[Hiring] Procurement Business Partner @State of Colorado

Role Description

Today a request passes through several hands, and each person sees only their step. In this role one person owns the whole journey for a portfolio, such as SaaS tooling, health and human services, or another area we define. As our new Procurement Business Partner you will learn your users and your vendor market deeply. You work with users and OIT Delivery Pods to shape the problem before choosing a path, then carry it through scoping, sourcing, evaluation, negotiation and award. You stay accountable afterward, through onboarding and renewal.

You are a problem solver first and a compliance expert second. You know what the law requires, you can tell it apart from habit, and you are willing to challenge a step that adds delay but no protection.

What you will do

• Own a portfolio.
• Know the agencies, users, vendors, existing agreements and renewal calendar for your area, and plan ahead rather than react to rush requests.
• Start with the user.
• Run short discovery conversations in partnership with delivery teams, and write scopes and evaluation criteria around the outcome they need rather than a vendor or product they already picked.
• Choose the best path, not the habitual one.
• Weigh existing vehicles, price agreements, cooperative contracts and new solicitations for fit, speed and value, and explain the choice in plain language.
• Make the work visible.
• Ensure your partners have a clear timeline and proactive status updates, so no one has to chase.
• Question every step.
• Separate what is statutorily required from preference and tradition, and propose removing or simplifying what is not required. Document the reasoning. Make risk informed decisions regarding what is required and when waivers or alternatives should be sought.
• Work in short cycles.
• Deliver in small increments, learn from each procurement, and bring what you learn back to the team.
• Work as part of a product team.
• Partner with product managers, service designers and delivery managers in the pods, and with finance, contracts and legal, as one team around the agency's problem.
• Manage vendors for outcomes.
• Stay involved after award so the vendor delivers what the agency needed, and use that experience in the next procurement.
• Use modern tools.
• Use automation, templates and AI-assisted drafting and research to cut manual work, and share what works.

Qualifications

• A minimum of three (3) years of experience in IT procurement, asset management, software licensing, technology sourcing, or vendor management.
• Experience in public-sector or complex enterprise procurement, covering the full cycle from requirements through contract award.
• Working knowledge of state procurement rules, or the ability to learn them quickly and apply them with judgment.
• A track record of improving a process, a result or a relationship by questioning how things have always been done.
• Strong facilitation and plain-language writing, including turning vague needs into clear requirements.
• Comfort with ambiguity, and the judgment to know when to move fast and when to stop and consult.
• Fluency with modern digital tools, and curiosity about using automation and AI to remove manual work.

Requirements

• Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
• Training or Certification related to the work assigned to the position will be assigned credit towards substitution for experience and/or education, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
• If the minimum qualifications include a degree requirement, additional appropriate paid or unpaid experience will substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.

Benefits

• Support for a healthy balance of work and personal time.
• Access to great offerings that allow for fulfilling lives.

Company Description

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness.

The Governor's Office of Information Technology is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment.