The Vendor Alliances Consultant Lead (VAC Lead) is part of the Vendor Alliances (VA) Consulting team, which is accountable for high-value strategic vendor management activities. The VAC Lead serves as the primary resource, mentor, and subject matter expert for the Vendor Alliances Consultants (VACs), providing guidance, coaching, and support to enhance team performance and capability. While maintaining responsibility for a portfolio of the organization's most complex and strategic vendor relationships, the VAC Lead also partners with VACs to address challenging vendor situations, negotiations, and stakeholder needs. This role is responsible for advancing strategic vendor management, negotiation, and value realization initiatives while driving the consistent application of vendor governance, risk management, cost optimization, and best practices across the Vendor Alliances function. Through leadership, expertise, and collaboration, the VAC Lead helps ensure the team delivers measurable business value and supports organizational objectives.

• The VAC Lead provides day-to-day leadership, direction, and prioritization to Vendor Alliances Consultants (VACs), ensuring alignment to strategic objectives, vendor prioritization frameworks, and consistent application of the consulting model.
• Leads, develops, and mentors members of the VA Consulting team, with a primary focus on enabling strategic execution across high-risk, high-priority vendor portfolios.
• Establishes priorities aligned to vendor tiering, complexity, and strategic importance. Coaches Consultants on negotiation strategy, stakeholder engagement, and value realization.
• Drives consistency in strategic vendor management practices, including benchmarking, business case development, and executive engagement.
• Strategizes with internal business stakeholders to determine vendor needs and alignment with corporate goals.
• May be asked to participate in the vendor contracting process including drafting, redlining, and negotiating.
• May be asked to maintain a portfolio of especially complex, high risk, high priority vendor relationships.
• Facilitates the review and execution of highly confidential agreements within the organization.
• identifies and implements process improvements to increase overall effectiveness of the vendor lifecycle and performs other duties as requested to support the VACs.
• Focuses on continuous improvement of strategic processes, including vendor prioritization, negotiation effectiveness, and benchmarking utilization, rather than administrative process execution.
• Supports VA sourcing activities as a strategic participant in sourcing activities.
• Serves as a backup to VACs, as needed.
• Leads departmental projects, as needed.

Skills:

• Ability to develop and execute on business strategy.
• Ability to prioritize work based on vendor tier, risk, and strategic importance
• Ability to translate benchmarking, analytics, and market intelligence into negotiation and vendor strategy
• Ability to lead, develop, and mentor teams through influence
• Advanced application of sound business judgment in making decisions that affect the company.
• Works independently as well as part of a high-performance team under tight time constraints with multiple priorities, adaptable to change, and able to multi-task, as necessary.
• Leads change management initiatives within the Vendor Alliances department and cross-functionally as necessary.
• Cultivates and maintains solid, positive relationships with internal business stakeholders and vendors in support of the business.
• Consistently demonstrates strong analytical and problem-solving skills, collaboration skills, and ability to influence others to reach common goals.
• Confidently navigates ambiguity and thinks conceptually and coaches the Vendor Alliances team on same.
• Exercises strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to craft messages appropriate for both the level of and in the preferred style/format of the target audience.
• Self-starter who demonstrates the drive, determination, and perseverance to get things done with a “can-do” attitude.
• Advanced negotiation, contract management, and decision-making skills.
• Advanced organizational skills and effectively reprioritizes workload to manage ad-hoc requests and competing priorities.
• Fosters an environment of critical thinking and continuous process improvement.

Knowledge:

• Expert in contract drafting and negotiation.
• Expert in vendor management practices.
• Expert in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and SharePoint.
• Proficiency in Contract Lifecyle Management software preferred.
• Proficiency in vendor acquisition practices preferred.
• Proficiency in healthcare or insurance industry preferred.
• Proficiency in Medicare, PPACA, FEP, CHIP and other regulatory requirements that impact vendor contracting preferred.

Experience:

• 5 years of experience in a Vendor Management, Vendor Contracting, and/or Vendor Procurement environment, or similar experience.
• Proven record of successfully leading initiatives, projects, and process changes at enterprise level.
• Mastery of Vendor Management, Vendor Contracting, and/or Vendor Procurement concepts.

Education and Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Juris Doctorate or master’s in business administration preferred.

Work Environment: 

• Office environment with extensive cross-functional interaction.

Travel:

• Potential travel to external meetings, conferences, vendors, etc. (less than 10%)

Physical Demands:

• While performing the duties of the job, the employee is frequently required to sit, use hands and fingers, talk, hear, and see.
• The employee must be able to work over 40 hours per week.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 5 pounds.

We recognize that work is a part of life, not separate from it, and foster a flexible environment where your health and wellbeing are prioritized. At Capital you will work alongside a caring team of supportive colleagues and be encouraged to volunteer in your community.  We value your professional and personal growth by investing heavily in training and continuing education, so you have the tools to do your best as you develop your career. And by doing your best, you’ll help us live our mission of improving the health and well-being of our members and the communities in which they live.