Director, Technology Vendor Management

Director, Technology Vendor Management Organization

Position summary:

We are establishing a Vendor Management Organization as a dedicated function in the current Sourcing organization responsible for managing relationships with external Technology vendors. This will be a function to ensure vendors deliver value to the business, meet performance standards and comply with contractual obligations.

In this role, you will be responsible for managing and optimizing vendor relationships for our Technology Group to ensure the delivery of services align with business objectives. This role in particular focuses on Technology Vendors only providing Services in all categories (Hardware, Software, Services, Cloud computing etc.).

• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to align vendor services with business needs
• Stay up to date with industry trends to manage vendor sourcing and performance

• Develop vendor relationships demonstrating a partnership approach and fostering collaboration to drive innovation and continuous improvement
• Be the first level of relationship escalation for our stakeholders
• Facilitate communication between vendors and internal stakeholders

• Ensure performance meets established service levels and contractual obligations by:
• Usage monitoring:
• Understanding the contracts, pricing models (unit based, license based, consumption based), entitlements
• Ensuring governance and reporting mechanism in place with the vendor to measure and report on consumption
• SLA monitoring: SLA compliance as per contract and report any SLAs missed
• Financial risk monitoring optimizing vendor costs
• Making sure we are utilizing the vendor effectively
• Highlighting potential overages early enough to take corrective action

• Facilitate regular Q  for strategic vendors to review performance, discuss progress and ensure alignment with business objectives
• Facilitate discussion between the vendor and the News Corp Technology Architecture group to ensure Increase understanding of product offerings and roadmaps to promote more value from our strategic partners

• Bachelor of Arts or Sciences Degree or equivalent experience required.
• Minimum 10 years of vendor management and/or equivalent experience required.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with internal stakeholders (e.g., procurement, finance, operations) to align vendor management efforts with business objectives
• Good understanding of procurement process and vendor contracts
• Understanding of different delivery models (managed service, fixed fee, time and material etc)
• Understanding of various commercial models (SAAS subscription, usage based, license based etc.)
• Technology industry knowledge
• Understanding of vendor management best practices
• Strong communication skills (Internal as well as external)
• Negotiation and analytical skills
• Conflict Resolution
• Experience working in a large, global, highly matrixed organization, and works easily in multi-business unit project settings; able to facilitate teamwork across corporate boundaries.
• Proven written and oral communicator, with strategic, analytical, and interpersonal skills to act as an effective change agent, unlocking barriers to value for priority spend categories.
• Experienced at identifying and assessing risk and concisely explaining complex issues to principal business owners.
• Extremely customer-focused, taking the time to understand the needs of the business.
• Ability to travel (up to 10%) – facility site visits and internal/external meetings as required.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other protected characteristic. EEO/Disabled/Vets

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application or participating in an interview due to a…