Vendor Engagement & Reliability, Senior Manager

Salesforce•Chicago, IL

16h•Onsite

About The Position

The Vendor Engagement & Reliability (VER) team is a centralized function within Digital Enterprise Technology (DET) that ensures external technology and service partners deliver reliable, secure, and value-aligned outcomes. Operating as a Strategic Intelligence Hub, VER applies commercial discipline, technical reliability, and financial intelligence to fuel innovation and protect the integrity of DET's managed portfolio. FinOps discipline runs as a process lens across all VER activity — embedded in how every team member operates, not siloed to a single function. The Senior Manager, Vendor Engagement & Reliability is an individual contributor role operating at a senior level within the VER function. The ideal candidate is comfortable at the intersection of strategic engagement management and operational execution, someone who can analyze engagement health, identify performance risk, contribute to commercial awareness, and translate complex vendor data into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders. This role operates within a defined VER function with established leadership, frameworks, and an operating model. The Senior Manager brings high-level execution and analytical depth to Director-led decisions, contributing rigorous analysis, engagement oversight, and cross-functional coordination without carrying organizational ownership. The ideal candidate is energized by doing excellent, high-impact work within a high-performing team, not by building or running a function independently.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Supply Chain, Computer Science, or Finance or equivalent experience
10+ years in vendor management, technology operations, FinOps, or related fields within a high-growth environment
8+ years as senior individual contributor role with cross-functional influence
Demonstrated experience managing large, complex vendor portfolios (multi-million dollar spend)
Proven track record of leading end-to-end contract negotiations and SOW management
Comfort operating in a fast-moving, high-ambiguity environment where frameworks are evolving and judgment is required
Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and SaaS procurement models
Working knowledge of FinOps principles and consumption-based cost management
Understanding of security, compliance, and risk frameworks within a vendor ecosystem
Experience with vendor performance management tools and governance frameworks
Ability to build and manage multi-year cost-avoidance and optimization roadmaps
Experience translating technical spend into business outcomes for executive audiences
Strong understanding of total cost of ownership (TCO) modeling
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present to senior leadership (VP+/ELT level)
Proven ability to drive alignment across Organizations without direct authority
Strong commercial negotiation, contract management, and vendor governance expertise
Proven ability to influence senior business and technology leaders without direct authority

Nice To Haves

Experience in SaaS, cloud, or large-scale enterprise environments
Familiarity with FinOps principles, consumption-based pricing models, and financial strategy for technical portfolios
Experience partnering cross-functionally with Legal, Finance, Security, and Enterprise Sourcing teams

Responsibilities

Manage active vendor engagements across the DET portfolio — tracking terms, performance commitments, and renewal timelines with precision
Support renewal positioning and engagement terms alignment across mid-level and specialized partner engagements, in close coordination with the Director and Sourcing
Apply commercial awareness to evaluate engagement health — surfacing risks, scope concerns, and misalignments before they escalate to the Director
Contribute to M&A engagement transition support, helping integrate inherited vendor relationships into the VER operating model
Maintain engagement status documentation in the VER Intelligence Hub, ensuring the Director and leadership always have an accurate, current view of portfolio health
Track and report on SLA performance across active engagements — surfacing trends, outliers, and improvement opportunities through the VER Health Monitor
Support QBR preparation and engagement health narrative, translating raw performance data into clear, executive-ready analysis for Director review
Identify reliability risks within the third-party ecosystem and bring findings to the Director with recommended resolution approaches
Monitor contract compliance and engagement terms adherence, flagging deviations and working with stakeholders to address gaps in coordination with the Director
Contribute to the development and maintenance of engagement health scorecards that support data-driven vendor accountability
Apply FinOps discipline as a core lens across all engagement work — contributing to portfolio spend analysis, savings tracking, and cost optimization insights
Support forecast governance by maintaining accuracy of engagement-level spend data and flagging forecast variances
Collaborate with Finance and DET stakeholders to ensure engagement spend is visible, categorized, and aligned to DET's fiscal strategy
Contribute to regular reporting on vendor performance, spend trends, and value realization for senior and executive leadership
Identify cost optimization opportunities within active engagements and bring data-backed recommendations for evaluation and action
Operate as a cross-functional partner across DET, Finance, Legal, and Sourcing — representing VER's interests and engagement model in every interaction
Support the VER intake process for new SOW and engagement requests, providing analysis and documentation to inform high-level evaluation and decision-making
Contribute to stakeholder readiness by helping business partners understand how to engage VER, what we assess, and what the pre-engagement process entails
Maintain proficiency in the VER Intelligence Hub — navigating, updating, and presenting from it confidently as VER's primary operating platform