Category Manager/Sr Category Manager, Procurement

INTERACTIVE CAD SERVICES•Fort Worth, TX

4h•Onsite

About The Position

The Professional Services Category is part of American’s Procurement organization and manages end-to-end sourcing for Contact Centers, Consulting Services, Benefits, Contingent Labor, Marketing, Legal, and Financial Services. The Category Manager/Sr Category Manager develops and implements sourcing strategies, leads contract negotiations, optimizes stakeholder engagement, and drives vendor value creation. The role builds relationships with internal partners and vendors, leads sourcing events that deliver measurable savings and improvements, and addresses contracting, financial analysis, risk, legal, and regulatory requirements. The position leads sourcing across the benefits vendor ecosystem, including medical carriers, PBMs, TPAs/ASO administrators, stop-loss carriers, brokers/consultants, benefits administration platforms, wellness vendors, voluntary benefits providers, and specialty point solutions. It analyzes proposals, costs, utilization, fees, contract terms, and vendor performance to support data-driven decisions and deliver savings, cost avoidance, value protection, and working-capital improvements. The role partners with Legal, Finance, consultants, IT/security, and business stakeholders; supports compliance-aware vendor management; and maintains audit-ready sourcing and governance documentation. This is a W2 contract position with no benefits, located at the DFW Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The role offers the opportunity to work with a growing strategic sourcing team, collaborate across functions, engage with senior leadership, and develop procurement expertise through high-impact projects.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
At least 3 years of related work experience.
Sourcing experience, specifically in indirect categories other than IT or Contingent Labor.
Basic financial analysis and cost-savings skills, including Excel.
Strong project management skills.
Excellent problem-solving, customer service, and communication skills.
Energetic and ambitious, with an interest in developing a procurement career.
Able to navigate ambiguity, complex stakeholder dynamics, and change; strong communicator and problem-solver.
Self-directed, organized, and resourceful, with a proven ability to prioritize, manage, and execute multiple simultaneous tasks.
Strong business acumen.
Understanding of supply chain concepts and work experience applying them.
Negotiating and influencing skills.
Understanding and use of technical tools for analysis, problem solving, forecasting, and quality improvement.
Proficient in Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
High ethical standard.

Nice To Haves

Degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Business Administration, Business Management, Finance, Accounting, or another related field.
Knowledge of Source to Pay systems.
Knowledge of Coupa and Levelpath.
Experience with benefits, such as medical or pharmaceutical benefits.
Process mapping abilities.
Supplier risk analysis experience.
Vendor relationship management experience.
Previous experience with Source to Pay systems.
Good work ethic and a positive attitude.
Executive presence.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and juggle many projects.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end strategic sourcing activities, including category strategy development, RFx execution, supplier evaluation, market research, negotiations, and vendor performance monitoring.
Manage sourcing activity across the benefits vendor ecosystem, including medical carriers, PBMs, TPAs/ASO administrators, stop-loss carriers, brokers/consultants, benefits administration platforms, wellness vendors, voluntary benefits providers, and specialty point solutions.
Run structured RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, renewals, benchmarks, and market checks to support fair supplier comparisons, documented decisions, competitive leverage, and defensible sourcing outcomes.
Negotiate commercial and contractual terms, including pricing, administrative fees, rebates, guarantees, SLAs, implementation obligations, audit rights, data-access rights, market-check language, termination terms, confidentiality, and renewal protections.
Analyze supplier proposals, claims and utilization trends, renewal projections, administrative fees, PEPM/PMPM structures, PBM economics, rebate arrangements, stop-loss terms, service levels, and total cost of ownership to identify data-driven negotiation levers.
Deliver hard savings, cost avoidance, value protection, and working-capital improvements through competitive sourcing, contract optimization, vendor consolidation, fee transparency, market checks, rebate and performance guarantee improvements, and process optimization.
Partner with Legal, Finance, consultants, IT/security, and business stakeholders to align sourcing strategies, contract terms, implementation plans, financial impacts, and risk considerations.
Recognize when ERISA fiduciary concepts, DOL service-provider oversight, broker/consultant compensation disclosures, voluntary benefit safe harbor requirements, RxDC, gag clause attestation, Transparency in Coverage, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, or plan-document considerations require review.
Create and manage vendor governance tools, including scorecards, performance guarantee trackers, SLA dashboards, QBR/BR materials, corrective action plans, escalation paths, renewal dashboards, and contract compliance reviews.
Monitor vendor performance against contractual, operational, financial, service, implementation, reporting, member-experience, and compliance expectations, and drive timely resolution of performance gaps.
Maintain organized, audit-ready sourcing strategies, RFx materials, evaluation records, negotiation summaries, business cases, financial improvement reports, contract documents, and vendor governance records.
Apply project management, executive communication, stakeholder influence, analytical storytelling, negotiation, and problem-solving skills to manage high-visibility and regulatory-complex projects in a dynamic environment.