Vendor Manager

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United Kingdom.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of the complete vendor onboarding procedure using a tiered supplier approach.

• Manage the intake process for new supplier requests, categorize tiers, ensure diligence is completed, and maintain the flow of the pipeline.

• Keep a centralized repository of infrastructure and compute contracts, including details on terms, renewals, expenditures, capacity, pricing, and termination rights.

• Oversee renewals by utilizing a forward calendar and provide recommendations for renewal, renegotiation, or exit based on usage statistics.

• Ensure that compliance requirements are incorporated into commercial terms during negotiation processes.

• Monitor consumption against commitments and identify risks related to under-utilization or overages.

• Define and report on vendor KPIs and SLAs, which encompass reservation allocation, incident frequency, provisioning lead times, support responsiveness, and invoice accuracy.

• Conduct monthly or quarterly vendor reviews and executive Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) for strategic partners.

• Handle escalations and remediation for vendor underperformance, including the development of corrective action plans and service credits.

• Set up vendor incident notification protocols and playbooks.

• Maintain vendor scorecards for Infrastructure leadership and executive teams.

• Manage third-party risk assessments and periodic reassessments related to security, data protection, financial stability, geographic concerns, and concentration risks.

• Keep certifications, insurance, and data protection documentation up to date and assist in audits with accessible vendor records.

• Develop continuity and exit strategies for critical single-source dependencies.

• Establish and continuously enhance vendor management best practices, processes, templates, and documentation through lessons-learned workshops.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• More than 5 years of experience in vendor management, IT procurement, strategic sourcing, or supplier operations, with significant involvement in technology and infrastructure categories.

• Proven experience managing infrastructure and compute suppliers, including GPU providers, OEMs, and networking or storage vendors.

• A demonstrated history of negotiating and managing complex technology contracts, such as MSAs, SOWs, DPAs, SLAs, and multi-year committed-spend agreements.

• Comprehensive understanding of the commercial aspects of compute, including committed use and reserved capacity, rate cards, burst and overage pricing, egress and transfer costs, SLA credit structures, renewal escalators, and liability caps.

• Adequate technical knowledge to engage in credible discussions with infrastructure engineers regarding GPU, networking, and storage issues, and to differentiate between genuine capacity constraints and negotiating tactics.

• Experience in designing and implementing vendor governance frameworks, including tiering, onboarding, due diligence, performance scorecards, and third-party risk assessments.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a successful track record of interacting with diverse stakeholders (engineering/operations teams, vendors, legal, finance) and producing clear documentation.

• Able to thrive in fast-paced, highly complex technical settings, and develop processes where they currently do not exist.

• Previous work experience in HPC, hyperscale, Telco, or AI infrastructure contexts involving large-scale compute procurement.

• Familiarity with the GPU and AI hardware vendor landscape (including NVIDIA and its OEM channel, alternative accelerator vendors, and neocloud providers) and an understanding of how their allocation models and roadmaps operate.

• Knowledge of datacenter commercial models, including colocation agreements, power contracts, and capacity reservation frameworks.

• Experience with vendor management or contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools, as well as procurement workflows within ERP systems.

• Awareness of export controls, sanctions screening, or hardware supply-chain limitations affecting GPU and networking availability.

• Experience in supporting SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audits from a third-party risk perspective.

• A professional qualification in procurement or contract management (CIPS, WorldCC, or equivalent).

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Generous paid time off and flexible work arrangements.

• Opportunities for professional development and certifications.

• Collaborative and innovative work environment.