts of blood and life are precious. We are home to the world-renowned Blood Research Institute, we enable life saving gifts from our donors, and provide the science behind the medicine through our diagnostic laboratories. Versiti brings together outstanding minds with unparalleled experience in transfusion medicine, transplantation, stem cells and cellular therapies, oncology and genomics, diagnostic lab services, and medical and scientific expertise. This combination of skill and knowledge results in improved patient outcomes, higher quality services and reduced cost of care for hospitals, blood centers, hospital systems, research and educational institutions, and other health care providers. At Versiti, we are passionate about improving the lives of patients and helping our healthcare partners thrive.

Position Summary:

The Senior Specialist Vendor Contracts serves as a key legal and sourcing professional responsible for managing the full lifecycle of vendor contracts across the organization. Working with a high degree of autonomy and in close collaboration with legal counsel and cross-functional teams, this role handles complex legal assignments related to vendor contracts, including negotiation, drafting, interpretation, renewal, termination, and implementation. Acting as a subject matter expert in vendor contract review and strategic sourcing, the Contract Senior Specialist ensures alignment with organizational strategies, manages a high-volume workload with minimal supervision, and provides sound legal and business judgment. This position also plays a critical role in identifying and developing a preferred supplier base, fostering strong vendor partnerships, and supporting strategic spend and demand management goals. Strong decision-making, exceptional customer service, and a proactive, analytical approach to contract management are key to success in this role.

Total Rewards Package:

Benefits
Versiti provides a comprehensive benefits package based on your job classification. Full-time regular employes are eligible for Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans, Paid Time Off (PTO) and Holidays, Short- and Long-term disability, life insurance, 7% match dollar for dollar 401(k), voluntary programs, discount programs, others.

Responsibilities:

Takes overall responsibility for the strategic vendor contract management goals of Versiti and implements action items to ensure that those goals are achieved
Develops and drives vendor sourcing strategies and projects across Versiti to achieve aggressive cost savings targets
Forms strong relationships with internal customers to facilitate communication of cost saving opportunities and collaborative benefits of proposed product/service conversions
Creates and administers RFI, RFP, RFQ processes to gather information, evaluate proposals, and recommend suppliers. This includes analyzing data, presenting to upper management, contract development, negotiation, execution and organized handoff to implementation team
Delivers positive financial results by developing TCO (total cost ownership) models to monitor and generate long term cost benefits
Collaborates with leadership to administer the vendor contract management process by using mechanisms such as review meetings with legal counsel and end user(s) to secure the most advantageous terms for Versiti while mitigating risk; regular reporting to track milestones, status and performance; and timely communication with executive leaders regarding contract details and requests for execution
Participates in and/or leads continuous improvement of related business processes. Oversight of supplier issues with pricing, quality, and service or system connectivity
Demonstrates a customer-focused, service-based approach of working with stakeholders and suppliers to provide a culture of customer service excellence
Coordinates supplier QBRs to ensure terms adherence and supplier performance. Jointly work with the Quality Department and Service Line to regularly monitor and track performance of strategic supply partners
Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties in this job classification
Understands and performs in accordance with all applicable regulatory and compliance requirements
Complies with all standard operating policies and procedures

Qualifications:

Education

Bachelor's Degree in health care administration, information management, business administration, finance, supply chain or related field preferred. Relevant certifications with a contract focus or concentration will be considered. required

Experience

4-6 years Demonstrated experience in contract drafting, review, and negotiation. required
1-3 years Project management specifically with leading cross functional project teams preferred
1-3 years Paralegal experience desired
1-3 years Sourcing experience working with vendors and managing RFP / RFQs preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Strong analytical skills and effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to proactively interact with all levels of staff/leadership and/or others while achieving positive outcomes required. required
Extensive vendor contract review and lifecycle management experience required required
Proficient in supplier negotiation with the ability to structure, evaluate and execute large scale bids/RFP’s required
Highly effective in developing relationships to facilitate dispute resolution and driving change in supplier behaviors required
Customer focus to provide high value in delivering contracting services internally and externally required
Ability to enforce terms and conditions with vendors and comfort level to directly address non compliance required
Strong judgment and quantitative decision-making skills required

Licenses and Certifications