Lead, Vendor Governance Consultant (Hybrid: Madison, WI/Waverly, IA)

TruStage•Madison, WI

35d•$104,200 - $156,300•Hybrid

About The Position

This position drives operationalization of the Strategic Vendor Governance office framework and ensures disciplined governance, proactive issue management and continuous value realization across TruStage's most strategic service providers. Job Purpose: This position drives day‑to‑day execution of the enterprise Strategic Vendor Governance (SVG) office. This role executes the governance framework for TruStage’s most critical third-party relationships, ensuring vendors deliver contracted value, meet performance expectations, and support business, financial, and risk objectives. This role is accountable for the health, performance, and risk posture of the enterprise strategic vendor portfolio. This position will partner closely with Procurement, IT, Finance, Third-Party Risk Management, and business partners to drive disciplined governance, proactive issue management, and continuous value realization across strategic suppliers.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required (Business, Finance, Supply Chain, IT, or related field)
7+ years of experience in vendor governance, procurement, sourcing, or outsourced services within regulated industries.
Demonstrated experience leading governance for large, complex vendors (IT services, BPO, managed services).
Strong commercial and financial acumen, including contract interpretation, savings tracking, and benefit realization.
Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders.
Strategic thinking and executive presence.
Vendor performance and relationship management.
Financial analysis and value realization.
Risk identification and escalation management.
Change management.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree preferred.
Experience operationalizing governance or vendor management frameworks strongly preferred.
Experience supporting regulatory exams and audits preferred.

Responsibilities

Operationalize the Strategic Vendor Governance framework, performance standards, escalation models, and cadence of reviews.
Utilize the criteria defined for strategic vendor designation and ensure consistent application across the enterprise.
Execute the ongoing portfolio review process to validate strategic vendor designation, recommend reclassification where appropriate, and support the transition of ongoing management to business partners.
Drive consistent execution of roles, decision rights, and accountability across Procurement, IT, and business partners.
Oversee enterprise level performance management for strategic vendors, including SLAs, KPIs, outcomes, and value realization.
Hold vendors accountable to transformation roadmaps, innovation commitments, and performance‑linked commercial terms.
Run disciplined, outcome‑driven business reviews with top vendors, ensuring consistency and delivery of actionable insights, risks, and recommendations.
Accountable for proactively managing third party engagements for key strategic vendors, including ongoing risk assessments and related due-diligence activities.
Partner with Procurement and Finance to track savings, benefits realization, and commercial commitments.
Identify opportunities for cost optimization, demand management, and value leakage remediation.
Support contract renewals and renegotiations with fact-based performance and financial insights.
Proactively identify vendor related risks (operational, financial, regulatory, concentration, performance).
Advance, implement, and monitor robust risk mitigation plans and corrective action strategies in collaboration with cross-functional partners.
Execute structured issue resolution and escalation processes for strategic vendor issues including performance failures, financial disputes and material risk events.
Ensure governance alignment with regulatory expectations and Third‑Party Risk Management (TPRM) frameworks, partnering with Risk and Compliance teams to support audits and examinations.
Serve as a trusted advisor to business leaders, providing oversight and guidance to ensure vendor performance and behaviors align with contractual commitments and enterprise governance expectations.
Drive a culture of partnership, accountability, and data driven decision making between internal teams and vendors.
Coach and mentor governance analysts.