Sr. Director, Sourcing Strategy, Management & Governance

Travelers•Hartford, CT

1d•$132,800 - $219,100

About The Position

The Sourcing and Supplier Management (S&SM) team drives enterprise-wide sourcing strategy, supplier governance, and supplier risk management across Travelers' technology and operations supplier portfolio. This multi-disciplinary team manages Travelers' global sourcing and supplier relationships, and is accountable for implementing strategic sourcing models that optimize supplier relationships and deliver measurable business outcomes. This Senior Director leads S&SM's Sourcing Risk & Operations function, managing a team responsible for supplier risk reviews, business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) planning, offshore development center (ODC) management, site audits, and various other supplier operations and governance functions. The Risk & Operations team is shifting from a reactive, process-facilitation model to a proactive, portfolio-based approach to supplier risk management — this role is accountable for leading that transition and for building the frameworks, cadence, and team capability needed to deliver a holistic, enterprise view and approach to risk management for these suppliers. Additionally, this role will play a key role in expanding Sourcing and Supplier Management's strategic partnership role with Tech & Ops platform and product partners, enhancing governance frameworks and relationship management protocols. Additionally, the role encompasses developing and maintaining executive briefing materials that provide leadership visibility into strategic vendor partnerships and performance outcomes. This senior director role is also a key member of the extended S&SM leadership team, which is responsible for developing and executing Tech & Ops sourcing strategies that align supplier selection, relationship management, and strategic sourcing models with enterprise objectives. The position partners closely with Line of Business Technology & Operations leadership and cross-functional stakeholders — including SLT/ELT, Procurement, Legal, and Workforce Management. Leveraging Travelers' scale and strategic positioning, this role partners with technology and business leaders on managed services models, sourcing strategies, and supplier selection aligned to workforce planning initiatives. This position manages a team.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
8 years of supplier management or related experience.
Advanced communication skills, advanced computer literacy and ability to analyze and resolve complex issues.
Ability to successfully operate in a team and in a fast-paced environment.
Requires a demonstrated record of initiative, problem solving, and change management.

Nice To Haves

Typically 9+ years of Finance, Audit, Procurement or Sales/Servicing related experience.
Master's or other advanced degree.
Thorough knowledge of project management processes.
Thorough knowledge of business law, legal contracts and various financial issues including cash flow and working capital.
Intermediate to advanced proficiency of eSourcing and Ariba procurement applications.
Intermediate to advanced proficiency of MS Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end supplier risk management for the Tech&Ops strategic supplier portfolio — including risk reviews, due diligence, and ongoing monitoring.
Lead the team's transition from reactive, case-by-case process facilitation to proactive, portfolio-based oversight that gives S&SM and Tech & Ops leadership a holistic, enterprise view of supplier risk exposure.
Drive continuous improvement to how the work is completed, emphasizing value-add activities and approaches while reducing reactive, manual work wherever possible.
Develop a portfolio-based approach to Tech&Ops strategic supplier population, including a framework for determining which suppliers are in-scope, how suppliers align to portfolios, what level of governance/operational support are required for each supplier, and how to align portfolios to team members.
Lead the growth of the team’s role in ongoing supplier governance – identifying opportunities to add value, deepen the team’s knowledge of the supplier’s footprint, and partner to help business stakeholders drive the most value from each supplier relationship.
Leverage S&SM’s mature professional services sourcing (GSO) program to drive the development of a strategic, substantive approach to Tech&Ops non-GSO strategic providers.
Lead the development, maintenance and continued improvement of briefing materials for senior executives within Tech&Ops, in partnership with stakeholders across the organization, ranging from the supplier’s executive sponsor to leaders responsible for day-to-day operations with the supplier, to procurement, finance and legal.
Ensure materials are comprehensive, provide a holistic view of the total supplier footprint, and include timely, actionable information; additionally, prepare distilled talking points as required to summarize key aspects of each supplier relationship to support senior executive meetings.
Manage business continuity and disaster recovery planning and readiness across S&SM’s strategic suppliers, including partnering with BC/DR stakeholders to plan and facilitate annual tabletop testing, drafting/disseminating communications to strategic suppliers in connection with incident management/DR events, and identify opportunities to improve BC/DR preparedness.
Oversee oversight of Travelers' offshore development center footprint, evaluating site changes — capacity shifts, technology updates, operational control changes — for risk and operational impact, and directing site audits toward the areas of greatest control exposure.
Own SOC review outcomes for strategic professional services partners, assessing findings for substantive risk and driving suppliers to remediate gaps rather than simply tracking review completion.
Lead and manage the Sourcing Risk & Operations team, setting direction, priorities, and performance expectations.
Build team capability — through coaching, role clarity, and tooling — to support the shift to portfolio-based risk management.
Maintain substantive, current knowledge of strategic suppliers' delivery capabilities, fit within our priorities and roadmaps and competitive positioning.
Serve as a credible, technically substantive counterpart to supplier leadership and delivery teams — able to engage directly rather than operating solely through account managers or relationship cadence.
Partner cross-functionally with Procurement, Legal, Workforce Management, and Tech & Ops leadership to align supplier risk and governance frameworks to enterprise objectives.
Participate in the Enterprise Supplier Management Steering Committee and represent Risk & Operations in enterprise governance forums.
Define and consult on risk measurement strategies, scorecards, and reporting cadence across the organization.
Maintain awareness of supplier risk indicators and emerging industry/regulatory trends, surfacing anomalies and risks proactively to senior leadership rather than waiting for escalation.
Support ad hoc analytical requests and special projects aligned to S&SM's strategic priorities.
Serve as the point of resolution for supplier risk issues, audit findings, or governance gaps prior to leadership review.