Director, Technology Vendor Program Lead

BlackRock • Wilmington, NY

16h • $178,500 - $275,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

About this role BlackRock is seeking a Director of Strategic Technology Vendor Management to lead our most critical technology vendor partnerships. In this high-impact role, you will partner with our Enterprise Relationship Managers (ERMs) to oversee a portfolio of top-tier tech vendors – those with high financial exposure, operational criticality, and strategic alignment to BlackRock’s long-term 2030 goals. These external partners are key to our technology ecosystem and future innovation. In your role, you will orchestrate an end-to-end strategic vendor management program to maximize business value, increase resilience, and ensure sustained performance from these partnerships. This includes driving vendor performance management, executive engagement, commercial strategy alignment, and governance for each relationship. You will work cross-functionally with technology executives, Global Strategic Sourcing (GSS), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), and business stakeholders to ensure a cohesive “One BlackRock” approach to vendor management. Key Responsibilities Strategic Vendor Relationship Leadership: Serve as the primary relationship manager (“face of the firm”) for a set of BlackRock’s most strategic technology vendors. You will act as a horizontal leader across the enterprise for these relationships, coordinating all interactions through a “single front door” to the vendor. Develop a deep understanding of each vendor’s product offerings, roadmaps, and strategic fit, and drive alignment between the vendor’s capabilities and BlackRock’s technology strategy. End-to-End Vendor Program Oversight: Oversee the full lifecycle of vendor management for your portfolio – from onboarding and risk assessment, through ongoing performance tracking, to contract renewals and strategic reviews. This includes implementing a formal governance framework with regular touchpoints such as Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and executive steering meetings (EBCs) to review performance, risks, and opportunities. Ensure that each vendor has up-to-date relationship artifacts (executive briefs, relationship maps, action logs, KPI scorecards) and that issues or escalations are promptly addressed and resolved. Performance & Risk Management: Drive high service performance and resilience from each vendor. Monitor service delivery against agreed SLAs and KPIs and hold vendors accountable for meeting BlackRock’s expectations for quality, reliability, and security. Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks – ensuring vendors have robust continuity plans and that there are no single points of failure threatening our business. If performance gaps or incidents occur, lead the escalation and corrective action process in partnership with technical teams and risk management (e.g. Technology Risk, Legal & Compliance) to protect BlackRock’s interests. Executive Engagement & Governance: Orchestrate senior-level engagement with each strategic vendor. Collaborate with designated Executive Sponsors ensure they are connected with vendor leadership at the right intervals. Facilitate C-suite and even CEO-level connectivity for our largest partners as appropriate, making sure that BlackRock’s top leaders and the vendor’s executives have a clear line of sight into the relationship’s status and strategic direction. You will prepare executive briefing materials and talking points, highlighting key decisions, risks, and achievements in the partnership. Commercial Strategy & Financial Management: In close partnership with Global Strategic Sourcing (GSS), drive the commercial strategy for each vendor engagement. This includes overseeing contract negotiations, renewals, and any commercial escalations. aiming to achieve cost efficiencies and value-added services for BlackRock. Concurrently, work with FP&A to maintain comprehensive visibility into vendor spend and budget impact. Track and forecast the annual spend for each vendor, ensure expenses align with budgets, and quantify the ROI of vendor-provided technology. investment with its key suppliers. Partner with Technology Business Leads to ensure vendor solutions and roadmaps meet the specific needs of our businesses. For instance, coordinating with these leads to identify opportunities for co-innovation or influence vendor product development to better support BlackRock’s requirements. Work closely with GSS (procurement) as noted, as well as Legal, Risk (RQA & Tech Risk), and Compliance teams to navigate complex issues such as contract terms, regulatory requirements, and data security with vendors. Team Leadership and Development: As a senior leader in Strategic Tech, you will mentor and manage junior team members dedicated to this program. Provide direction and coaching to ensure the team executes effectively on coverage models, analytics, and day-to-day vendor interactions. You will also play a role in the build-out of this new function, helping to refine organizational roles, recruit talent, and define success metrics as we establish a world-class strategic technology vendor management capability. Leadership Competencies Strategic Vision & Innovation: Envisions how each vendor can contribute to BlackRock’s strategy and pushes for innovative collaboration. Not satisfied with simply managing contracts, you strive to transform vendor relationships into strategic alliances that drive mutual innovation and value. Collaboration & Influencing: Navigates a complex organizational landscape with ease, bringing together colleagues from different departments to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. You can influence without formal authority and are adept at gaining buy-in for new concepts or approaches. Executive Communication & Presence: Interacts confidently with senior leaders. Can represent BlackRock in high-stakes meetings with vendor CEOs or senior officials, projecting credibility and a partnership mindset. Equally, can communicate tough messages or negotiate hard when needed, maintaining professionalism and constructive tone. Analytical Rigor & Accountability: Sets clear metrics for success (e.g., cost savings, performance improvements, risk reduction) and rigorously tracks progress. Holds vendors – and yourself – accountable to high performance standards. Uses a data-driven approach to identify issues early and guide decision-making. Adaptability & Resilience: Thrives in a fast-paced environment and can adapt to changing priorities, such as shifting business needs or emerging technologies. Remains calm and effective under pressure, for instance when managing critical outages or high-pressure negotiations, and navigates obstacles to keep partnerships on course.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary relationship manager (“face of the firm”) for a set of BlackRock’s most strategic technology vendors.
