Category Manager, Clinical (Lab & Pharmacy) - Sourcing and Value Analysis

Category Manager Clinical

The Category Manager Clinical leads end-to-end sourcing and category management for assigned clinical spend (e.g., Surgery, GI, Cath, Cardiac Surgery, Nursing/Med-Surg, Lab, Pharmacy Support). This role develops and executes data-driven strategies, leads complex sourcing/negotiation, and manages key supplier relationships. They partner with Contracting, Clinical Value Analysis, physician leadership, clinical staff, Finance, Legal, and operational leaders to achieve savings, quality, patient safety, and risk management. As the primary strategic owner of clinical spend portfolios, they collaborate across multi-disciplinary teams to optimize spend, contract strategy, clinical outcomes, standardization, evidence-based product selection, and operational efficiency for UTMB, aligning with reimbursement and patient care priorities.

Strategic Category Ownership and Planning:

• Manages a portfolio of clinical spend categories, contracts, and annual spend.
• Develops comprehensive category strategies and roadmaps (short-, medium-, long-term) using clinical spend data, evidence-based research, market intelligence, physician preference, reimbursement/payer analysis, TCO, and total cost of care models.
• Defines category segmentation, prioritizes sourcing initiatives (clinical outcomes, cost savings, product standardization, utilization management, risk mitigation), and aligns strategies with organizational clinical/financial objectives, quality metrics, annual savings targets, and service line priorities.
• Evaluates organizational impact of clinical spend categories to determine appropriate category management level.
• Participates in planning the annual strategic sourcing pipeline and contract renewal calendar with Contracting, Clinical Value Analysis, and Procurement.
• Drives successful implementation of new clinical procedures/technologies, ensuring alignment with organizational strategy, clinical effectiveness, reimbursement, and evidence-based standards.

Clinical Engagement and Evidence-Based Decision Making:

• Applies evidence-based healthcare practices, clinical standards, and outcome research to implement, evaluate, and standardize clinical products/services.
• Facilitates physician-led and multi-disciplinary clinical teams to review utilization, outcomes, and options for evidence-based product selection/standardization.
• Engages physicians, clinicians, and leadership in discussions on clinical practice variation, product preferences, utilization trends, and standardization opportunities, supported by clinical evidence and financial data.

Sourcing and Contracting Leadership:

• Develops and executes negotiation strategies incorporating clinical outcomes, quality, patient safety, total cost of care, physician preference, and vendor performance.
• Supports and participates in end-to-end sourcing events with Contracting FTEs, Clinical Value Analysis, and key stakeholders.
• Analyzes vendor proposals, clinical evidence, financial structures, utilization projections, and supplier data to determine clinical/financial risk; develops strategies to mitigate risk and optimize institutional value.
• Facilitates physician conversations and clinical consensus-building during sourcing; navigates complex clinical preference dynamics while focusing on evidence-based outcomes and institutional value.
• Collaborates with contracting and stakeholders to ensure clinical contracts, product agreements, and consignment arrangements include appropriate SLAs, clinical training commitments, terms, conditions, and performance measures for comprehensive business reviews.
• Ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements, policies, and procedures (FDA, Joint Commission, State of Texas procurement, UCC, UT System, UTMB institutional, patient safety protocols) internally and externally.

Supplier Relationship and Performance Management:

• Serves as primary supplier/manufacturer relationship manager for key clinical suppliers, supporting onboarding, business reviews, clinical training coordination, escalation management, and strategic partnership development.
• Collaborates on developing, implementing, and monitoring supplier performance scorecards/KPIs, evaluating clinical quality, product performance, patient safety, cost, service delivery (on-time delivery, backorder management, rep support), compliance, innovation, and risk mitigation.
• Drives corrective action plans and continuous improvement with underperforming suppliers; identifies and implements supplier-enabled clinical innovation, new technology evaluation, product standardization, and process improvements to support clinical excellence, patient safety, and operational efficiency.
• Manages and evaluates clinical contract relationships (GPO, IDN, manufacturer direct) to identify and maximize clinical value, cost savings, and new opportunities.
• Establishes quality standards/initiatives; monitors supplier performance against clinical quality standards and addresses quality, compliance, or patient safety issues promptly.

Clinical Value Analysis Collaboration and Product Standardization:

• Partners with Clinical Value Analysis to align category strategies with value analysis charter, policies, workflows, standardization priorities, clinical standards, and product trial/evaluation protocols.
• Supports Clinical Value Analysis in new clinical item requests, product trials, clinical evaluations, and committee presentations by reviewing spend analytics, market intelligence, contract status, pricing, and supplier performance data.
• Collaborates on identifying and facilitating product standardization initiatives, conversion projects, and utilization management opportunities to reduce clinical variation while maintaining/improving patient outcomes.
• Develops, with Project Management, workplans and timelines to drive clinical standardization/optimization initiatives from inception through implementation, including clinical training, physician communication, supply chain execution, and post-implementation evaluation.
• Analyzes retrospective reports on cost, quality, and clinical outcomes from new product adoption/conversions; monitors ongoing performance and reports results to clinical/supply chain leadership.
• Attends and participates in Value Analysis Committee and other Category-related meetings, supporting Clinical Value Analysis team by providing category expertise, market intelligence, and analytical support for evidence-based clinical decision-making.

Financial Accountability and Savings Management:

• Establishes annual savings and clinical value creation targets for assigned categories, aligning with institutional savings/quality goals; identifies evidence-based standardization, utilization optimization, resource consumption reduction, and cost avoidance strategies.
• Tracks, validates, and reports cost savings, cost avoidance, clinical value improvements (quality, safety, outcomes), and non-financial value (physician satisfaction, process efficiency, risk reduction) delivered via category strategies, sourcing initiatives, and contract management.
• Monitors clinical utilization and identifies opportunities for physician engagement on appropriate utilization, preference card optimization, and waste reduction, while maintaining clinical quality/patient safety

Stakeholder Engagement and Communication:

• Identifies and engages key stakeholders (physicians, nurse leadership, service line administrators, operational directors, quality/patient safety officers, infection prevention, biomedical engineering, finance, and other internal customers) for each clinical category portfolio.
• Collaborates with clinical/operational stakeholders to understand requirements, evidence-based practice needs, physician preferences, quality/safety priorities, savings goals, budgets, reimbursement constraints, and operational needs; validates category strategies/sourcing plans with stakeholders for clinical/operational alignment.
• Communicates strategies and change management for projects; engages clinicians and stakeholders in data-driven discussions supporting evidence-based practice and savings opportunities.
• Prepares and delivers presentations to senior leadership, physician committees, and executive teams on category strategy, project outcomes (performance metrics, savings, supplier performance, market trends, new technology evaluations, risk management).
• Develops and maintains relationships with internal clinical customers and external clinical suppliers/manufacturers; serves as trusted clinical advisor and liaison between clinicians, physicians, and supply chain operations

Governance, Systems, Data Management, and Leadership:

• Coordinates with contracting on contract expiration, renewal schedules, and strategy for proactive contract lifecycle management.
• Utilizes Jaggaer, PeopleSoft ERP, Epic EMR, and BI/analytical tools to monitor clinical spend, utilization, contract performance, supplier compliance, clinical quality metrics, and category KPIs.
• Provides informal leadership, mentoring, and clinical category expertise to Contracting FTEs, Value Analysis Specialists, and team members supporting clinical categories; supports staff calibration and professional development to improve clinical service delivery to physicians and the clinical customer base.
• Acts as a resource for Supply Chain Managers, clinical staff, leadership, finance, value analysis, and contracting/clinical committees on clinical category matters.

Marginal or Periodic Functions:

• Participates in strategic planning, budget development, clinical quality, and departmental initiatives.
• Represents Supply Chain Services on clinical committees, quality improvement teams, patient safety workgroups, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Stays current with clinical trends, new technologies, evidence-based practices, regulatory changes, and healthcare innovations relevant to assigned clinical categories.
• Adheres to internal controls and reporting structure.
• Performs related duties as required.