Manager Procurement-IT/Technology

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We are Optimum, a leader in the fast-paced world of connectivity, and we're seeking driven and enthusiastic professionals to join our team, empower lives, fuel businesses, and drive innovation. Connectivity is now longer a luxury, but a necessity. A career at Optimum means you'll be enabling progress and enhancing lives by providing reliable, high-speed connectivity solutions that keep the world connected. Our successes, now and in the future, are powered by our amazing product, a commitment to our people and culture, and the connections we make in our communities.

If you are resourceful, collaborative, and passionate about delivering consistent excellence, Optimum is for you!

Job Summary

The Manager of Procurement - IT/Technology will lead all negotiations for assigned business unit or product category. This position will be responsible for developing relationships with the internal business unit key stakeholders, as well as developing and implementing a strategic procurement discipline to maximize supplier contributions to meet the business unit's plans, objectives, and budget. In addition to leading the development and execution of effective sourcing strategies, the Manager of Procurement will drive cost and contract negotiations, manage supplier and/or business unit escalations, and provide procurement project management. This role will also provide oversight and approvals to ensure purchases follow company policies and align with our strategic supply base.

The ideal candidate must be detail-oriented, communicate effectively, able to execute on multiple projects and able to identify solutions to complex problems. He or she must have a positive attitude to set the tone with cross functional teams, facilitate solutions at an Enterprise-wide level and able to navigate through competing objectives to drive to outcomes while partnering with Executive leaders to facilitate trade-offs that optimize outcomes in a timely manner.

This role is responsible for providing the commercials and framework to optimize the value of products and services received from 3rd party vendors. Identifying commodity vs. strategic aspects of 3rd party relationships that ensure the right leverage points are negotiated into the contractual terms and that the partnership serves its purpose for the organizational goals overall.

Responsibilities

• Maintain deep category expertise through understanding and application of industry developments, marketplace trends, emerging technology, new techniques, leading practices, and shared experiences.
• Drives all supplier negotiations to a competitive price.
• Reviews and assesses rate cards, quotes, statements of work, and master service agreements to quickly redline and develop a negotiation strategy to reduce the price, reduce the potential liability, and optimize the benefit.
• Performs cost/benefit and comparative analysis on hardware, software, and professional services.
• Negotiates and manages the contractual approval process for MSA's, MPA’s, SOW's, Maintenance & Support Renewals, etc.
• Manages complex bid and sourcing, requests for proposals, evaluation of returned proposals, selection of vendors, and awards the contract.
• Manages supplier or business unit escalations to contract implementations.
• Develops and maintains relationships with functional business units for purposes of gathering, analyzing and conveying information to support sourcing efforts.
• Coordinates the sourcing and contract management activities across the procurement teams to deliver targeted benefits to Optimum.
• Manages key supplier relationships, including addressing driving savings through innovation and resolving any issues and disputes.
• Reviews and approves supplier contract awards and purchase orders.
• Works with functional business units to optimize spend against contracts and ensure compliance.
• Provides negotiation summaries and performance reporting and analysis to senior leadership.
• Manages and monitors the contract management process within the budgetary costs or cost savings goals of the company.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree (required), MBA a plus
• 5+ years of experience in technology categories and strategic procurement - Saas/cloud, AI and other technology solutions
• IT Procurment experience highly preferred (software, hardware, services and staffint)
• Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives involving Senior leader sponsorship
• Oracle Source to Pay experience strongly preferred
• Experience in the network, software and/or technology industry
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced and challenging working environment
• Proficient in MS Office, particularly Microsoft Excel (Pivot tables, VLOOKUP's, etc)
• Excellent leadership skills with the ability to get into the weeds
• Ability to work cooperatively and collaboratively with all levels of the organization
• Outstanding interpersonal, communication, and business partnering skills
• Extremely organized, detail-oriented, and mindful of deadlines
• Superior organizational and time management skills with the ability to balance numerous diverse priorities and projects simultaneously
• Solid understanding and experience of technology contracting -drafting, relining,commercial term negotiation, alignment of legal terms

At Optimum, every action and interaction we take part in, is driven by our three Guiding Principles: Do What’s Right, Drive One Optimum, and Make It Happen. These aren’t just words, they help us build trust, create real community, and embrace new ways of thinking. Our employees are empowered to do the right thing for our customers and co-workers and to recognize and reward these behaviors when we see them. It’s all part of the bigger picture of “Be The Difference” where each employee knows they have the power to enact real change, share new ideas, and understand that learning never stop.

If you have the drive to succeed and are ready to embark on a thrilling career, seize this opportunity today, and join our winning team. Together, we'll shape the future of connectivity.

All job descriptions and required skills, qualifications and responsibilities for a particular position are subject to modification by the Company from time to time, in the Company’s discretion based on business necessity.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to recruiting, hiring and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds regardless of gender, race, color, creed, national origin, religion, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.

The Company collects personal information about its applicants for employment that may include personal identifiers, professional or employment related information, photos, education information and/or protected classifications under federal and state law. This information is collected for employment purposes, including identification, work authorization, FCRA-compliant background screening, human resource administration and compliance with federal, state and local law.

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Pay is competitive and based on a number of job-related factors, including skills and experience. The starting pay rate/range at time of hire for this position in the posted location is $102,816.00 - $168,912.00 / year. The rate/range provided herein is the anticipated pay at the time of hire and does not reflect future job opportunity.