Assistant Vice President; AVP), Category & Third-Party Risk Management

About the Client

Our client is an investment management firm focused on investments in mortgage and consumer credit, including whole loans, asset-backed securities, mortgage servicing rights, and other credit-related assets.

Assistant Vice President (AVP), Category & Third-Party Risk Management plays a key role in overseeing the full lifecycle of technology and SaaS vendor relationships across our client’s firm and its affiliates. This includes vendor sourcing, risk evaluation, and vendor due diligence. The AVP will serve as a strategic partner to business and technology leaders, driving cost optimization, risk mitigation, and operational efficiency in alignment with corporate objectives.

Experience with in the mortgage servicing, insurance, or financial services industry is highly preferred.

• Lead end-to-end management of IT and SaaS vendor relationships, from initial sourcing and due diligence through contracting, and renewal discussions.
• Support the business in vendor identification and onboarding in spend areas such as cloud services, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data platforms, and software applications.
• Partner with Technology, Legal, and Info Sec teams to ensure alignment with vendor priorities and risk compliance frameworks.
• Drive value creation through vendor rationalization, and negotiation of commercial terms that balance cost, quality, and risk
• Oversee contract lifecycle management and renewal tracking in the enterprise TPRM platform, ensuring timely engagement and documentation accuracy.

• Own and enhance the IT vendor due diligence and ongoing monitoring process in collaboration with risk partners.
• Assess operational, information security, and compliance risks related to technology vendors, ensuring adherence to regulatory and internal control requirements.
• Champion continuous improvement of vendor risk frameworks, reporting, and metrics to meet evolving business and regulatory expectations.

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and technology stakeholders on third-party risk and IT vendor strategy.
• Facilitate vendor governance meetings, present key metrics, and support strategic decision-making with data-driven insights.
• Contribute to the development of best practices in vendor management and risk governance.

• 7+ years of experience in IT procurement, category management, or third-party risk management
  , preferably within the financial services or mortgage servicing industry
  .
• Strong understanding of IT infrastructure, SaaS models, cloud services, cybersecurity
  , and related commercial and operational risk drivers.
• Proven ability to negotiate and manage complex vendor contracts in partnership with legal and business stakeholders.
• Knowledge of third-party risk management frameworks and regulatory expectations (e.g., NYDFS).
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships across business, technology, and control functions.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and project management skills.

• Experience leading or supporting large-scale vendor rationalization, IT sourcing transformations, or risk remediation programs.
• Familiarity with TPRM platforms
  , contract lifecycle management tools
  , and data visualization/reporting tools (e.g., Power BI, Excel).
• Proven ability to influence and drive outcomes in a cross-functional environment.