Purpose of the job- Owns the enterprise operating model for third-party vendor governance across Operations and Service Delivery, with accountability for vendor segmentation, lifecycle controls, contractual performance, service continuity, risk response, and value realization.
- Directs governance for assigned strategic and critical vendors from onboarding through renewal, transition, or exit. Establishes clear decision rights, escalation paths, performance standards, and evidence-based oversight to protect members, customers, operations, and the organization.
- Leads the Vendor Management team and serves as the center of expertise for vendor relationship governance, contractual obligation oversight, performance remediation, and third-party operational risk.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONSRequired Work Experience- 8 years of progressive experience in vendor management, supplier relationship management, third-party risk, contract governance, sourcing, or outsourced-service oversight.
- 5 years of people leadership experience, including establishing team priorities, performance expectations, and professional development plans.
- 5 years of direct accountability for complex vendor portfolios, including performance governance, contractual obligations, escalations, and executive business reviews.
- 3 years of experience applying vendor tiering, due diligence, risk assessment, issue remediation, and renewal or exit decision processes.
- Experience interpreting contracts, statements of work, service-level agreements, performance remedies, and financial commitments.
Required Education- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Finance, Information Systems, or related field.
Required LicensesPreferred CertificationsPREFERRED QUALIFICATIONSPreferred Work Experience- Health plan, managed care, payer operations, or regulated healthcare vendor management experience.
- Experience governing vendors that support claims, payment integrity, care management, member or provider services, and healthcare administration technology.
- Experience establishing a vendor management office, center of expertise, or standardized third-party governance program.
- Experience with vendor transitions, service recovery, business continuity, concentration risk, and termination assistance.
- Experience partnering with Procurement, Legal, Compliance, Information Security, Finance, Privacy, and operational risk functions.
Preferred EducationPreferred LicensesPreferred Certifications- Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement certification.
ESSENTIAL job functions AND RESPONSIBILITIES- Establish and maintain the vendor governance operating model for assigned Operations and Service Delivery vendors, including vendor tiering, decision rights, governance cadence, required records, and escalation thresholds.
- Maintain a portfolio view of strategic and critical vendors, including services provided, accountable business owners, contract milestones, dependencies, material risks, and current performance status.
- Define governance requirements by vendor criticality and ensure appropriate oversight from onboarding through renewal, transition, or exit.
- Translate contracts and statements of work into an obligation register that identifies deliverables, service levels, reporting requirements, remedies, renewal dates, and accountable owners.
- Direct vendor performance reviews using agreed service, quality, financial, risk, and customer-impact measures; validate that reported results are supported by reliable evidence.
- Chair executive business reviews and formal governance forums focused on vendor commitments, decisions, risks, corrective actions, and value delivery.
- Require and oversee corrective action plans when performance, quality, control, or service commitments are not met; confirm root-cause analysis, accountable owners, due dates, and sustained resolution.
- Establish escalation and service-recovery protocols for vendor incidents, missed commitments, recurring defects, or emerging operational risks.
- Coordinate with business continuity, information security, compliance, privacy, legal, and operational leaders to assess vendor risk and track mitigation activities to closure.
- Monitor vendor concentration, subcontractor, dependency, financial viability, capacity, continuity, and reputational risks and elevate material exposure through the appropriate governance channel.
- Provide the vendor-governance assessment for sourcing, renewal, expansion, consolidation, remediation, and termination decisions without assuming ownership of enterprise strategic planning or executive-office communications.
- Partner with Procurement and Legal on contract language, performance protections, audit rights, remedies, transition assistance, and exit provisions.
- Partner with Finance and business owners to validate vendor charges, credits, penalties, cost commitments, and documented value realization.
- Lead transition and exit governance, including knowledge transfer, data disposition, continuity controls, open-obligation closure, and post-transition review.
- Maintain auditable vendor-governance records, including decisions, approvals, scorecards, issues, risk acceptances, remediation evidence, and contract-related actions.
- Develop standard playbooks, templates, training, and quality reviews that improve consistency and maturity of vendor oversight across the organization.
- Lead, coach, and develop Vendor Management Specialists; assign portfolios based on vendor criticality, complexity, workload, and organizational priorities.
- Set measurable team objectives and hold team members accountable for governance quality, timely escalation, documentation, and closure of vendor actions.
OVERALL- Promote accountability, transparency, disciplined oversight, and constructive challenge across vendor relationships.
- Maintain effective working relationships with internal business owners, control functions, and vendor leaders while preserving clear accountability for contractual and operational outcomes.
- Present concise vendor performance, risk, decision, and value information to leadership through established governance forums.
- Lead and participate in corporate projects related to vendor governance, third-party risk, service continuity, and contracted-service performance.
- The position requires a full-time work schedule. Full-time is defined as working at least 40 hours per week, plus additional hours as requested or needed to meet business requirements.
- Perform all other duties as assigned.
- Candidates must reside in Arizona and may require local travel.
REQUIRED COMPETENCIESRequired Job Skills- Advanced knowledge of vendor lifecycle governance, supplier relationship management, contract administration, service-level management, third-party risk, and performance remediation.
- Advanced ability to interpret contracts, statements of work, service-level agreements, remedies, audit rights, and termination provisions.
- Advanced analytical skill in evaluating scorecards, trend data, service quality, financial commitments, control evidence, and root-cause analysis.
- Advanced written, verbal, negotiation, facilitation, and executive presentation skills.
- Intermediate to advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office 365, collaborative platforms, contract repositories, reporting tools, and data visualization tools.
Required Professional Competencies- Ability to apply constructive challenge, distinguish evidence from assertion, and hold internal and external owners accountable for commitments.
- Ability to identify material vendor risk, evaluate business impact, define escalation thresholds, and drive mitigation to documented closure.
- Strong relationship management, negotiation, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and decision-framing skills.
- Ability to balance service continuity, regulatory obligations, member impact, cost, contractual rights, and long-term partnership value.
- Commitment to consistent governance, complete documentation, transparency, and ethical stewardship of third-party relationships.
Required Leadership Competencies- Ability to build and lead a specialized vendor management function with clear portfolio ownership, standards, controls, and quality expectations.
- Ability to coach team members in contract interpretation, executive governance, risk escalation, performance remediation, and relationship management.
- Ability to lead governance forums that produce clear decisions, accountable owners, due dates, and documented follow-through.
- Ability to influence business owners and control partners while maintaining appropriate independence and constructive challenge.
PREFERRED COMPETENCIESPreferred Job Skills (in addition to required job skills)- Knowledge of healthcare administration platforms, including HealthEdge, and the vendor ecosystems that support claims and member or provider operations.
- Knowledge of third-party risk frameworks, vendor segmentation methods, business continuity practices, and transition or exit planning.
- Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, and structured root-cause or corrective-action methods.
Preferred Professional Competencies- Ability to convert complex contractual, operational, financial, and risk information into clear governance decisions and recommendations.
- Ability to identify recurring vendor performance patterns and design sustainable controls that prevent recurrence.
- Ability to evaluate emerging vendor capabilities without compromising control, continuity, or accountability requirements.
Preferred Leadership Competencies- Advanced executive presence, consensus-building, and vendor negotiation skills.
- Demonstrated ability to lead high-stakes remediation, service recovery, transition, or exit activities across complex vendor relationships.
- Demonstrated commitment to building technical depth, disciplined governance practices, and high-performing teams.
#LI-EM1
Thank you for your interest in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. For more information on our company, see azblue.com. If interested in this position, please apply.
