Vendor Manager

Orchard Recruitment Ltd

Our leading Finance Sector Client is undergoing a time of significant growth and transformation as they integrate a recent corporate acquisition. To support these endeavours, they are seeking to hire an experienced Vendor Manager to join their Technology team.

Note – while the employer is based on the Isle of Man, we invite candidates open to relocation OR in a hybrid / remote capacity.

The Vendor Manager manages the relationship with third party vendors providing services to the company, its brands and cross-functional teams and customers and leads a team who manage the supply chain. This is achieved through ensuring that suppliers are conformant to Group policies and standards, meeting performance, service level and commercial obligations, and taking action when they aren’t.Duties will include:

• Ensure that suppliers are accurately categorised in accordance to their contribution to the Group based on risk, materiality and criticality
• Build and run robust commercial and procurement approach as part of Supply Chain Management practices through working to ensure suppliers comply with best practice, group policies and deliver against their contracts – whether they’re existing suppliers or part of a tender for new business
• Work with Technical Vendors managed by the technology to ensure that they are compliant with their commercial obligations, adhering to Group policies, and meeting agreed Service Levels and other performance metrics
• Work with non-technology relationship owner stakeholders across company Brands and cross-functional teams to provide guidance and assistance managing their suppliers’ performance, best practices, adherence to Group Technology policy
• Where contractual agreements preclude adherence to Group policy, processes, or industry best practices, manage the exception via the Risk Management process, working with Service Excellence and Architecture to drive forward acceptance, mitigation or strategic resolution
• Working with IT Contract and Procurement specialists and other Technology, Brand and cross-functional teams to select new suppliers that can meet requirements and ensure that their on-boarding is compliant with company policies
• Perform segmentation review and thereafter annual refreshes of supplier categorisation, materiality and residual risk positions
• Perform regular supplier performance reviews with technical vendors aligned with materiality categorisation and residual risk position
• Work with Financial Operations Analyst and Contract & Procurement Specialists to track intra and inter-year spend
• Raise risks using the technology and risk processes and tooling as appropriate, tracking their treatment, crystallisation and/or acceptance
• Complete all mandatory governance documentation, including but not limited to: a) an exit strategy for all new and incumbent material suppliers, b) supplier segmentation review, c) review of material subcontractors, d) regular performance and compliance scorecards, e) lodging of governance meeting minutes in the agreed location, f) reporting of breaches relating to internal policy, regulatory and legal requirements
• Strive for excellence across the Service Management landscape
• Work with the Incident, Problem and Change Manager and Analyst to support engaging with and escalation into technical vendors in the event of a major incident, failed resolution service levels, failed changes or other urgent priorities
• Work with the Service Excellence Manager to ensure technical vendor participation in Post Incident and Failed Change Reviews as appropriate, following a Major Incident or Failed Change, or by exception when requested from Technology Leadership team or above, managing investigations to determine the causal factors and consequent mitigation/preventative actions
• Provide updates as to progress and status to stakeholders, cross-functional, Brand and technology leadership as appropriate
• Manage special measures activities or formal service improvement plans to proactively address areas of delinquency, substandard performance or commercial non-conformance to obligations
• Work with the Reporting Analyst to analyse the requisite data and context, identifying impact, trends and themes

The ideal candidate for the role of Vendor Manager will have:

• Thorough knowledge of Supply Chain Management practices and processes and how to apply them
• Proven experience working in a relationship manager, relationship owner or supply chain manager capacity previously – preferably within a Financial Services setting
• Microsoft Office / Office 365 Collaboration tooling experience essential
• Proven, disciplined and consistent analytic approach and mindset
• Ability to work with stakeholders at multiple levels of seniority, across multiple different suppliers and geographies
• Experience working with outsourced technical landscapes desirable