Senior IT Vendor Manager/Procurement-Remote
Position: Senior IT Vendor Manager- (Contract/Procurement)-Remote TITLE: Senior IT Vendor Manager (Contract/Procurement) LOCATION: Remote EST time zone DURATION: 1 year contract to hire JOB DESCRIPTION: Our client is seeking a Senior IT Vendor Manager with strong experience in IT vendor management, contract negotiation, IT procurement working in a large enterprise environment. Responsibilities: Vendor Performance Oversight • Serve as the primary owner for core infrastructure vendor performance, including enterprise servers, storage, backup and recovery services, operating systems, middleware, and database solutions. • Monitor vendor delivery using defined SLAs, KPIs, and service obligations, ensuring consistent reliability and operational stability. • Identify performance issues, recurring incidents, or service degradations and drive accountability through structured corrective actions and follow up. Governance & Review Cadence • Lead structured vendor performance reviews, including monthly performance reviews and quarterly business reviews. • Develop and maintain clear performance reporting and dashboards that highlight service performance, trends, risks, and improvement needs. • Communicate performance results and vendor accountability status to IT leadership and cross-functional partners. Service Accountability & Issue Resolution • Oversee the vendor response to service disruptions, call quality issues, outages, and other telecom/contact center incidents. • Ensure vendors adhere to agreed-upon timelines for incident resolution, RCA development, and follow-through on corrective actions. • Serve as the escalation point for vendor-related service challenges and ensure timely and transparent resolution communication. Relationship Management • Develop and maintain strong working relationships with infrastructure vendors to support effective service delivery and a collaborative operating model. • Ensure alignment between vendor capabilities, contractual commitments, and evolving business or technical requirements. • Work closely with internal teams including Infrastructure Engineering, IT Operations, etc. Contract & Compliance Stewardship • Validate vendor adherence to contractual obligations, including performance standards, maintenance coverage, reporting expectations, and lifecycle commitments (e.g., EOL/EOS timelines). • Support contract renewal discussions, evaluation of support models, and pricing reviews with Procurement, Legal, and Finance. • Ensure vendors meet organizational security and compliance requirements applicable to core infrastructure systems. Financial & Service Validation • Review vendor billing and support entitlements to ensure accuracy and alignment with contracted services and service performance. • Identify opportunities for optimization through lifecycle planning, support tier adjustments, or enhanced vendor performance. Required Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in business, information systems, engineering, supply chain or related field – OR – equivalent professional experience (degree not required for highly qualified candidates). • 7+ years of vendor management experience with a focus on telecom carriers and enterprise contact center service providers. • Strong understanding of enterprise server, storage, OS, middleware, and database service delivery models and performance expectations. • Demonstrated ability to manage vendors through structured governance, performance scorecards, and disciplined accountability. • Strong communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills with experience engaging cross-functional teams and external partners. • Experience working in regulated or mission-critical environments; healthcare preferred.