[Hiring] Executive Director Delivery and Optimization @Premier Inc.

Role Description

The Executive Director, Delivery and Optimization owns one of five GPO Delivery pods — a team of Delivery Managers, Delivery Directors, and Delivery Senior Directors — and is accountable for that pod's collective delivery performance across every assigned account. This is the most senior presence in GPO Delivery — someone who brings executive-level polish and structured thinking to connect the GPO contracting team, portfolio SMEs, analytics, and the rest of Premier to what member supply chain clients actually need, and who holds the team to a standard of execution, not activity. The Executive Director, Delivery and Optimization operates with autonomy, sets the bar for strategic guidance and executive presence across the pod, and is judged on the team's results: contract uptake, value realization, and client trust at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• GPO Portfolio Delivery Ownership and Value Creation – 35%
  • Leads the pod's execution strategy across its full portfolio of accounts, managing complex, multi-account programs through the team while also managing their own accounts.
  • Works with other pod leaders to develop consistency.
  • Works with the various center of excellence to drive Premier Program and contract value.
  • Oversees contract performance management across every category and account in the pod, ensuring optimal utilization and value realization at scale.
  • Leverages advanced data analysis — through Premier's technology, AI, and Power BI partnerships — to synthesize analytics into strategic recommendations at the portfolio level.
  • Employs analytical storytelling to communicate findings and influence decision-making with member executives, physicians, and clinicians.
  • Ensures every account within the pod completes an annual growth forecast and business review, incorporating results and recommended actions into pod-level planning.
  • Holds the pod accountable for a regular cadence of complete member data submissions (PO, invoice, AP, capital plans, and other required data types) across every account, to support accurate analytics and GPO growth/penetration tracking.
  • Ensures the pod leverages contract analytics from the MVE and other Premier analytics resources to model contracting scenarios — costs, behaviors, market share, and lower-cost alternatives — across every account.
• Supply Chain Relationship Management – 30%
  • Is the point of contact and quarterback for all GPO related activities.
  • Acts as the main point of contact for Supply Chain and Premier to navigate all aspects of the GPO and align member messaging.
  • Cultivates strategic, trust-based relationships with the most senior member supply chain executives and other supply chain leaders across the pod's portfolio, aligning Premier's GPO portfolio to their long-term priorities.
  • Leads strategic initiatives and facilitates executive-level discussions across the pod's accounts to align goals, resolve conflict, and identify new opportunities.
  • Provides strategic guidance and consultation to stakeholders across GPO contracting, portfolio SMEs, and the rest of Premier, serving as the pod's most senior trusted advisor.
  • Engages directly with physicians and clinicians when clinical alignment is required to unblock a decision.
  • Sets the standard across the pod for understanding each member's unique goals (savings targets, budget gaps, new service line priorities), current capabilities, and pressure points.
  • Ensures every account team builds and adapts engagement plans around them rather than a generic approach and uses that intelligence across the pod's portfolio to prioritize where the team focuses effort and resources for the greatest member value.
  • As the most senior presence in GPO Delivery, coordinates closely with COE Leadership and account coaches to ensure consistent strategy and support across the pod's accounts.
  • Ensures alignment with internal partners — Rx, Food, and Portfolio Advisors — is consistent across every account in the pod.
  • Holds the pod accountable for aligning supply chain and pharmacy goals between each member and Premier, and for proactively driving activities toward the accomplishment of those goals.
• People Leadership – 35%
  • Holds the team accountable to KPIs and targets set by SCO/GPO Ops leadership — contract growth, penetration, and member savings/value.
  • Hires, coaches, develops, and performance-manages the pod; owns talent calibration and succession planning.
  • Operates autonomously, mentors the team, and drives standardization and continuous improvement across the pod and in partnership with the other four Delivery Principals/Leaders.
  • Applies advanced problem-solving and critical thinking to the pod's most complex, ambiguous client and internal issues; is the escalation point when no one else can solve it.
  • In addition to leading and developing the pod's people, personally manages a subset of the pod's most strategic accounts — this is an active account-management role, not a purely administrative leadership position.

Qualifications

• Years of Applicable Experience: 10 or more years
• Education: Bachelor's (Required)

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to operate with full autonomy, manage competing priorities across a team, and mentor others.
• Resilience and resourcefulness; an operator who delivers under ambiguity.
• Expertise in Excel and PowerPoint; experience with Salesforce and analytics platforms (Power BI, AI-enabled tools).
• 12+ years in account management, category management, sourcing/contracting, or healthcare supply chain leadership.
• Proven track record analyzing complex data and communicating insights to C-suite executives, physicians, and clinicians.
• Deep expertise in GPO contract lifecycle management and performance optimization at an enterprise/portfolio level.
• Exceptional leadership, facilitation, and influencing skills with polished executive presence.
• People management experience at scale — hiring, coaching, and developing a team of 10+.
• Experience leading organizational change and continuous improvement across a multi-account portfolio.
• Education: Master’s degree.

Additional Job Requirements

• Remain in a stationary position for prolonged periods of time.
• Be adaptive and change priorities quickly; meet deadlines.
• Attention to detail.
• Operate computer programs and software.
• Ability to communicate effectively with audiences in person and in electronic formats.
• Day-to-day contact with others (co-workers and/or the public).
• Making independent decisions.
• Ability to work in a collaborative business environment in close quarters with peers and varying interruptions.

Working Conditions

• Remote
• Travel Requirements: Travel 21-40% within the US
• Physical Demands: Sedentary: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves remaining stationary most of the time.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance.
• 401k retirement program.
• Paid time off.
• Participation in Premier’s employee incentive plans.
• Tuition reimbursement and professional development opportunities.

Company Description

• Granted World's Most Ethical Companies, Ethisphere, 2008-2026.
• Named U.S. News & World Report, Best Companies to Work For (2023, 2024, 2025).
• Accredited by Forbes: America’s Best Management Consulting Firms 2024-2025.
• Given Modern Healthcare Best in Business Awards: Consultants- Healthcare Management.
• Awarded Cigna Workforce Designation Gold Level Recipient (2016,2017,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023,2025).