• Act as a horizontal leader across the enterprise for these relationships, coordinating all interactions through a “single front door” to the vendor.
• Develop a deep understanding of each vendor’s product offerings, roadmaps, and strategic fit, and drive alignment between the vendor’s capabilities and BlackRock’s technology strategy.
• Oversee the full lifecycle of vendor management for your portfolio – from onboarding and risk assessment, through ongoing performance tracking, to contract renewals and strategic reviews.
• Implement a formal governance framework with regular touchpoints such as Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and executive steering meetings (EBCs) to review performance, risks, and opportunities.
• Ensure that each vendor has up-to-date relationship artifacts (executive briefs, relationship maps, action logs, KPI scorecards) and that issues or escalations are promptly addressed and resolved.
• Drive high service performance and resilience from each vendor.
• Monitor service delivery against agreed SLAs and KPIs and hold vendors accountable for meeting BlackRock’s expectations for quality, reliability, and security.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks – ensuring vendors have robust continuity plans and that there are no single points of failure threatening our business.
• Lead the escalation and corrective action process in partnership with technical teams and risk management (e.g. Technology Risk, Legal & Compliance) to protect BlackRock’s interests.
• Orchestrate senior-level engagement with each strategic vendor.
• Collaborate with designated Executive Sponsors ensure they are connected with vendor leadership at the right intervals.
• Facilitate C-suite and even CEO-level connectivity for our largest partners as appropriate, making sure that BlackRock’s top leaders and the vendor’s executives have a clear line of sight into the relationship’s status and strategic direction.
• Prepare executive briefing materials and talking points, highlighting key decisions, risks, and achievements in the partnership.
• Drive the commercial strategy for each vendor engagement.
• Oversee contract negotiations, renewals, and any commercial escalations, aiming to achieve cost efficiencies and value-added services for BlackRock.
• Work with FP&A to maintain comprehensive visibility into vendor spend and budget impact.
• Track and forecast the annual spend for each vendor, ensure expenses align with budgets, and quantify the ROI of vendor-provided technology investment with its key suppliers.
• Partner with Technology Business Leads to ensure vendor solutions and roadmaps meet the specific needs of our businesses.
• Coordinate with these leads to identify opportunities for co-innovation or influence vendor product development to better support BlackRock’s requirements.
• Work closely with GSS (procurement) as noted, as well as Legal, Risk (RQA & Tech Risk), and Compliance teams to navigate complex issues such as contract terms, regulatory requirements, and data security with vendors.
• Mentor and manage junior team members dedicated to this program.
• Provide direction and coaching to ensure the team executes effectively on coverage models, analytics, and day-to-day vendor interactions.
• Play a role in the build-out of this new function, helping to refine organizational roles, recruit talent, and define success metrics as we establish a world-class strategic technology vendor management capability.
• Envisions how each vendor can contribute to BlackRock’s strategy and pushes for innovative collaboration.
• Strive to transform vendor relationships into strategic alliances that drive mutual innovation and value.
• Navigates a complex organizational landscape with ease, bringing together colleagues from different departments to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities.
• Influence without formal authority and are adept at gaining buy-in for new concepts or approaches.
• Interacts confidently with senior leaders.
• Represent BlackRock in high-stakes meetings with vendor CEOs or senior officials, projecting credibility and a partnership mindset.
• Communicate tough messages or negotiate hard when needed, maintaining professionalism and constructive tone.
• Sets clear metrics for success (e.g., cost savings, performance improvements, risk reduction) and rigorously tracks progress.
• Holds vendors – and yourself – accountable to high performance standards.
• Uses a data-driven approach to identify issues early and guide decision-making.
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment and can adapt to changing priorities, such as shifting business needs or emerging technologies.
• Remains calm and effective under pressure, for instance when managing critical outages or high-pressure negotiations, and navigates obstacles to keep partnerships on course.

Benefits

• employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including healthcare, leave benefits, and retirement benefits.
• strong retirement plan
• tuition reimbursement
• comprehensive healthcare
• support for working parents
• Flexible Time Off (FTO)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed