Sr Program Support Specialist

This Senior Program Specialist role will serve as a subject matter expert supporting Cencora programs focused on pharmaceutical supply resiliency. The role is accountable for independently managing day-to-day program activities, customer needs, implementations, cross-functional initiatives, issue resolution, and assigned integration activities across programs.

Within established program objectives, priorities, and expected outcomes, the incumbent is expected to independently organize and execute assigned responsibilities, proactively identify needs and risks, and drive activities through completion. The role requires a high degree of ownership, judgment, initiative, and accountability and is intended for an individual who is comfortable operating autonomously in a dynamic environment.

The Senior Program Specialist will serve as a primary program resource for customers and internal stakeholders and is expected to develop deep subject matter expertise across assigned programs. The individual will independently lead customer and internal meetings, deliver presentations and training, manage implementations and projects, troubleshoot operational challenges, and drive results through cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority.

The role operates within the strategic direction and priorities established by program leadership. The incumbent is expected to independently manage routine program decisions and execution while escalating material risks, strategic decisions, competing priorities, or barriers as appropriate. Program leadership should be leveraged for strategic alignment, escalation, and thought partnership rather than routine day-to-day direction.

The role will also support the continued integration of programs by serving as a liaison across program teams and functional stakeholders, identifying opportunities to standardize processes, eliminate duplication, improve the customer experience, and support development and adoption of the future-state operating model.

Responsibilities:

• Serves as a subject matter expert across assigned pharmaceutical supply resiliency programs, developing a strong understanding of program requirements, processes, customer needs, and cross-functional dependencies
• Independently manages assigned program responsibilities, customers, projects, and workstreams from planning through completion, maintaining ownership for outcomes and follow-through

• Manages competing priorities, timelines, dependencies, risks, and action items to consistently deliver against commitments and deadlines

• Proactively identifies and resolves operational issues using sound judgment, escalating material risks, strategic decisions, competing priorities, or barriers as appropriate

• Serves as a primary program resource for assigned health system customers, owning questions, issues, communication, and follow-up through resolution

• Independently leads customer and internal meetings, presentations, program reviews, and training, communicating effectively with a range of stakeholders

• Supports customer implementations from planning through go-live, coordinating activities, stakeholders, dependencies, risks, and required follow-up

• Builds effective cross-functional partnerships across Sourcing, Replenishment Operations, Pricing, Finance, Contracts, Legal, Sales, Technology, Analytics, and other teams to drive program outcomes

• Influences and mobilizes cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority, establishing clear ownership and maintaining accountability for commitments and next steps

• Monitors program and customer performance, analyzes trends and key performance indicators, and identifies opportunities to improve utilization, purchasing performance, compliance, inventory protection, customer value, and overall program outcomes

• Maintains clear and accurate project documentation, workplans, trackers, decisions, action items, and other tools necessary to support effective program execution

• Identifies opportunities to improve and standardize workflows, reporting, communications, implementation practices, and other cross-program processes

• Supports program integration by owning assigned integration workstreams and helping document, evaluate, and implement aligned or future-state processes

• Develops and delivers clear, concise, and audience-appropriate communications that translate complex program, customer, and operational information into actionable next steps

• Remains flexible across evolving program needs and takes ownership of new initiatives, customer needs, or operational priorities as required

Education:

Requires broad training in fields such as business administration, healthcare administration, supply chain, pharmacy, project management, or similar disciplines generally obtained through completion of a four-year bachelor's degree; normally requires a minimum of three (3) years of directly related and progressively responsible experience

Pharmacy Technician Certification and/or health system, hospital, pharmaceutical distribution, healthcare supply chain, or related experience preferred

Project or program management experience strongly preferred

Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong program and project management skills with demonstrated ability to independently manage multiple concurrent workstreams, priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders

• Demonstrated ability to operate autonomously once aligned on objectives and expected outcomes, without requiring continuous direction or prioritization from leadership

• Demonstrated ownership mentality with the ability to identify what needs to be done, establish an approach, and drive work through completion

• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, follow-through, and personal accountability

• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills with the ability to independently assess issues, develop solutions, make appropriate decisions, and recognize when escalation is required

• Strong customer-facing communication skills with the ability to build credibility and effectively engage health system and other external stakeholders

• Strong presentation and public-speaking skills with demonstrated comfort independently leading meetings, facilitating discussions, delivering presentations, and responding to questions

• Ability to quickly develop and maintain subject matter expertise across complex programs, processes, and customer requirements

• Ability to communicate complex information clearly and concisely to customers, Sales teams, cross-functional partners, and leadership

• Ability to influence, engage, and drive results through cross-functional teams without direct authority

• Strong meeting facilitation skills with the ability to establish objectives, guide productive discussions, clarify decisions, and drive action-item accountability

• Strong written communication skills

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to develop and maintain collaborative working and business relationships

• Strong time-management skills and demonstrated ability to independently manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment

• Ability to anticipate upcoming needs, risks, dependencies, and deadlines rather than relying on leadership to identify or manage them

• Ability to operate effectively in an evolving environment where processes, roles, priorities, and program needs may continue to change

• Ability to identify opportunities to standardize, streamline, and improve processes while considering operational and customer impacts

• Ability to understand customer needs, assess changing business conditions, and translate insights into actionable recommendations

• Understanding of hospital and/or Community & Specialty business segments preferred

• Understanding of Cencora business units, systems, and processes preferred

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Outlook, and Teams

• Strong creativity and continuous improvement mindset; focused, disciplined, proactive, and results-oriented

• AI fluency with demonstrated ability to responsibly and effectively leverage AI-enabled tools to improve productivity, analysis, communication, problem-solving, and work quality; applies sound judgment and critical thinking to validate AI-generated outputs for accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness before use.

What Cencora offers

We provide compensation, benefits, and resources that enable a highly inclusive culture and support our team members’ ability to live with purpose every day. In addition to traditional offerings like medical, dental, and vision care, we also provide a comprehensive suite of benefits that focus on the physical, emotional, financial, and social aspects of wellness. This encompasses support for working families, which may include backup dependent care, adoption assistance, infertility coverage, family building support, behavioral health solutions, paid parental leave, and paid caregiver leave. To encourage your personal growth, we also offer a variety of training programs, professional development resources, and opportunities to participate in mentorship programs, employee resource groups, volunteer activities, and much more. For details, visit https://www.virtualfairhub.com/cencora

*This Salary Range reflects a National Average for this job. The actual range may vary based on your locale. Ranges in Colorado/California/Washington/New York/Hawaii/Vermont/Minnesota/Massachusetts/Illinois State-specific locations may be up to 10% lower than the minimum salary range, and 12% higher than the maximum salary range.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cencora is committed to providing equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or membership in any other class protected by federal, state or local law.

The company’s continued success depends on the full and effective utilization of qualified individuals. Therefore, harassment is prohibited and all matters related to recruiting, training, compensation, benefits, promotions and transfers comply with equal opportunity principles and are non-discriminatory.

Cencora is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the employment process which are consistent with legal requirements. If you wish to request an accommodation while seeking employment, please call 888.692.2272 or email hrsc@cencora.com. We will make accommodation determinations on a request-by-request basis. Messages and emails regarding anything other than accommodations requests will not be returned

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