Building Healthy Relationships

Name: Enid Knightner
Job: Director of Corporate Sourcing, AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies
Location: Philadelphia
Last Position: Sourcing consultant in the mortgage banking industry
Education: Master of Business Administration, Eastern University

After nearly a decade of managing supplier contracts and procurement in finance, Knightner transferred her skills to healthcare as director of corporate sourcing at AmeriHealth Mercy, which provides healthcare solutions to underserved communities.

Responsibilities: Knightner determines a strategic sourcing plan after receiving requests for proposals (RFPs) from internal departments including IT, service operations, human resources, medical affairs, and marketing. When she receives the RFPs, she identifies suppliers–which can range from IT and professional services to office supplier and staff augmentation. She also develops requirements and conducts market analysis. Once a supplier is selected, Knightner negotiates the contract and creates a statement of work that details the services, supplier deliverables, terms of the project, and more.

How She Got the Job: Knightner knew it was time to redirect her career in January 2010 as she watched tension continue to rise in the mortgage banking financial industry. “We had so many cutbacks. So many companies were folding and going bankrupt. Morale was down. I didn’t know if the doors of the organization were going to close.” After a friend suggested considering a position in healthcare, Knightner conducted industry research and networked with professional women in the field. She discovered that opportunities were plentiful. “It made me realize that it was possible to transfer to healthcare without a nursing degree.” Using job portals such as Indeed.com, Knightner sent her résumé to healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. She completed a phone interview and three

face-to-face interviews with AmeriHealth Mercy before receiving an offer in February 2011 as contracts manager. Knightner was promoted 13 months later to her current position of director of corporate sourcing.

Opportunities: An aging population, rise in chronic health conditions, and President Obama’s healthcare reform are all factors that are influencing the rapid growth of jobs in healthcare. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare is one of the industries projected to have the fastest job growth between 2010 and 2020, with an estimated gain of 5.6 million jobs. Though nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, and home health aides are in demand, there is also a need for those without a medical degree or experience to fill roles in areas such as health administration, human resources, finance, and IT.

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Training: Knightner has nearly a decade of corporate sourcing experience that she developed through on-the-job training.

Skills: Collaboration with the vice president of corporate sourcing and project managers, as well as building relationships with suppliers, is critical in Knightner’s leadership role. Since she works with contracts, critical thinking is a necessary part of assessing risk and negotiating terms and conditions with suppliers. Strong listening and communication skills are also required because after Knightner receives a request from a business unit, she schedules a meeting to review the specifications and requirements of a contract. “There are specific questions I have to ask like, is it in the budget? Does it affect the entire enterprise? What lives or businesses are going to be involved or affected by the services or goods that are being purchased?”

Learning Curve: Since there were acronyms

and jargon in finance that were not transferable to healthcare, Knightner studied on her own time to familiarize herself with the language of her new industry. “I had to read contracts that were already in place so I could gather enough information to speak intelligently when I sat down with my clients.”

Advice for Aspiring Professionals: Corporate sourcing allows for assimilation into many fields, so Knightner suggests looking into college programs that offer a procurement degree and research certification opportunities. She also advises joining organizations such as the Institute for Supply Management.

Best Lesson Learned: “Let go and let God. I had no idea that I was going to be on this path right now. If I had listened to some of my colleagues at my former employer, I would have been stuck.”