Dir- Vendor Management - Hybrid

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona•Phoenix, AZ

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Owns the enterprise operating model for third-party vendor governance across Operations and Service Delivery. Accountable for vendor segmentation, lifecycle controls, contractual performance, service continuity, risk response, and value realization. Directs governance for assigned strategic and critical vendors from onboarding through renewal, transition, or exit, establishing decision rights, escalation paths, performance standards, and evidence-based oversight to protect members, customers, operations, and the organization. Leads the Vendor Management team and serves as the center of expertise for vendor relationship governance, contractual obligation oversight, performance remediation, and third-party operational risk. This full-time position requires at least 40 hours per week, plus additional hours as requested or needed to meet business requirements. Candidates must reside in Arizona and may be required to travel locally. The role is classified as hybrid; hybrid people leaders must reside in Arizona and are required to work onsite at least twice per week. Onsite requirements may change based on business needs and job responsibilities.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive experience in vendor management, supplier relationship management, third-party risk, contract governance, sourcing, or outsourced-service oversight.
At least 5 years of people leadership experience, including establishing team priorities, performance expectations, and professional development plans.
At least 5 years of direct accountability for complex vendor portfolios, including performance governance, contractual obligations, escalations, and executive business reviews.
At least 3 years of experience applying vendor tiering, due diligence, risk assessment, issue remediation, and renewal or exit decision processes.
Experience interpreting contracts, statements of work, service-level agreements, performance remedies, and financial commitments.
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Finance, Information Systems, or a related field.
Advanced knowledge of vendor lifecycle governance, supplier relationship management, contract administration, service-level management, third-party risk, and performance remediation.
Advanced ability to interpret contracts, statements of work, service-level agreements, remedies, audit rights, and termination provisions.
Advanced analytical skill in evaluating scorecards, trend data, service quality, financial commitments, control evidence, and root-cause analysis.
Advanced written, verbal, negotiation, facilitation, and executive presentation skills.
Intermediate to advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office 365, collaborative platforms, contract repositories, reporting tools, and data visualization tools.
Ability to apply constructive challenge, distinguish evidence from assertion, and hold internal and external owners accountable for commitments.
Ability to identify material vendor risk, evaluate business impact, define escalation thresholds, and drive mitigation to documented closure.
Strong relationship management, negotiation, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and decision-framing skills.
Ability to balance service continuity, regulatory obligations, member impact, cost, contractual rights, and long-term partnership value.
Commitment to consistent governance, complete documentation, transparency, and ethical stewardship of third-party relationships.
Ability to build and lead a specialized vendor management function with clear portfolio ownership, standards, controls, and quality expectations.
Ability to coach team members in contract interpretation, executive governance, risk escalation, performance remediation, and relationship management.
Ability to lead governance forums that produce clear decisions, accountable owners, due dates, and documented follow-through.
Ability to influence business owners and control partners while maintaining appropriate independence and constructive challenge.
Must reside in Arizona.
The position requires a full-time work schedule of at least 40 hours per week, plus additional hours as requested or needed to meet business requirements.

Nice To Haves

Health plan, managed care, payer operations, or regulated healthcare vendor management experience.
Experience governing vendors that support claims, payment integrity, care management, member or provider services, and healthcare administration technology.
Experience establishing a vendor management office, center of expertise, or standardized third-party governance program.
Experience with vendor transitions, service recovery, business continuity, concentration risk, and termination assistance.
Experience partnering with Procurement, Legal, Compliance, Information Security, Finance, Privacy, and operational risk functions.
Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement certification.
Knowledge of healthcare administration platforms, including HealthEdge, and vendor ecosystems supporting claims and member or provider operations.
Knowledge of third-party risk frameworks, vendor segmentation methods, business continuity practices, and transition or exit planning.
Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, and structured root-cause or corrective-action methods.
Ability to convert complex contractual, operational, financial, and risk information into clear governance decisions and recommendations.
Ability to identify recurring vendor performance patterns and design sustainable controls that prevent recurrence.
Ability to evaluate emerging vendor capabilities without compromising control, continuity, or accountability requirements.
Advanced executive presence, consensus-building, and vendor negotiation skills.
Demonstrated ability to lead high-stakes remediation, service recovery, transition, or exit activities across complex vendor relationships.
Demonstrated commitment to building technical depth, disciplined governance practices, and high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain the vendor governance operating model for assigned Operations and Service Delivery vendors, including vendor tiering, decision rights, governance cadence, required records, and escalation thresholds.
Maintain a portfolio view of strategic and critical vendors, including services, accountable business owners, contract milestones, dependencies, material risks, and performance status.
Define governance requirements by vendor criticality and ensure appropriate oversight from onboarding through renewal, transition, or exit.
Translate contracts and statements of work into an obligation register covering deliverables, service levels, reporting requirements, remedies, renewal dates, and accountable owners.
Direct vendor performance reviews using service, quality, financial, risk, and customer-impact measures, and validate that reported results have reliable supporting evidence.
Chair executive business reviews and formal governance forums focused on vendor commitments, decisions, risks, corrective actions, and value delivery.
Require and oversee corrective action plans for unmet performance, quality, control, or service commitments; confirm root-cause analysis, owners, due dates, and sustained resolution.
Establish escalation and service-recovery protocols for vendor incidents, missed commitments, recurring defects, or emerging operational risks.
Coordinate with business continuity, information security, compliance, privacy, legal, and operational leaders to assess vendor risk and track mitigation to closure.
Monitor vendor concentration, subcontractor, dependency, financial viability, capacity, continuity, and reputational risks, and elevate material exposure through appropriate governance channels.
Provide vendor-governance assessments for sourcing, renewal, expansion, consolidation, remediation, and termination decisions, without assuming ownership of enterprise strategic planning or executive-office communications.
Partner with Procurement and Legal on contract language, performance protections, audit rights, remedies, transition assistance, and exit provisions.
Partner with Finance and business owners to validate vendor charges, credits, penalties, cost commitments, and documented value realization.
Lead transition and exit governance, including knowledge transfer, data disposition, continuity controls, open-obligation closure, and post-transition review.
Maintain auditable vendor-governance records, including decisions, approvals, scorecards, issues, risk acceptances, remediation evidence, and contract-related actions.
Develop standard playbooks, templates, training, and quality reviews to improve consistency and maturity of vendor oversight.
Lead, coach, and develop Vendor Management Specialists; assign portfolios based on vendor criticality, complexity, workload, and organizational priorities.
Set measurable team objectives and hold team members accountable for governance quality, timely escalation, documentation, and closure of vendor actions.
Promote accountability, transparency, disciplined oversight, and constructive challenge across vendor relationships.
Maintain effective working relationships with internal business owners, control functions, and vendor leaders while preserving clear accountability for contractual and operational outcomes.
Present concise vendor performance, risk, decision, and value information to leadership through established governance forums.
Lead and participate in corporate projects related to vendor governance, third-party risk, service continuity, and contracted-service performance.
Perform other duties as assigned.