Strategic Sourcing Senior Manager

Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Business Title: Senior Manager, Strategic Sourcing

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, Strategic Sourcing leads end-to-end strategic sourcing initiatives across assigned categories, with a strong focus on technology (software, SaaS, IT services) and professional services. This role applies a disciplined 5–7 step strategic sourcing methodology to drive value from intake and requirements definition through supplier identification and award recommendation.

The role emphasizes fact based sourcing and negotiation practices, leveraging market benchmarking, proposal and bid analysis, and white-sheeting / should-cost modeling to inform negotiation strategy and commercial decision-making. The Senior Manager partners closely with business leaders, Finance, Legal, and IT to ensure sourcing decisions deliver measurable savings, and optimized commercial outcomes, aligned to enterprise standards.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

Strategic Sourcing Execution

• Lead end-to-end strategic sourcing initiatives using a structured 5–7 step sourcing methodology, including timely engagement assessment at intake to clearly define requirements (deal summary as an output), conduct market assessment and/or internal benchmarking, sourcing strategy development, competitive event execution, negotiation, and award recommendation.

• Develop and execute category sourcing strategies aligned with business priorities for assigned category/ies, spend profiles, financial objectives, aligned to enterprise procurement standards practices and policies.

• Translate business requirements into sourcing strategies that balance cost, risk, speed, and value.

Market Analysis, Benchmarking & Cost Modeling

• Conduct market analysis and/or internal benchmarking, and supplier landscape assessments to understand cost drivers, pricing models, market maturity, and leverage opportunities.

• Perform benchmarking to assess pricing competitiveness, rate card and/or threshold standards, commercial terms, and total cost of ownership.

• Develop and apply white-sheeting and should-cost models to:

  • Decompose supplier pricing and cost structures

  • Validate proposals and bids

  • Identify negotiation opportunities and cost reduction levers

• Use benchmarks and cost models as key inputs to negotiation strategies and executive recommendations.

Competitive Bidding & Proposal Analysis

• Design and manage competitive sourcing events, including RFPs, RFIs, and RFQs.

• Lead proposal and bid analysis, including pricing comparisons, scenario analysis, and evaluation of commercial trade‑offs.

• Ensure sourcing decisions are data driven, defensible, and aligned to sourcing objectives and documentable (as evidence-of).

Negotiation Strategy & Execution

• Develop negotiation strategies and playbooks informed by market intelligence, benchmarks, should-cost analysis, and business priorities.

• Lead and execute complex commercial and contractual negotiations in partnership with Legal and business stakeholders.

• Drive consistent negotiation outcomes through structured preparation, leverage analysis, and scenario planning.

Financial Alignment & Value Realization

• Partner with Finance to support ROI analysis, TCO impact modeling, and business case development for new investments, renewals, and recurring spend at required spend thresholds.

• Quantify and track sourcing value, including savings, cost avoidance, and commercial improvements.

• Prepare executive ready sourcing recommendations and deal engagement summaries supported by financial rationale, benchmarks, cost models, and risk considerations.

Standards & Continuous Improvement

• Determine, with business stakeholders, when competitive sourcing is required, and manage approved exception scenarios using documented rationale and benchmarking.

• Support audits and governance reviews by maintaining sourcing documentation, cost models, and negotiation artifacts.

• Drive continuous improvement of sourcing methodologies, templates, analytical tools, and negotiation playbooks as a part of Sourcing Working Groups and/or other required initiatives.

• Partner with procurement managers, associates, and analysts to drive sourcing rigor and best practices.

Expected Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Procurement, Finance, Business, or a related field (preferred).

• 10+ years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing and procurement, ideally within technology, and general professional services categories.

• Demonstrated success leading high value sourcing initiatives, complex negotiations, and cost modeling exercises.

• Strong financial, analytical, and commercial acumen.

• Advanced knowledge of cost structures, pricing models, contracts, and category economics.

• Experience with sourcing tools, procurement systems, and analytics platforms.

• Deep expertise in strategic sourcing methodologies (5–7 step process)

• Advanced capability in market benchmarking, white-sheeting, and should-cost modeling

• Strong negotiation strategy development and execution skills

• Excellence proficiency in proposal and bid analysis

• Strong stakeholder management and leadership communication skills

• Strong project management, analytical, problem solving and critical thinking skills

Expected Compensation

The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates.  Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.