IT Procurement Specialist III

APS • Phoenix, AZ

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

Arizona Public Service generates reliable, affordable and clean energy for 2.7 million Arizonans. As the state’s largest and longest-serving energy provider, our more than 6,000 dedicated employees power our vision of creating a sustainable energy future for Arizona.SummaryThe IT Procurement Specialist III manages and executes IT procurement activities in support of the buying requirements of the IT Business Unit.  Identifies IT procurement efficiencies and executes supply chain IT category strategies, targets and schedules in order to achieve goals and objectives for cost management, inventory management, supplier management including supplier diversity and process improvement. Manages IT Business Unit partnerships to deliver excellent customer service. Analyzes costs, redlines and negotiates legal terms and conditions for multi-million dollar IT contracts (software, software as a service (SaaS), IT services, IT hardware, IT projects), effectively communicates and presents to IT Business Unit leadership and Supply Chain leadership, and identifies strategies and solutions to help IT Business Unit partners to better manage costs with IT supplier engagements and IT supplier services/software/other information technology products/services. Executes IT RFx and Procure-to-Pay (P2P) process in an efficient and cost-effective manner while supporting continuous process improvement and customer satisfaction.

Requirements

• A four-year Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain or other job-related discipline from an accredited college or university
• Plus six (6) years of procurement experience in materials or services positions.
• In lieu of bachelor's degree, ten (10) years of procurement experience in materials or services positions required.

Nice To Haves

• Exposure to strategic supply chain management.
• Experience using Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems.
• Strong analytical, verbal and written communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Proficiency in using analytical software tools such as Microsoft Excel and Access.

Responsibilities

• Serves as primary IT procurement contact with IT BU partners and IT suppliers to ensure a continuous flow of quality IT hardware/IT services/software/SaaS/PaaS to meet or exceed service levels at the lowest total cost. Executes P2P process for IT procurement in an efficient and cost-effective manner to maximize value.  Coordinates supply chain processes to achieve expected results. Executes IT RFx (request for information, request for proposal, request for quote, request for bid) process utilizing technology and other resources to source innovative suppliers for IT solutions/services, to ensure appropriate, proactive response.  Leads the RFx bid evaluation, IT solution demos/proof of concept, supplier negotiation and contracting of long-term complex IT master agreements and software contracts including key performance indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs), up to $50M in spend with autonomous decision making with appropriate IT BU partners.
• Acts as procurement value-added partner to the IT BU at all levels of management on both routine and significant processes/concerns related to IT Procurement, IT Vendor and Asset Management Office (VAMO) and/or Materials Management. Develops, plans and leads negotiations with IT suppliers that include pricing along with contract terms and conditions on high complexity multi-year and multi-million dollar IT contracts (e.g. SaaS contract, IT strategic supplier master agreements and IT standalone agreements).  As the contract owner the Procurement Specialist also owns the process of coordinating internal contract review/redlining input from various internal company subject matter experts (contract analysts, legal, cybersecurity, data protection, insurance, tax, accounting and others). Involves IT BU stakeholders to ensure the IT business partner's project plan is adhered to.
• Develops comprehensive market and data driven negotiation plans to lead complex negotiations with IT suppliers in establishing enterprise contracts.  Leads as a Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) champion for key/critical and strategic IT suppliers. Builds strong working relationships with IT suppliers and negotiates best prices for IT solutions, managing invoice discrepancies, adherence to contracts, and working through change orders. Utilizes MRP system for determining necessary resources/IT solutions to meet IT BU and project schedules.
• Uses data analytics and information from IT BU partners to identify procurement operational efficiencies and execute process improvements with cross functional collaboration between buying groups and IT VAMO.  Identifies and executes IT supplier efficiency opportunities. Drives development of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), "should cost", "cost vs. benefit" models to help derive optimal value of procurement solutions. Gathers data; identifies issues; relates and compares; identifies cause-effect; interprets different viewpoints; determines and takes a course of action after identifying and developing possible consequences.
• Develops, manages and negotiates IT contracts/agreements incorporating SLAs/KPIs, results expectations and resolves contract issues in partnership with IT VAMO. Understands IT statements of work (SOW), reduces costs, mitigates risk and drives continuous improvement to meet APS business requirements. Uses analytical software tools to execute and/or support data-driven decisions. Participates with VAMO and IT leadership to develop and implement IT strategies, supplier management/performance. This includes leading and presenting a phase gate for operational strategies.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees