Melanie Ekeland Email & Phone Number

Overland Park, Ks, Us

Leawood, Kansas, United States

Strategic Sourcing:Leads team of procurement professionals in the development of innovative sourcing strategies and processes associated with the procurement of products and services for ongoing and new business ventures at Waddell & Reed. Work directly with Legal, IT, business stakeholders, and other team members to develop and execute sourcing strategies to drive greater supplier value, delivering continuous cost, performance and process improvement. Products and services acquired are expected to optimize value by 1) providing the best match for the business needs identified; 2) minimizing legal and business risk; and 3) providing a favorable benefit-cost relationship over the life of the product or service. Accountable for team performance and am responsible for cultivating strong supplier relationships, providing excellent customer service to internal business partners, and consistently negotiating contracts in a professional manner while minimizing contract risk and obligations. Serve as a mentor for other, less seasoned negotiators.Vendor Risk Management: Develop, coordinate and manage all vendor risk assessments, perform gap analysis, and provide reporting and leads remediation. Requires collaboration and communication across Procurement, Legal, Compliance, Audit, Security, IT, Finance, Marketing & Human Resources. Coach and mentor internal business representatives on vendor risk management concepts and requirements, including related areas such as procurement, selection, and contracting.

With extensive corporate experience, I've worked with organizations of all sizes and across many industries with client and supplier contract negotiations, sales processes, corporate operations and policy implementations. My client base ranges from publicly held financial investment, planning and advisory firms to local IT services and document management organizations.Whether it's a single focused project, interim assistance or longer term staff expansion services - I'm able to get you where you need to be.https://www.ssw-solutions.com/

Overland Park, Kansas

• Charged with accountability for sales operations from lead generation through contract signing. • Negotiate all agreements company-wide, including client agreements, SOWs, NDAs, BAA's, partner agreements (channel and technology), manged services and all vendor/supplier agreements.• Respond to escalations from clients and prospects to expeditiously resolve outstanding issues.• Complete client's vendor due diligence questionnaires and meetings to discuss compliance related matters.• Oversee data privacy and compliance internally and contractually, and responsible for reviewing, maintaining, and updating corporate policies and employee handbook. • Plan and facilitate employee training, in areas such as information security, HIPAA, and harassment policies. • Responsible for corporate compliance (policies, procedures, training) and data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), in partnership with IT, Information Security and Finance teams.• Collaborated and monitored the complete sales operations process and cycle from start to conclusion, including all client RFP/RFI responses and proposals.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

• Partnered with business unit stakeholders to identify strategies to bolster and align their objectives enterprise-wide.• Ensured business, technical, financial, and legal requirements were identified, rationalized and appropriate to support finalized strategy.• Managed and validated multiple categories through enterprise-wide strategic planning and sourcing.• Negotiated pricing, terms, and conditions for all IT services, software agreements, and professional and nonprofessional services procured globally; maximized cost savings and minimized risks.• Accountable for enterprise-wide integration of company products with appropriate supplier solutions, products, and offerings.• Leveraged cross-functional leadership and relationship building strategies to identify client and corporate needs.• Streamlined procurement procedures through category strategy management to identify aggregation opportunities while maximizing corporate efficiency and profitability. • Employed contract analysis outcomes to advise department heads, senior executives, and corporate clients of various strategic and contractual milestones.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

• Partnered with the President of DST Worldwide Services to develop, build, and grow a brand new international business entity from an internal corporate cost savings center to a revenue producing status.• Managed day-to-day logistics of business units to streamline and establish continuous development of standards, policies and procedures to maximize efficiency, accuracy and profitability for internal and external clients.• Mediated and facilitated 24/7 communication between offshore groups and corporate staff members.• Established processes that ensured business continuity, disaster recovery effectiveness, consistent global enterprise applications, data and information security, and industry certification standards.• Liaised as the global development contact for overseeing the development of marketing materials including website, solutions, services and products collateral, conferences, events, and press releases.

Kansas City, Missouri Area

• Negotiated pricing and contract terms for IT services, software and hard-good materials to meet corporate requirements.• Drafted Master Agreements, Schedules, Engagement Orders and NDA’s to meet the needs of existing and new supplier relationships; achieved ongoing hard-cost savings of contract spend amounts.• Promoted from Contract Administrator to Senior Contract Administrator within four months of service.

Juris Doctor

Activities and Societies: Washburn Law Clinic, Criminal Division University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law – Domestic Mediation Training

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Management

Graduated Cum Laude