Vendor Management Specialist

Job description

**Job Description** **What You'll Do** The Vendor Management Specialist Governance & Compliance is responsible for overseeing a portfolio of global vendors to ensure compliance with organizational standards, regulatory requirements, contractual expectations, and industry best practices. This role plays a key part in maintaining highquality vendor performance through structured governance, ongoing monitoring, and formal review processes such as Quality Reviews and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs). The position requires deep experience in vendor management and procurement (minimum 6 years), strong understanding of compliance requirements including data retention legislation, and exceptional communication skills to engage effectively with internal and external stakeholders up to VP level and above. **Responsibilities:** - Ensure all vendors adhere to company policies, contractual obligations, regulatory standards, and data retention requirements. - Maintain accurate and uptodate vendor records within internal vendor management systems. - Conduct and document ongoing compliance checks, annual reviews, and due diligence assessments. - Drive remediation plans for any compliance gaps, ensuring closure within agreed timelines. - Lead recurring vendor Quality Reviews, analyzing KPIs, SLAs, and performance trends. - Facilitate QBRs with vendors, preparing executivelevel materials and ensuring alignment on goals, risks, and improvement opportunities. - Monitor performance issues, escalate when appropriate, and initiate structured corrective action plans. - Leverage procurement background to support negotiations, contracting discussions, scope changes, and commercial assessments. - Build strong relationships with vendors while ensuring they meet performance, security, and compliance expectations. - Collaborate with Procurement, Legal, Operations, and Risk stakeholders on vendor lifecycle activities. - Prepare clear and compelling communication, reports, and presentations for VP+ leadership, both internal and external. - Act as the primary point of contact for vendor-related escalations, operational challenges, and governance inquiries. - Present performance insights and risk assessments to leadership in a polished and concise manner. - Use internal vendor management systems, dashboards, and reporting tools to track compliance, risk, and performance. - Produce high-quality reports highlighting trends, risks, and recommendations for continuous improvement. - Other related duties as assigned. **What You Will Need to be Successful:** - Deep expertise in vendor management processes, procurement best practices, and performance governance. - Become the subject matter expert on the use of the companys third-party global vendor management software. - Administer and maintain the OneTrust TPRM instance, or any future vendor management platform, including workflows, questionnaires, and vendor records. - Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting to VP+ executives. - Strong analytical mindset with ability to interpret performance data and create actionable insights. - High level of professionalism, diplomacy, and stakeholder management capability. - Detailoriented, organized, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fastpaced environment. - Strong decisionmaking skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity with confidence. - Minimum 6 years of experience in vendor management, procurement, or supplier governance roles. - Proven experience managing complex vendor portfolios in a global or multinational setting. - Bachelors degree preferred (Business, Supply Chain, or related field). - Experience working with compliance frameworks, audits, data retention regulations, and contractual governance **Why Join Us at First Advantage?** At First Advantage, team members are united around a noble purpose: helping organizations to safeguard their workplaces and manage risk. The companys culture is shaped by its core values Authenticity, Curiosity, Integrity, Teamwork, Customer-Inspired empowering team members to bring their best ideas forward, collaborate across departments, and make a real impact. First Advantage offers a variety of culture programs and benefits designed to enhance employee experience and development. - Employee Impact Groups - FA Cares volunteer opportunities - Mentorship Advantage Program - SOAR, award-winning manager development program