It Category Procurement Specialist

About Us

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continually seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work

Position Summary:

The IT Category Procurement Specialist (ICPS) is an individual‑contributor position within the Procurement Services Unit under the Finance and Administration Division. Reporting to the Associate Director of Procurement Operations Support, the ICPS serves as the primary procurement liaison to PCORI's DIGITAL Division and supports the planning and execution of procurement strategies across assigned information technology categories. The ICPS manages end‑to‑end ("cradle‑to‑grave") procurement activities for both non‑complex and complex IT procurements, while applying category management principles-such as market analysis, supplier segmentation, and lifecycle planning-to support informed sourcing decisions.

Working closely with DIGITAL leadership and business owners, the ICPS aligns procurement strategies with technology roadmaps, security requirements, and organizational priorities to deliver best value, mitigate risk, and ensure sustainable vendor relationships.

The IT Category Procurement Specialist is empowered to exercise high-level judgment to provide independent advice to departmental clients and resolve complex contractual issues. The role is responsible for devising evaluation methodologies, weighting, and sourcing strategies for assigned IT categories, including SaaS, cloud services, and professional services-while serving as the negotiation lead for hardware, software, and enterprise licensing agreements. Furthermore, the Specialist is authorized to analyze, collect, and prepare all documentation required to reconcile data and settle matters regarding costs, deliverables, and payments.

To ensure organizational resilience, the position is also empowered to conduct risk compliance analyses and recommend alternative procurement methods to effectively mitigate vendor or service risks.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

* Acts as a trusted, strategic business partner for DIGITAL by providing consultative procurement guidance, enabling business owners to make informed decisions on their requirements, resulting in agreements ("contracts") in support of their Business Unit's goals and objectives.

* Executes the full procurement life cycle process to include: pre- and post-award activities; deployment of appropriate strategies, considering the size, risk, and complexity of the procurement; and recommendations to internal clients on procurement best practices.

* Leads IT‑specific procurement activities, including sourcing and evaluating enterprise software, hardware, cloud services, SaaS solutions, and IT professional services that are tied to implementation, integrations and managed services; partners closely with the DIGITAL department, Information Security, and Data Governance teams to ensure compliance with technical requirements, cybersecurity standards, data‑protection policies, and system‑integration needs.

* Reviews procurement requests to determine that proper specifications or descriptions are included in RFX (RFI/RFQ/RFP) documentation. Conducts offeror and contractor responsibility/risk compliance analysis using established PCORI procedures.

* Possesses expert level understanding of commerciality and can demonstrate achieving value for money through strategic planning, solicitation, and negotiations. Possesses good understanding of risks, analyses service risk as well as vendor risk and works with business partners to mitigate risks through sourcing and managing risk during the facets within the procurement process.

* Performs and completes contract closeouts involving simple and complex contracts (supporting firm fixed price, cost reimbursable, time and material payment mechanisms). Works independently to analyze, collect, and prepare all documentation;…