Strategic Vendor Management Specialist - Consulting Category

Northern Trust•Chicago, IL

40d

About The Position

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world's most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service. This role will report into the Head of Business Services Procurement, with a dotted line to the Consulting Category Manager. This strategic role will be interacting with members of Northern's internal Executive Management team, our largest 3rd party consulting vendors, and numerous functional leaders within Northern Trust. Responsibilities include designing and monitoring our key Consulting Supplier Program (i.e. Big 4). This person will liaison with key stakeholders and our supply chain to support the organization's consulting portfolio of suppliers. The right candidate will standup, own, and govern the vendor management function overseeing our most strategic consulting vendors. Candidates should be well versed in vendor management, have experience presenting and advising to Executive Management teams, and have previously worked with 3rd party consulting vendors.

Requirements

Confident communication, integrity, and authenticity to build strong, positive relationships based on trust
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and presentation skills
Ability to develop internal and external networks based on integrity and credibility through active listening and understanding
Business acumen around the consulting category, with proven ability to interact with all levels of the organization
Highly flexible and adaptable to change
Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise in Strategy Sourcing and Category Management best practices
Interprets internal/external business challenges and recommends best practices to improve products, processes or services
Proven experience in handling complex firmwide vendor relationships including prior experience with Consulting Firms (Big 4 a plus)
A thorough understanding of third-party (i.e., vendor, supplier, etc.) risk management, performance monitoring and Procurement processes
Fifteen or more years' experience in Sourcing or Procurement related field or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required along with ability to be highly flexible, strategic, collaborative and adaptable to change
Excellent understanding of procurement philosophies and strategies along with in-depth knowledge of supply chain management and procurement
Leadership, mentorship and organizational skills are required to develop objectives and goals
Proficiency in MS Office Suites with advanced Excel and Powerpoint skills

Nice To Haves

Prior experience working for a consulting firm is a plus
MBA or other advanced degree and a professional Procurement/ Supply Chain Management designation (e.g. CSCP, CPM) are a strong plus.

Responsibilities

Optimize opportunities with our strategic consulting vendors, to increase buying power and reduce financial and non-financial risks
Deliver a lower total cost of ownership
Provide holistic vendor forecasting to enable strategic deal management
Enhance stronger business and Procurement engagement to optimize outcomes
Provide proactive monitoring of consulting statements of work, through scorecards and quarterly business reviews
Create internal awareness of vendor sponsorships and donations that have potential commercial impacts on negotiations
Build win-win partnership with select strategic consulting relationships - maintaining a constant dialogue with vendors that allows stakeholders to access any ongoing risk to make more informed purchasing decisions.
Single point of contact for vendor escalation, include corrective actions
Manage ongoing communication and feedback loop
Facilitate regular performance management discussions with internal stakeholders
Streamline financial approval process with finance stakeholders
Design and implement hub and spoke outreach model
Setup training and education program for internal and external stakeholders
Coordinate pipeline to enable strategic deal management
Manage internal escalations and procurement policy non-compliance
Design and lead QBR sessions
Design and implement vendor scorecards
Design and implement vendor performance metrics and dashboards
Facilitate regular performance management discussions with internal stakeholders and vendors to ensure issues are surfaced and mitigated real-time
Oversee reporting on vendor donations & sponsorships (request, commercial impacts)
Monitor total revenue generated from Northern Trust for deal consideration

Benefits

Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

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