Category Lead - Technology (Sourcing & Vendor Strategy)

Medica is a nonprofit health plan with more than a million members that serves communities in Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri, and beyond. We deliver personalized health care experiences and partner closely with providers to ensure members are genuinely cared for.

We're a team that owns our work with accountability, makes data-driven decisions, embraces continuous learning, and celebrates collaboration — because success is a team sport. It's our mission to be there in the moments that matter most for our members and employees. Join us in creating a community of connected care, where coordinated, quality service is the norm and every member feels valued.

The Category Lead – Technology is a strategic partner responsible for driving category performance, optimizing vendor outcomes, and aligning supplier strategies with business objectives. Going beyond traditional sourcing, this role leverages market intelligence, data insights, and industry expertise to shape category strategies, strengthen vendor partnerships, and deliver measurable business value. As the owner of assigned categories and key supplier relationships, the Category Lead influences decisions, identifies opportunities for improvement, and provides consultative recommendations that support organizational goals.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in Medica's transformation into a category-led operating model while expanding your influence beyond procurement into broader business decision-making. The ideal candidate is a strategic, analytical, and relationship-driven professional who is comfortable partnering with senior leaders, managing complex vendor relationships, and translating insights into action. Success in this role requires a proactive mindset, strong business acumen, and a focus on driving innovation, performance, and long-term value.

The Category Lead supporting Medica Tech, Medica's technology organization, will provide consultative procurement services to multiple departments and VPs within Medica Tech organization including but not limited to Data Management, Information Technology, Information Security, Business Applications and Cloud Technologies.

Key Accountabilities

Category & Strategy Leadership

• Own and evolve category strategies aligned to business objectives, financial targets, and risk frameworks.
• Use market intelligence, supplier insights, and internal data to shape proactive plans and sourcing approaches.
• Identify opportunities to consolidate vendors, optimize demand, and improve overall category performance.

Strategic Sourcing Integration

• Lead RFx strategies (RFI/RFP/RFQ) tied to category plans.
• Partner with ES&P peers and business stakeholders to structure deals, negotiate outcomes, and align contracts to business value from a pre-sale position.
• Apply best-practice sourcing levers such as benchmarking, competitive analysis, & pricing models to improve outcomes without increasing process burden.

Data-Driven Decision Making

• Leverage spend data, market insights, and performance metrics to lead decisions and prioritize actions.
• Develop reporting on savings, value realization, and service performance.
• Leverage market insights, spend data, and vendor performance metrics to inform strategy, prioritize actions, and drive measurable outcomes.

Business Partnership & Advisory

• Serve as the primary strategic interface between business stakeholders and vendor ecosystem.
• Translate business needs into category strategies, sourcing approaches, and vendor actions.
• Influence senior leaders through data-driven insights and forward-looking recommendations.

Vendor Lifecycle & Performance Management

• Maintain vendor scorecards, SLAs, and performance dashboards to ensure strong service delivery and accountability for strategic vendors. Reports on broader vendor portfolio ticket performance.
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and remediation plans with vendors.
• Facilitate Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and ongoing strategic engagement with strategic vendors.

Risk, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure vendor and category alignment with contractual obligations, regulatory requirements, and risk frameworks identified during pre and post contracting audit.
• Monitor compliance, manage audit findings, and mitigate risks across the category.
• Partner with internal teams (Risk, Compliance, Legal) to ensure consistent governance.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, or related field
• 8+ years of experience of vendor management, sourcing, or procurement
• Strong understanding of vendor lifecycle management and sourcing principles
• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders
• Proven ability to influence decisions and deliver measurable business outcomes
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills with internal and vendor executives

Preferred Qualifications

• Commercial contract experience is nice to have but not required as contracting is managed by a separate function.)
• Industry experience in Technology, Healthcare, or Fintech
• Knowledge of compliance- and regulatory- heavy functions (Fraud, Payments, Compliance, Information Security)
• Demonstrated ability to leverage market intelligence, analytics, and business insights to develop strategies, influence decisions, and drive measurable outcomes
• Strong understanding of supplier economics, pricing models, contracts, and value optimization across complex vendor relationships
• Thrives in a dynamic, evolving environment, effectively managing competing priorities while utilizing tools such as Workday, Zip, Power BI, and Microsoft Office products

This position is an Office role, which requires an employee to work onsite, on average, 3 days per week. We are open to candidates located near one of the following office locations: Minnetonka, MN, or Madison, WI.

The full salary grade for this position is $100,300 - $172,000. While the full salary grade is provided, the typical hiring salary range for this role is expected to be between $100,300 - $150,465. Annual salary range placement will depend on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, education, work experience, applicable certifications and/or licensure, the position's scope and responsibility, internal pay equity and external market salary data. In addition to base compensation, this position may be eligible for incentive plan compensation in addition to base salary. Medica offers a generous total rewards package that includes competitive medical, dental, vision, PTO, Holidays, paid volunteer time off, 401K contributions, caregiver services and many other benefits to support our employees.

The compensation and benefits information is provided as of the date of this posting. Medica’s compensation and benefits are subject to change at any time, with or without notice, subject to applicable law.

Eligibility to work in the US: Medica does not offer work visa sponsorship for this role. All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application. Employment is contingent on verification of identity and eligibility to work in the United States.

We are an Equal Opportunity employer, where all qualified candidates receive consideration for employment indiscriminate of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.