Project Manager - Senior - Contract Administrator RI Bridges Program

Project Manager-Senior / Contract Administrator Responsibilities:

The Program Manager-Senior will take on the responsibilities of Contract Administrator ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of all vendor contracts associated with the State of Rhode Island's Integrated Eligibility and Health Insurance Exchange Program ("RI Bridges"). This role will be instrumental in driving vendor performance through active and ongoing management and proactively addressing issues when performance standards are not achieved. In addition, this role provides additional project management support to the Enterprise PMO for related continuous process improvement initiatives and other strategic projects. To be successful, the role requires strong vendor management skills, knowledge of IT contracts and general procurement practices, knowledge of software development processes and exceptional leadership and communication skills. Candidates should have versatile project management and strategic procurement skills with the ability to learn quickly and work with limited oversight and supervision.

The primary responsibilities of the Contract Administrator (CA) include the following:

• Provides a detailed understanding of the terms & conditions of all related vendor contracts
• Drives vendor performance by monitoring performance metrics including key deliverables, SLAs, KPIs and other Key Measures and ensuring any required corrective action plans are established and tracked until performance standards are met
• Facilitates any ongoing contract amendments and renewals including assisting with any necessary negotiations to vendor contracts in support of the State's objectives and budget goals
• Obtains legal guidance if required to respond to questions or to gain legal interpretations of contracts when required
• Assists with any related procurement activities required to maintain the required vendor support for RI Bridges in accordance with State and Federal purchasing guidelines, including hardware and software
• Reviews and facilitates approvals for vendor invoices and any associated contract reporting
• Brings best practices and tools (including dashboards and scorecards) to conduct effective vendor performance reviews on a regular basis
• Builds strategic partnerships with vendors and across the business to perform all related contract administration functions
• Analyzes contract requirements, special provisions, terms and conditions to ensure legal compliance with regulations, corporate policies and business unit procedures
• Leads continuous process improvement initiatives and other strategic projects for the Enterprise PMO
• Provides thought leadership to the RIBridges Program and Contract Manager, the Executive Committee, the Vendor Management Office and other State Agencies regarding contract management and other strategic initiatives
• Other duties as Assigned

This position will report to the ETSS RI Bridges Program & Contract Manager and coordinate with the ETSS Vendor Management Office.

EXPERIENCE AND REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Bachelor's degree preferably related to IT Vendor Management
• Master's degree preferred
• Minimum 10+ years of IT Project management experience; Preference for Experience in Managing vendors and being part of Application Implementation(s) and ongoing Maintenance [M&O] Support
• Minimum 8-10+ years of Contract management experience including IT vendor and supplier management having done the following:
  • Statement of Work facilitating and drafting terms on Scope
  • RFP / RFI Drafting RFP to facilitating evaluation
  • Contract Negotiations facilitate and complete terms and pricing
  • Ongoing Contract Management Part of Project attend vendor performance reviews, review service level management [SLA] jointly with IT as per measurement cycle; Perform ongoing change order renewals
• Excellent organization skills
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills including executive level communications
• Ability to drive vendor performance for IT services, hardware and software through metrics and governance
• Managing conflict resolution and leading successfully in a matrix organization
• Experience with application development and software development life cycle methodologies
• Experience with ITIL practices including incident and problem management
• Required knowledge of JIRA, Excel, PowerPoint
• Familiarity with integrated eligibility systems and interfacing with Federal Partners a plus
• PMP certification a plus