Senior Product Manager – Vendor Relations

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Ohio, +1 more state.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of product strategy and roadmap for a range of material handling and warehouse automation solutions.

• Act as the main product contact for OEMs and technology vendors throughout the lifecycle of the partnership.

• Guide vendor evaluation, onboarding, and tiering processes.

• Negotiate commercial agreements, SLAs, and roadmap commitments in collaboration with Procurement and Legal.

• Manage vendor scorecards that track reliability, costs, lead times, quality, and roadmap alignment.

• Implement corrective action plans for partners that are underperforming.

• Develop executive-level relationships with key suppliers and technology partners.

• Organize joint go-to-market initiatives, co-development projects, and alignment sessions for technology roadmaps.

• Oversee vendor contract renewals, escalations, and dispute resolution in conjunction with Legal and Finance.

• Represent the company at vendor summits, industry trade shows, and partner advisory boards.

• Manage technical requirements and acceptance criteria for integrating vendor software and hardware with internal platforms and client environments.

• Define and document API contracts, data exchange formats, and middleware specifications.

• Lead technical due diligence during the evaluation and onboarding of vendors.

• Supervise integration testing, user acceptance testing, and go-live certification with vendors.

• Ensure that the vendor integration playbook is accurate, updated, and minimizes integration risks and rework.

• Review assessments from Technical Product Owners regarding standard versus custom integration requirements.

• Convert vendor technology capabilities and constraints into product requirements, specifications, and release schedules.

• Conduct market and competitive analysis across material handling equipment, robotics, and warehouse software sectors.

• Work alongside Engineering and Solutions Design to prioritize the backlog.

• Assist in proposals, RFP responses, and client presentations that involve vendor-supplied technology.

• Address vendor-related product issues impacting live customer deployments in collaboration with Implementation and Field Service.

• Establish integration architecture standards and reusable connectors with IT and Engineering.

• Provide input on vendor and product roadmaps to Finance for cost modeling, pricing, and margin analysis.

• Train sales, service, and support teams on vendor technologies, product updates, and positioning.

⛳️ Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related discipline (or equivalent experience).

• Over 7 years of product management expertise, with a minimum of 3 years dedicated to vendor/partner or supplier relationship management.

• Proven experience in the material handling, warehouse automation, robotics, or broader supply chain/logistics sectors.

• A strong record of negotiating vendor contracts, SLAs, and commercial terms.

• Familiarity with WMS, WES, WCS, and/or PLC/controls ecosystems.

• Practical knowledge of integrating WMS, WES, WCS, and/or PLC/controls with material handling equipment through APIs, data interfaces, and middleware.

• Demonstrated experience in defining or assessing software integration requirements between third-party/vendor systems and internal or customer platforms.

• Excellent negotiation, stakeholder management, and executive communication abilities.

• Comfortable overseeing multiple concurrent vendor relationships and managing competing priorities in a fast-paced, client-facing environment.

• Preferred: MBA or an advanced degree in a related field.

• Preferred: Product management certification (e.g., Pragmatic Institute, AIPMM).

• Preferred: Direct experience collaborating with automation OEMs such as AutoStore, Geek+, Hai Robotics, or similar technology providers.

• Preferred: Experience at a systems integrator, equipment OEM, or software provider serving the MHI space.

• Preferred: Knowledge of contract/vendor management tools and CRM/PLM systems.

• Preferred: Experience with integration platforms (iPaaS), API testing/documentation tools (e.g., Postman, Swagger/OpenAPI), or a systems integration certification.

🏝️ Benefits

• Medical Insurance

• Dental Insurance

• Vision Insurance

• Health Care Concierge Service

• 401(k) Retirement Plan (Pre-tax & Roth)

• Company-paid Basic Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability & Long-Term Disability

• Voluntary Life & AD&D Insurance

• Voluntary Accident, Critical Illness & Hospital Indemnity Insurance

• Pet Insurance

• Milk Stork Program

• Wellness Program with gift card redemption and wellness challenges

• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & 10 Holidays)

• Training & Development

• Performance-based bonus tied to product and vendor-partnership outcomes

• 401(k) with company match

• Professional development support