Head of Strategic Vendor Solutions

U.S. Bank • Hopkins, MN

23d • Onsite

About The Position

At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions and enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed. We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive at every stage of your career. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One. Job Description Position Summary The Head of Strategic Vendor Solutions leads a team responsible for transforming how U.S. Bank engages, governs, and maximizes value across its technology third‑party ecosystem. This role elevates vendor management into a strategic enterprise function that shapes technology direction, strengthens executive relationships, drives financial outcomes, and embeds operational discipline across the organization. In addition to overseeing current and prospective strategic vendors, the role manages the full SVS portfolio including governance frameworks, performance scorecards, business reviews, and 360° relationship assessments to optimize cost, improve service performance, and create long‑term strategic value. The leader also directs U.S. Bank’s external engagement strategy, coordinating conferences, sponsorships, councils, and executive forums to ensure alignment with enterprise priorities and maximize visibility and strategic return. The position plays a critical role in the discovery and evaluation of new and emerging vendors, including fintechs and innovation‑stage partners, providing structured market insights, sourcing inputs, and early‑stage assessments. It also brings vendor expertise into the bank through Pitch Days, innovation showcases, and technical deep dives that inform technology strategy and accelerate learning. The role collaborates across Technology, Procurement, Risk/Compliance, Finance, and business units to translate vendor data into actionable insights that shape sourcing strategies, investment decisions, and continuous improvement. It supports leadership by tracking and coordinating strategic supplier engagements, providing visibility into critical initiatives, and maintaining market awareness to identify future opportunities and guide partnership strategies and negotiations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience
• Eight or more years of related experience
• Experience Should Include
• Minimum 10+ years in IT vendor management, technology strategy, procurement, or related fields, including leadership of cross‑functional teams and strategic vendor programs.
• At least 5 years applying tools and techniques for planning, organizing, and monitoring enterprise‑level initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to lead proactively by anticipating needs, operating independently, and setting enterprise‑wide pace and clarity without requiring escalation
• Ability to lead, coach, and develop teams through change, ambiguity, and expanding responsibilities while maintaining high standards of performance and alignment.
• Experience evaluating and integrating emerging technology vendors (e.g., fintech, AI, early‑stage providers) and partnering with innovation or architecture teams on discovery and POCs.
• Experience designing and operating structured governance routines, dashboards, and cross‑functional operating models.
• This role requires working from a U.S. Bank location three (3) or more days per week.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience supporting executive decision-making by providing actionable insights, comprehensive analysis, and well-structured presentations, as well as managing strategic vendor planning
• Experience evaluating emerging technology vendors (fintech, AI, early‑stage providers) and partnering with innovation, architecture, or venture teams
• Demonstrated success in cost optimization, contract strategy, and multi‑year spend‑reduction or vendor rationalization efforts.
• Familiarity with technology risk and regulatory frameworks (e.g., TPRM and DORA).

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership: Manage performance, talent decisions, and resource planning for vendor strategy teams, including hiring, development, and performance standards.
• Enterprise Strategy Leadership: Drive unified governance of technology vendor program, including current and prospective vendors, and oversee initiatives that enhance transparency, awareness, and strategic engagement across the partnership landscape.
• Executive Engagement: Lead the development and delivery of presentations and insights that provide leadership with visibility into strategic initiatives, communicate priorities, foster organizational alignment, and enhance awareness across the enterprise.
• Program Oversight: Own vendor governance frameworks including performance scorecards, business reviews, and dashboards to optimize cost, improve service performance, and create strategic value.
• Data & Insights: Translate vendor data into actionable insights to inform sourcing strategies, investment decisions, and continuous improvement roadmaps.
• Project & Resource Management: Apply project management methodologies to plan and monitor strategic initiatives, set team priorities, and allocate resources to achieve objectives.
• Industry Awareness: Maintain strategic awareness of market trends, emerging technologies, and vendor capabilities to guide negotiations and partnership strategies.
• External Engagement Leadership: Oversee U.S. Bank’s technology-focused external engagement portfolio including conferences, sponsorships, councils, and executive forums ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities, maximizing strategic visibility, and capturing actionable outcomes from all third‑party interactions.
• Emerging Vendor & Fintech Pipeline: Partners with Enterprise Architecture and the CxOs on discovery, evaluation, and onboarding process for new and emerging vendors, including fintech innovators and VC‑backed technology partners. Provide structured market insights, sourcing inputs, and early‑stage assessments to support innovation, risk management, and strategic decision‑making.
• Vendor Expertise Enablement (Pitch Days & Innovation Sessions): Hosts structured engagements such as Vendor Pitch Days, innovation showcases, workshops, and technical deep dives to bring vendor expertise directly to U.S. Bank’s technology and business leaders. Ensure sessions drive learning, alignment, and strategic clarity.

Benefits

• Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)
• Basic term and optional term life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Pregnancy disability and parental leave
• 401(k) and employer-funded retirement plan
• Paid vacation (from two to five weeks depending on salary grade and tenure)
• Up to 11 paid holiday opportunities
• Adoption assistance
• Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 80 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive