Sr. Director, IT Enterprise Sourcing

Your Role

The Global Business Services team sources for all vendors and goods needed for Blue Shield of California and other entities under the Ascendiun holding company umbrella. This role oversees all IT procurement and sourcing for the health plan, and Ascendiun's subsidiary, Stellarus IT. The Senior Director will be a key member of the Procurement Management team, responsible for providing leadership, guidance, and structure for the company's procurement practices.

The Senior Director, Enterprise IT Sourcing will report to the VP, Global Business Services & Blue Partnerships department that is led by Pradip Khemani.

In this role, you will be responsible for leading a team in delivering and collaborating on all aspects of the execution of the enterprise sourcing process at Blue Shield of California and Stellarus, including supporting the business to make effective sourcing decisions and establish vendor contracts. The Senior Director, IT Enterprise Sourcing role will also provide the community of practice to deliver strategic sourcing, culture of affordability and supplier relationship management excellence at Blue Shield and Stellarus.

Your Work

In this role, you will:

• Maintaining alignment with the corporate objectives and strategy to optimize business value through strategic, operational and transactional sourcing relationships.
• Provide business sourcing strategic advice, consultation & business case development expertise.
• Support Ascendiun, Stellarus, Blue Shield of California and its subsidiaries prioritized procurement initiatives funded under strategic investment portfolio and run business plan approved in 2026 operating plan.
• Foster cooperation, communication and partnership to increase competition throughout the vendor supply chain including placing greater emphasis on relationship-building to facilitate and ensure collaboration.
• Maximize vendor relationships to deliver value to our stakeholders and be managed to the same high-quality standards as those within Health Plan/Entities.
• Assess critical vendors' performance outcomes with stakeholders through quarterly business reviews.
• Leverage semi-annual balance scorecards that measure business performance, security posture, financial viability and compliance and report out to Operating Committee/Audit Committee as requested/annually.
• Operate as a trusted advisor to deliver on culture of affordability initiatives and furthering the supplier relationship management operating model and practice.
• Support the company performance acceleration and transformation plan leveraging traditional procurement levers and strategies to develop, lead and execute multiple Tier 1 procurement initiatives including bolder North Star savings initiatives to deliver financial value creation of at least $20M-$25M in cost savings annually.
• Manage the contracting enterprise Procurement sourcing initiatives, negotiations & deliverables management processes.
• Have the ability to effectively lead and manage multiple projects with competing priorities and tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Be always audit ready for any internal and external audits.
• Execute any new corrective plan development and remediation timely.
• Self-assess, document process and controls, and engage with Internal Control Advisory Program quarterly to design any new internal control structure to have zero repeat audit findings.
• Deliver a proactive schedule of sources and needed contracts for all IT services in a 1–3-year plan working with Executive leadership for Stellarus - IT division.

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Requires at least 12 years of prior relevant experience in executing strategic initiatives with a track record of delivering results across a diverse portfolio of enterprise sourcing and supplier activities
• Requires a minimum of 8 years of management experience with direct reports
• Requires prior experience in negotiating multi-year service agreements with single contract values greater than $5M per year
• Requires proven ability to draft contractual provisions based on strategy discussions, stakeholder input, and organizational needs and expectations
• Requires ability to effectively manage and serve a wide range of internal business groups, including senior executives.
• Requires experience with IT sourcing on a global scale.
• Requires significant experience in contracting, negotiations and advising on commercial related issues
• Requires comfort with sourcing for different financial entities.
• Requires strong knowledge of a wide variety of contract types, including but not limited to pilot agreements, agreements with healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations, distribution agreements, quality agreements, outsourcing agreements, services agreements, and software / IT services agreements

ABOUT THE TEAM
About Blue Shield of California

As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.

At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.

To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.

Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!

Our Values:

• Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
• Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
• Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.

Our Workplace Model:

At Blue Shield of California and the Ascendiun Family of Companies, we believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. As we continue to evolve our workplace model, our focus remains on creating spaces where our people can connect with purpose – whether working in the office or through a hybrid approach – by providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce.

Two Ways of Working:

• Hybrid (Default): Work from a business unit-approved office at least two (2) times per month (for roles below Director-level) or once per week (for Director-level roles and above). Exceptions:

o Member-facing and approved out-of-state roles remain remote.

o Employees living more than 50 miles from their assigned offices are expected to work with their managers on a plan for periodic office visits.

o For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.

• On-Site: Work from a business unit-approved office an average of four (4) or more days a week.

Physical Requirements:

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.