IT Vendor Manager

IT Vendor Manager
Hybrid – San Ramon or Oakland, CA
Permanent Position

The IT Vendor Manager will play a pivotal role in our client's Propel program, overseeing the lifecycle of multiple strategic 3rd party contracts.   This role focuses on managing active supplier relationships and ensuring vendors perform according to existing contract terms and service commitments. Working closely with internal business units, suppliers, Legal, and Risk teams, this role ensures that Statements of Work (SOWs) and Contract Work Authorizations (CWAs) align with existing Master Services Agreements (MSAs) and that vendor performance, deliverables, and contractual obligations are effectively managed throughout the contract lifecycle. This position is best suited for an experienced contract management professional focused on vendor governance, contract compliance, and supplier performance management, rather than strategic sourcing or competitive procurement activities.  The ideal candidate will be responsible monitoring, analysis, compliance & reporting while working with other departments to ensure consistent compliance practices are followed.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong background in contract administration and vendor management
• Experienced in managing supplier performance within existing contracts
• Comfortable working with SOWs, CWAs, and MSAs
• Able to resolve supplier issues and ensure contract compliance across multiple stakeholders

• Responsible for the supplier relationship management of critical system integration partners.
• Manages complex contracts and change order terms including, but not limited to, interpretation of contract terms and mitigation of risks, working with key stakeholders.
• Develops complex scorecards to assess contract performance.
• Independently facilitates vendor performance discussions.
• Negotiates major dispute settlement with internal stakeholders and vendors.
• Creates new and innovative approaches, tools and tactics to solve complex problems.
• Leads cross-functional projects or process improvement initiatives.
• Trains stakeholders on policy and complex contract issues.
• Provides quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) oversight for the contract performance team.
• Develops contract audit plan.
• Keeps track of program contracts and their associated obligations
• Analyzes contracts for potential compliance issues.
• Identifies and resolves discrepancies or non-compliance issues.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of compliance programs and procedures.
• Conducts audits and inspections to verify compliance.
• Communicates compliance requirements to all relevant stakeholders.
• Prepares reports on contract compliance activities and outcomes.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Seven (7) years of direct experience in a similar role with ability to navigate complex sourcing strategies and contract compliance for large scale digital transformations (e.g. managing system integrator services and software professional services) while managing sophisticated contracts to minimize value leakage.

Desired Requirements

• Master’s degree in related discipline
• Certification such as one of the following or related:
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Program Management Professional (PgMP)
  • Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
• Experience with quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) regarding contract documents.
• Experience with process development, review, and continuous improvement.
• Experience in transmission pipeline construction.
• Utility industry experience.
• Expert on Contract Management and customer service.
• Forward thinking; can anticipate future consequences accurately.
• Ability to manage conflict constructively with a win-win resolution in mind.
• Results-oriented skills with a balanced emphasis between quality and quantity.
• Leadership, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge and understanding of federal, state, regulatory, and local laws, ordinances, regulations, agencies, and issues impacting (past, present, and future) gas or electric operations within the utility industry.
• Prioritizes workload independently based on department priorities and goals.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and contract information systems and applications (e.g. SRM, Ariba, SAP, scheduling software).