Research & Vendor Operations Manager

OGC is a boutique research and consulting agency specializing in data‑driven strategy, market research, and Customer Experience (CX). We work with some of the world’s leading brands across various industries, including Telecommunications, Financial Services, Specialty Retail, Hospitality, and Software. We help our clients better understand their customers, develop actionable insights, and improve business processes.

We are seeking a Research & Vendor Operations Manager to work closely with a Fortune 500 Telecommunications company. This role will focus on ensuring vendors are onboarded efficiently, meet compliance requirements, and can operate effectively within our systems and processes. The position will work closely with procurement, analytics leadership, IT security, and external partners to streamline vendor operations and maintain governance standards.

Role Type: 3–6 Month Full-Time Contract, with potential for long‑term hire

Location: Remote - US East Coast

Expected Compensation: $70,000 - $100,000 annually, depending on experience

This role will play a key role across four primary areas:

• Vendor & Contract Operations
  :
  Supporting the full lifecycle of vendor onboarding, contract administration, compliance tracking, and vendor performance management.
• Budget & Financial Operations
  :
  Managing budget tracking, forecasting support, invoice reconciliation, reporting visibility, and financial process optimization.
• Governance, Compliance & Risk Management
  :
  Maintaining audit‑ready documentation, supporting compliance programs, and ensuring adherence to company policies and regulatory requirements.
• Systems, Process Optimization & Documentation
  :
  Supporting operational systems, workflow improvements, automation opportunities, documentation development, and scalable process design.

Vendor Management & Compliance:

• Lead the end‑to‑end lifecycle of research vendors, including onboarding, contracting, renewals, offboarding, and ongoing relationship management.
• Serve as the primary liaison between internal stakeholders and external research vendors, coordinating across Legal, Privacy, Procurement, Cybersecurity, Finance, and other partner groups to facilitate vendor onboarding, approvals, compliance reviews, contract execution, and governance requirements.
• Coordinate the creation, review, execution, and administration of vendor agreements, including SOWs, MSAs, NDAs, amendments, renewals, and related contractual processes.
• Establish, maintain, and oversee centralized vendor management documentation, tracking, and governance frameworks, including vendor records, contracts, compliance status, risk assessments, privacy and security reviews, audit documentation, and other required records to ensure operational transparency, regulatory compliance, and audit readiness.
• Monitor vendor performance through scorecards, KPIs, service‑level metrics, and compliance tracking, identifying and escalating operational, contractual, privacy, security, or performance risks as needed.
• Develop, document, and continuously improve vendor management processes, standards, and governance practices that drive consistency, accountability, transparency, and scalability across the organization.
• Partner with internal stakeholders and external vendors to resolve operational issues, mitigate risk, and improve overall vendor effectiveness, compliance, and business partnership outcomes.

Budget & Financial Operations:

• Manage vendor budgets, forecasts, purchase orders, invoices, accruals, and financial tracking processes across research initiatives and vendor engagements.
• Develop, maintain, and enhance budget trackers, dashboards, reporting tools, and operational metrics using Smartsheet and other platforms to provide visibility into budget performance, spending trends, and financial health.
• Monitor budget utilization, forecast accuracy, and financial performance, proactively identifying variances, risks, and opportunities for improvement while recommending appropriate mitigation strategies.
• Partner with leadership to support annual planning, forecasting, budget reviews, and financial reporting activities.
• Collaborate with…