IT Procurement Category Manager

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America's Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Job Description Summary

The role is responsible for leading procurement strategy, sourcing initiatives, and supplier relationship management across information technology (IT) and select non-IT categories.

Primary areas of focus include software, hardware, SaaS, cloud services, consulting, and telecommunications, with potential oversight of other institutional spend categories as needed.

Reporting to the Director of IT Procurement, the position plays a key role in aligning procurement activities with University goals related to cost containment, risk management, compliance, and sustainability.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Develop and execute category strategies across IT and applicable non-IT areas in support of institutional priorities.
2. Lead competitive sourcing and contracting initiatives, particularly within software and IT services.
3. Manage supplier relationships to ensure high performance, service quality, and continuous improvement.
4. Support issue resolution, contract negotiations, and enforcement of service-level agreements.
5. Engage internal stakeholders to ensure procurement solutions align with business needs.
6. Promote University procurement policies and educate campus partners on best practices.
7. Advance Penn's objectives for local, community, and sustainable sourcing through strategic supplier collaboration.
8. Perform core analytics work for the department in support of department objectives.
9. Conduct strategic sourcing analytics to identify aggregation opportunities across the University.
10. Develop and execute an improved process and deliverables as defined by department.
11. Support ad hoc analytical needs, including emerging initiatives related to strategic sourcing.
12. Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

1. Bachelor's Degree and 3 years of procurement or sourcing experience with a focus on Information Technology (IT) categories (e.g., hardware, software licensing models or IT Services).
2. Proven experience leading sourcing initiatives and negotiating IT agreements.
3. Excellent stakeholder communication and cross-functional collaboration skills in a technological environment.
4. Must have an advanced understanding of common legal standards (i.e., payment terms; indemnity/remedies; limits of liability, warranties), including but not limited to: Trademark/Intellectual property rights, Data use, data ownership, data transfer issues, Remedies, including indemnification, Limitations of Liability (LOL) and related, common customer carve-outs (i.e., no LOL for specific issues; LOL's capped or defined for other issues).
5. Proven interpersonal and communication skills required, including a track record of effectively partnering with a various group of customers, ideally in a higher education or non-profit environment.
6. Demonstrated ability to collaborate with internal experts.
7. Capability to manage detail and complex issues.
8. Ability to collaborate with the contracting team to develop contract language to address complex and often ambiguous business, legal, and technical situations.
9. Experience with e-procurement tools (e.g., Jaggaer, Coupa, Ariba, etc.).
10. Certification as a Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) highly preferred.

**Target salary is $95,000 based on relevant IT category procurement experience and associated skills.**

**Pay Range: $64,500.00 - $95,000.00 Annual Rate**