The position requires a strategic and commercially focused procurement professional who can manage complex technology agreements, optimize total cost of ownership, mitigate third-party risk, and develop strong relationships with technology leaders and suppliers.
Key Responsibilities
Category Strategy & Planning
Develop and execute comprehensive category strategies for IT software and technology services.
Establish multi-year sourcing plans and category roadmaps aligned with IT strategies, budgets, projects, and anticipated renewals.
Analyze spend, supplier landscape, market conditions, emerging technologies, and industry trends to identify sourcing, consolidation, and cost optimization opportunities.
Develop strategies to reduce supplier fragmentation and leverage enterprise purchasing power.
Maintain visibility into demand and upcoming technology initiatives to enable proactive sourcing rather than reactive purchasing.
This strategic orientation is consistent with your existing Category Manager role, which emphasizes category strategy, market analysis, long-term sourcing plans, measurable value, and alignment with organizational objectives.
Strategic Sourcing & Negotiations
Lead end-to-end sourcing initiatives, including requirements gathering, RFI/RFP development, supplier identification, competitive bidding, evaluation, negotiations, award recommendations, and contracting.
Lead complex commercial negotiations for software and IT services agreements.
Negotiate favorable pricing, licensing structures, service levels, renewal terms, termination rights, payment terms, and other key commercial provisions.
Apply total cost of ownership principles when comparing supplier proposals and commercial models.
Develop negotiation strategies using market intelligence, competitive benchmarks, supplier leverage, and business requirements.
Your current enterprise software description specifically calls for negotiation of licensing models, pricing structures, renewal terms, usage/access rights, data ownership, audit rights, and termination provisions.
Software & Technology Procurement
Manage procurement activities across technology categories such as
SaaS and cloud-based applications
Enterprise software and licensed applications
Cloud platforms and infrastructure solutions
Data and analytics solutions
Cybersecurity technology
IT professional services
Technology consulting
Software implementation and integration services
Managed IT services
Application development and support
Technical staffing and project-based resources
Other technology-related services
Contracting & Commercial Management
Lead commercial development and negotiation of Master Service Agreements (MSAs), Statements of Work (SOWs), Software/SaaS Agreements, Order Forms, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and related technology agreements.
Partner with Legal and business stakeholders to establish commercially appropriate contractual terms.
Evaluate supplier pricing models, license metrics, resource models, rate cards, deliverables, milestones, service levels, and acceptance criteria.
Establish commercial protections supporting performance accountability and flexibility as business requirements change.
Proactively manage renewals to reduce unnecessary spend and avoid unfavorable automatic renewal conditions.
Stakeholder Partnership
Serve as the strategic sourcing partner to IT and technology leadership.
Partner with stakeholders to understand technology roadmaps, budgets, project pipelines, business requirements, and sourcing priorities.
Collaborate with Information Security, Privacy, Legal, Finance, and other stakeholders throughout supplier evaluation and contracting.
Provide procurement recommendations and commercial insights that support supplier selection and business decision-making.
Facilitate cross-functional sourcing teams and establish clear sourcing timelines, responsibilities, and decision criteria.
Your existing sourcing materials already emphasize partnership with IT, Information Security, Legal, Finance, and business stakeholders, including alignment with technology roadmaps and enterprise architecture requirements.
Supplier & Performance Management
Develop and maintain strategic relationships with key technology suppliers.
Conduct supplier business reviews and monitor contractual commitments, service levels, pricing, and overall supplier performance.
Identify opportunities for supplier consolidation, renegotiation, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Manage supplier escalations involving commercial or contractual issues.
Support supplier segmentation and strategic supplier management initiatives.
Risk, Security & Compliance
Partner with Information Security, Privacy, Legal, and other stakeholders to identify and mitigate third-party technology risk.
Ensure appropriate review of cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory, and compliance requirements during sourcing and contracting.
Evaluate risks related to software licensing, supplier access to company information, data ownership, audit rights, and regulatory obligations.
Maintain appropriate sourcing and contracting documentation to support procurement governance and audit readiness.
Risk management is already an important component of your current role descriptions, particularly software licensing, data privacy, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and third-party risk.
Financial & Value Management
Identify and deliver measurable cost savings, cost avoidance, demand management, and supplier consolidation opportunities.
Analyze supplier proposals and pricing structures to identify opportunities to improve commercial value.
Partner with Finance to validate sourcing benefits and financial impacts.
Track category spend, sourcing activity, contract renewals, savings, and other applicable procurement metrics.
Minimum Requirement
Degree and typically requires 7+ years of relevant experience.
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Information Systems, Finance, or a related discipline.
Critical Skills
5–7 years of procurement, strategic sourcing, or category management experience, with significant experience sourcing enterprise technology.
Demonstrated experience negotiating complex enterprise software, SaaS, and IT services agreements.
Strong understanding of software licensing, subscription pricing, technology services contracting, and supplier commercial models.
Demonstrated ability to lead competitive RFPs and complex supplier negotiations.
Strong analytical, financial, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to influence and collaborate with senior business and technology stakeholders.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
The 5–7 year experience level is consistent with the Category Manager qualifications in your existing job description.
Preferred
Master’s degree, MBA, or advanced supply chain/procurement education.
CPSM, CSCP, CIPS, or similar procurement/supply chain certification.
Experience sourcing technology within a large, complex or highly regulated organization.
Familiarity with contract lifecycle management, procurement, spend analytics, and supplier management platforms.
Core Competencies
IT Category Strategy
Strategic Sourcing
Software & SaaS Negotiation
IT Services Procurement
Complex Contract Negotiation
Supplier Relationship Management
Total Cost of Ownership Analysis
Financial & Commercial Analysis
Third-Party Risk Management
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Awareness
Stakeholder & Executive Engagement
Supplier Performance Management
Cross-Functional Leadership
Negotiation & Influencing
Continuous Improvement
Salary: 109,500.00 - 146,000.00 - 182,500.00 USD Annual with 20% MIP Target comp approx. 130-135K with 20% MIP
P4
We are proud to offer a competitive compensation package at McKesson as part of our Total Rewards. This is determined by several factors, including performance, experience and skills, equity, regular job market evaluations, and geographical markets. The pay range shown below is aligned with McKesson's pay philosophy, and pay will always be compliant with any applicable regulations. In addition to base pay, other compensation, such as an annual bonus or long-term incentive opportunities may be offered. For more information regarding benefits at McKesson, please click here.
Our Base Pay Range for this position
$109,500 - $182,500
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