Manager, Carrier & Vendor Relations

Tract Capital•Denver, CO

About The Position

The Manager, Carrier & Vendor Relations leads the carrier and telecom commercial discipline within Tract Capital's Site Communications & Network Infrastructure organization. This role owns the sourcing, procurement, contracting, and relationship management for all third-party connectivity and communications vendors supporting the company's data center campuses. The position is accountable for carrier circuit ordering and provisioning, dark fiber and wavelength/IRU/lease negotiation, internet-access circuits, satellite and backup connectivity, CBRS spectrum leasing, vendor contracts (MSAs/SOWs), pricing and renewals, SLA setup and vendor performance management, and carrier turn-up coordination. This is a player-coach leadership role where the Manager sets sourcing strategy and commercial standards, leads complex negotiations, and holds carriers and vendors accountable for delivery and performance, while leveraging the team's specialists for day-to-day operations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Telecommunications, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
10+ years in carrier/vendor management, telecom procurement, network/connectivity sourcing, or carrier service delivery — or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
3+ years directly managing and developing a small team (specialists and/or administrators), in addition to leading vendors and cross-functional commercial efforts.
Experience leading a small team whose members hold different functions; you do not need to have personally run carrier procurement, satellite/spectrum sourcing, and contract administration all at once — the ability to direct and coordinate specialists is what matters.
Strong background in either carrier/telecom procurement and the ordering/provisioning lifecycle (e.g., circuits, Ethernet/EPL/EVPL, dark fiber, wavelengths) OR telecom contracts (MSA/SOW, SLAs, pricing, renewals) — with solid working familiarity of the other.
Working knowledge of connectivity commercial trade-offs such as IRU vs. lease vs. lit economics.
Experience managing vendor performance and escalations against defined SLAs and KPIs.
Strong communication, stakeholder-management, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to influence internal teams and external carrier/vendor partners.
Proficiency with common business and tracking tools (e.g., Excel/PowerPoint, Smartsheet or project-management software, SharePoint).
Valid driver's license (role may require periodic travel and site visits).

Nice To Haves

Experience sourcing and managing connectivity for data centers, mission-critical facilities, hyperscale/cloud campuses, or large capital projects.
Experience supporting builds at scale across multiple concurrent sites or campuses, including greenfield environments.
Familiarity with metro/long-haul/dark-fiber markets, route diversity, and carrier-hotel/meet-me-room interconnection.
Experience with satellite/backup connectivity (e.g., Starlink Business) and CBRS spectrum leasing/coordination.
Familiarity with telecom expense management (TEM) platforms and inventory/contract-management systems.
Experience establishing sourcing standards, vendor scorecards, SLA frameworks, and renewal governance in a fast-growth organization.
Working familiarity with OSP/optical-transport concepts sufficient to evaluate carrier proposals and route options.
Procurement certifications (e.g., CPSM, CIPS, CPM) are a plus.
PMP is a plus.

Responsibilities

Directly lead, manage, and develop a small team of three specialists — the Carrier Relations Specialist (carrier negotiation, internet-access/fiber procurement, circuit orders), the Satellite & Backup Connectivity Manager (Starlink, CBRS spectrum, temporary connectivity), and the Contract Administrator (MSA/SOW, renewals, SLA setup) — owning hiring, onboarding, goal-setting, and performance management for the group.
Allocate work across the team, balance workloads against the campus build and turn-up schedule, and serve as the escalation point on complex carrier, spectrum, and contractual matters — while coaching each member and building cross-coverage so the small team can support multiple concurrent campuses without single points of failure.
Source and procure third-party connectivity — lit circuits, dark fiber, wavelengths, IRUs and leases, internet-access circuits, carrier/5G, satellite/backup, and CBRS spectrum — running RFPs and quotes and managing orders across their full lifecycle (new, move, add, change, disconnect).
Negotiate and manage pricing, terms, MSAs/SOWs, renewals, and contract expirations, partnering with Legal and Procurement, and weighing commercial trade-offs (e.g., IRU vs. lease vs. lit, build vs. buy).
Own carrier and vendor relationship and performance management, including SLA definition, escalations, performance reporting by carrier/product, and periodic business reviews.
Coordinate physical delivery and turn-up — provisioning timelines and ready-for-service dates, cross-connects, and meet-me-room/carrier coordination — and the acceptance/testing handoff with the engineering teams.
Manage temporary and backup connectivity during construction (e.g., Starlink Business, temporary circuits) so campuses have connectivity throughout the build.
Establish and maintain the renewal calendar, contract records/inventory, and pre-operations SLA setup, and drive telecom expense, invoice reconciliation, and cost-reduction initiatives.
Drive process improvement, standardized quoting/ordering workflows, and metrics across the carrier/vendor function.
Contribute carrier and connectivity input to client-facing solutions in support of the Client Technical Solutions chain, and partner cross-functionally with Outside Plant (OSP) Engineering, Inside Plant (ISP) Engineering, Network Engineering, Delivery Management, Finance/Procurement, Legal, and Operations — ensuring a clean commercial and SLA handover to the Daily Operations team.