Sourcing Specialist, Principal - Information Technology and Health Solutions

Blue Shield of California•Oakland, CA

About The Position

Your Role The Global Business Services team is responsible for the execution of the sourcing process for goods and services, including supporting the business by making effective sourcing decisions and establishing supplier contracts. The Sourcing Specialist Principal will report to the Director, Sourcing for the IT Stellarus team. In this role you will provide sourcing strategy, advice and objectives to support the operational business initiatives. Responsibilities Your Work In this role, you will: Be responsible for the overall prioritization, quality and delivery of strategic sourcing initiatives to support Blue Shield’s and Care1st’s culture of affordability Act as a trusted advisor and provide leadership through sourcing strategy advice and consultation to best achieve the business strategy and culture of affordability objectives Provide guidance to Business partners and seek alignment to influence spend and cost savings/total cost of ownership through supplier rationalization and driving economies of scale Be a liaison with business users and SMEs to understand requirements and priorities of the field, provide input for requirements to ensure upon business model Validate key inputs and assumptions built into quantitative and qualitative analysis and/or financial models Lead, structure and guide Business partners on complex sourcing initiatives Contribute to the analysis of complex situations, identify risks and contribute to the development of risk mitigation ideas Ensure sourcing principles and best practices are incorporated into the initiatives Present status, track process implementation results and issue identification/resolution effectively to management Remain informed and engaged throughout project lifecycle Lead end‑to‑end contracting for complex technology and product deals (often $5M–$100M+), including MSAs/CSAs, Order Forms, SOWs, Amendments, Change Orders, and negotiation playbooks; drive best‑value outcomes across price, risk, service levels, and innovation Own negotiation strategy: develop BATNAs, should‑cost/TCO models, and multi‑round RFx/auction strategies; run competitive events and down‑selects with clear decision frameworks Structure commercial models that balance agility and control (e.g., output‑/outcome‑based pricing, ramp/elastic capacity, milestone & acceptance, indexed rate cards, usage tiers, EDPs, reservations/commit models for cloud) Partner with Legal, Privacy, Security, Finance, Risk, Compliance, and IT to close issues quickly (IP/data rights, privacy & data protection, security schedules, regulatory addenda, BAAs/DPAs, service levels/credits, termination/transition assistance, subcontracting, open‑source/SBOM, audit/controls) Guide stakeholders through intake to signature: ensure complete business requirements, strong SOWs, and adherence to required pre-approvals and documentation Reduce cycle time and risk by applying standard templates, clause libraries, and redline best practices; escalate and resolve blockers rapidly Qualifications Your Knowledge and Experience

Requirements

Requires a college degree or equivalent experience
Requires a minimum of 10 years of prior relevant experience in strategic sourcing/contracting
Requires a minimum of 7 years negotiating technology agreements (SaaS, data services, managed services/outsourcing, healthcare services) with direct ownership of deals in the multi‑million‑dollar range
Requires mastery level knowledge of Sourcing/Supplier Relationship Management area typically obtained through advanced education combined with experience.
May have deep knowledge of project management.
Requires excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

Be responsible for the overall prioritization, quality and delivery of strategic sourcing initiatives to support Blue Shield’s and Care1st’s culture of affordability
Act as a trusted advisor and provide leadership through sourcing strategy advice and consultation to best achieve the business strategy and culture of affordability objectives
Provide guidance to Business partners and seek alignment to influence spend and cost savings/total cost of ownership through supplier rationalization and driving economies of scale
Be a liaison with business users and SMEs to understand requirements and priorities of the field, provide input for requirements to ensure upon business model
Validate key inputs and assumptions built into quantitative and qualitative analysis and/or financial models
Lead, structure and guide Business partners on complex sourcing initiatives
Contribute to the analysis of complex situations, identify risks and contribute to the development of risk mitigation ideas
Ensure sourcing principles and best practices are incorporated into the initiatives
Present status, track process implementation results and issue identification/resolution effectively to management
Remain informed and engaged throughout project lifecycle
Lead end‑to‑end contracting for complex technology and product deals (often $5M–$100M+), including MSAs/CSAs, Order Forms, SOWs, Amendments, Change Orders, and negotiation playbooks; drive best‑value outcomes across price, risk, service levels, and innovation
Own negotiation strategy: develop BATNAs, should‑cost/TCO models, and multi‑round RFx/auction strategies; run competitive events and down‑selects with clear decision frameworks
Structure commercial models that balance agility and control (e.g., output‑/outcome‑based pricing, ramp/elastic capacity, milestone & acceptance, indexed rate cards, usage tiers, EDPs, reservations/commit models for cloud)
Partner with Legal, Privacy, Security, Finance, Risk, Compliance, and IT to close issues quickly (IP/data rights, privacy & data protection, security schedules, regulatory addenda, BAAs/DPAs, service levels/credits, termination/transition assistance, subcontracting, open‑source/SBOM, audit/controls)
Guide stakeholders through intake to signature: ensure complete business requirements, strong SOWs, and adherence to required pre-approvals and documentation
Reduce cycle time and risk by applying standard templates, clause libraries, and redline best practices; escalate and resolve blockers rapidly