Lead VMO Analyst

Versant • Englewood Cliffs, NJ

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Versant News Operations Support team is looking for a Lead Vendor Management Office (VMO) Analyst. This role will lead vendor governance, contract lifecycle management, performance oversight, risk management, and cost optimization across technology, software, SaaS, cloud, infrastructure, and managed-service vendors that support web, application, API, OTT, and mobile services. This is a senior-level position requiring deep hands-on experience in vendor management, contract governance, SLA oversight, financial tracking, and risk and compliance. The Lead VMO Analyst will collaborate with Legal, Finance, Sourcing and Procurement, Cyber Security, Privacy, and Risk teams to ensure all vendor engagements comply with contractual, financial, regulatory, and policy requirements. They will also work with Engineering and Infrastructure teams during vendor onboarding to validate compliance with security policies, architecture standards, SLAs, and operational readiness criteria. Additionally, the role involves mentoring junior VMO analysts and advancing the maturity of the vendor management practice within the organization.

Requirements

• Must be willing to work onsite as required and to support occasional off-hours activities tied to vendor escalations, contract deadlines, or critical incidents.
• 7+ years of experience in vendor management, IT sourcing, procurement, contract management, technology business management, or a closely related discipline, with at least 2 years in a lead, senior, or specialist capacity.
• Strong experience managing technology and managed-service vendors across software, SaaS, cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or similar), infrastructure, telecom, and professional services categories.
• Demonstrated experience leading contract negotiations and renewals for high-value agreements, including MSAs, SOWs, order forms, amendments, NDAs, DPAs, and SLAs.
• Strong understanding of contract terms, commercial models, pricing structures, and risk and liability concepts in technology and SaaS agreements.
• Experience designing and operating SLA and KPI frameworks, vendor scorecards, and quarterly business reviews for strategic vendors.
• Demonstrated experience driving cross-functional collaboration with Legal, Finance, Sourcing, Cyber Security, Privacy, Engineering, and Infrastructure teams to ensure vendor engagements comply with contractual, financial, procurement, security, and operational requirements.
• Hands-on experience leading vendor onboarding activities with Engineering and Infrastructure teams, including security reviews, integration and architecture validation, SLA definition, and operational readiness sign-off.
• Experience with third-party risk management practices, including security, privacy, regulatory, and business continuity assessments, and familiarity with frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST, GDPR, or similar.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience with budgeting, forecasting, invoice validation, accruals, charge-backs, and total cost of ownership analysis for technology spend.
• Hands-on experience with vendor management, procurement, contract lifecycle, or ITAM/SAM tools such as Coupa, Ariba, ServiceNow VRM/SAM, Icertis, Apttus, Ironclad, Flexera, ZyLAB, or similar platforms.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills and experience producing executive-level reporting, dashboards, and analysis using tools such as Excel, Power BI, Tableau, or similar.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with proven ability to influence senior stakeholders, negotiate with vendors, resolve conflicts, and drive cross-functional alignment.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple high-priority workstreams under tight deadlines.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting media, news, broadcast, streaming, OTT, or digital publishing organizations.
• Experience managing vendors that support web, application, API, OTT, or mobile platforms in a 24/7 production environment.
• Experience leading vendor consolidation, rationalization, or transformation programs that delivered measurable savings.
• Familiarity with software asset management, SaaS optimization, cloud cost management, and FinOps practices.
• Familiarity with ITIL service management concepts, including incident, problem, change, and supplier management.
• Professional certifications such as CPSM, CIPS, ITIL, CTPRP, IAPP, PMP, or vendor-specific certifications in procurement or contract management.
• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Information Systems, Law, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end vendor lifecycle management for technology and managed-service vendors, including intake, onboarding, performance oversight, renewals, escalations, and offboarding across the Versant News portfolio.
• Partner with Legal to ensure all vendor contracts, MSAs, SOWs, order forms, amendments, NDAs, and DPAs comply with corporate legal standards, regulatory requirements, and approved contractual language, and serve as the operational owner of contract obligations once executed.
• Partner with Finance on budget alignment, purchase order governance, invoice validation, accruals, charge-backs, and total cost of ownership, ensuring every vendor engagement complies with financial controls, approval thresholds, and accounting policies.
• Partner with Sourcing and Procurement on category strategy, RFx processes, competitive bids, supplier selection, and negotiations, ensuring adherence to procurement policy, delegation of authority, and preferred-vendor frameworks.
• Partner with Cyber Security, Privacy, and Risk teams on third-party risk assessments covering security, privacy, regulatory, business continuity, and concentration risk, and ensure findings are remediated or formally accepted before contracts are signed or renewed.
• Lead vendor onboarding in close partnership with Engineering and Infrastructure teams, ensuring new vendors meet security policy requirements, architecture and integration standards, data handling and access control requirements, SLA commitments, and operational readiness criteria before they are approved for production use.
• Define, track, and report on vendor performance through SLAs, KPIs, scorecards, and quarterly business reviews, and drive corrective action plans when vendors do not meet contractual or operational commitments.
• Lead contract negotiations and renewals for high-value and strategic agreements in partnership with Sourcing and Legal, identifying cost-savings, risk-reduction, and value-creation opportunities across software, SaaS, cloud, infrastructure, and professional services.
• Maintain an accurate, current vendor inventory, contract repository, and obligation register, and produce executive-level reporting on spend, risk posture, compliance status, renewal pipeline, and savings realized.
• Establish and continuously improve VMO processes, policies, playbooks, templates, and tooling, embedding governance and compliance checkpoints into intake, sourcing, contracting, onboarding, and renewal workflows.
• Lead vendor escalations and incident response coordination with vendors during major production incidents, partnering with Engineering and SRE teams to ensure timely engagement, accountability, and post-incident review participation.
• Mentor and provide direction to junior VMO analysts and cross-functional partners, and act as a subject-matter expert for vendor management and vendor compliance questions across the organization.

Benefits

• Free onsite fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, plus daily group classes
• Gourmet cafeteria with daily specials plus soup and salad bars
• Free shuttle transportation to and from multiple locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Hoboken, and Jersey City
• health insurance
• retirement plans
• paid time off

What This Job Offers

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