Category Management Specialist VI - Marketing

Position can be based in any KP footprint (CA, WA, OR, CO, MD, DC, GA) however pay is based on the region you reside and will differ from what is posted

Kaiser Permanente is seeking a highly strategic and influential Category Management Specialist VI to lead enterprise-level sourcing and category strategy for our Marketing portfolio. This principal-level role serves as an expert on Marketing-related spend-spanning areas such as advertising, media, digital marketing, creative services, marketing technology, and research. As a trusted advisor to senior Marketing and organizational leaders, this position plays a critical role in advancing Kaiser Permanente's mission by ensuring that our marketing investments deliver maximum value, innovation, and operational impact.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in category management and strategic sourcing with a strong understanding of marketing supplier landscapes, emerging industry trends, and complex stakeholder needs.

This senior technical/functional leader is responsible for serving as an expert and leading the development of category/spend strategies for all key categories by leveraging advanced expertise of the markets, suppliers and stakeholder needs; building and fostering long-term relationships with key internal clients and suppliers; owning end-to-end delivery of business needs for categories under management; demonstrating a deep understanding of client initiatives and short, medium, and long-term goals;

ensuring alignment of initiatives and strategies with client expectations; driving the adoption of change practices with customers, suppliers and stakeholders to drive strategic programs; and interacting with executive leadership to review and drive decisions. This position is also responsible for serving as an expert in the RFP process and/or supplier negotiations; leading the development and execution of RFPs to drive the strategic sourcing process;

leveraging advanced analytics and insights to ensure data-driven decisions; analyzing category spend to understand price drivers and trends; applying cost and supply market analytics; and championing a digital mindset to adopt new technologies in the source to pay space.

• Promotes learning in others by communicating information and providing advice to drive projects forward; builds collaborative, cross‑functional relationships. Solicits and acts on performance feedback; provides actionable feedback to others, including upward feedback to leadership; influences, mentors, and coaches team members. Practices self‑leadership; creates, evaluates, and responds to the strengths and weaknesses of self and unit or team members. Leads the adaptation to competing demands and new responsibilities;
  
  adapts to and learns from change, challenges, and feedback. Fosters open dialogue amongst team members.
• Drives the execution of multiple work streams by identifying member and operational needs; translates business strategy into actionable business requirements; develops and updates new procedures and policies. Gains cross‑functional support for objectives and priorities; determines and carries out processes and methodologies; solves highly complex issues; escalates and resolves issues as appropriate; sets standards and measures progress. Develops work plans to meet business priorities and deadlines;
  
  coordinates, obtains and distributes resources. Removes obstacles that impact performance; guides performance and develops contingency plans accordingly; influences the completion of project tasks by others.
• Serves as an expert and leads the development of category/spend strategies for all key categories by leveraging advanced expertise of the markets, suppliers and stakeholder needs; driving clear, informed decisions based upon a multi‑year strategy; owning end‑to‑end delivery of business needs for categories under management; keeping current on external and internal influences that may impact the larger organization (e.g., Healthcare Reform, macroeconomic issues, etc.);
  
  and interacting with executive leadership to review and drive decisions.
• Builds and fosters long‑term…