About the Role
Strategic Sourcing consistently identifies savings opportunities, runs competitive RFPs, and negotiates strong vendor agreements - but the value of that work is only realized when Business Units actually adopt the change. Today, that adoption is inconsistent: initiatives stall after contract signature, savings go unrealized, and Category Managers are pulled into BU-management work that takes them away from sourcing

This role closes that gap. The Manager, Implementation and Program Delivery owns the handoff from "deal signed" or "savings identified" to "change fully adopted." This person will partner closely with Business Units as a trusted point of contact - building the relationships and rapport needed to drive real behavior change, tracking initiatives with enough rigor that risk surfaces early, and escalating only when relationship-based influence genuinely isn't enough.
This is not a sourcing or procurement role. We are hiring for exceptional program delivery, change management, and relationship-building skills - deep procurement knowledge is not required and can be learned on the job

Key Responsibilities
• Own post-signature implementation. Serve as the accountable owner for every initiative from contract execution through full Business Unit adoption - the phase where things currently slip through the cracks.
• Build genuine relationships with Business Units. Be a familiar, trusted presence to BU stakeholders - not a compliance checkpoint they try to avoid. Understand each BU's priorities and pressures well enough that change conversations land as partnership.
• Partner with Category Managers upstream. Get involved before RFP close to help build realistic implementation and adoption plans, so execution is designed in from the start rather than bolted on after the deal.
• Run a standing governance cadence. Maintain simple, visible tracking (status, blockers, next steps, owners) that makes at-risk initiatives obvious early, well before a deadline crisis.
• Diagnose and resolve adoption barriers. Determine whether a stalled initiative is a BU compliance issue, a vendor delay, or a systems/process gap - and drive the right fix.
• Manage change, not just tasks. Build stakeholder-specific plans for why a BU should change behavior, using influence and rapport before resorting to escalation.
• Escalate when necessary, with data. When relationship-based influence isn't sufficient, bring leadership a clear, well-documented ask rather than a vague status update.
• Track realized value. Maintain a savings realization tracker that distinguishes contracted savings from savings actually realized in practice - closing that gap is a core measure of this role's success

Requirements
Education
• Master's degree in Management, Organizational Leadership, or related field required

Experience
• 4-7 years in project/program management and organizational change management
• Demonstrated experience influencing stakeholders who did not report to them, ideally across multiple business functions
• Background in a customer-facing, service-delivery, or account management environment, with a genuine "the client's success is my success" mentality
• Experience running structured change efforts - communication plans, adoption tracking, resistance management - not just project timelines
• Procurement or sourcing experience is not required

Core Competencies
• Relationship building: builds real rapport with Business Unit stakeholders; is sought out and trusted, not avoided
• Customer service mentality: proactive, responsive, and takes ownership of the BU's experience through the full transition
• Change management: builds the case for why a BU should change, and works resistance through relationship rather than premature escalation
• Program governance: creates simple, visible tracking that surfaces risk early
• Executive communication: summarizes stalled initiatives crisply for leadership, with a clear ask, without skipping the relationship-first approach
• Fast learner in unfamiliar domains: comfortable getting conversant in sourcing/procurement concepts quickly without prior background