Vendor Lead

HealthFirst•New York, NY

1d•$83,100 - $120,360•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vendor Lead strengthens vendor performance, governance, risk management, and strategic relationships across an assigned portfolio of enterprise vendors. The role uses center-led vendor governance and centralized vendor management, applying oversight according to vendor segmentation, risk, business criticality, and enterprise requirements. In collaboration with Procurement, business stakeholders, Enterprise Risk Management, Compliance, Information Security, Finance, Legal, and suppliers, the Vendor Lead increases transparency into vendor performance and risk while supporting accountability, service delivery, governance discipline, and long-term value realization. The Vendor Lead manages vendor governance and performance, including scorecards, service levels, business reviews, risk assessments, remediation plans, and strategic account planning. The role facilitates governance forums for centrally managed vendors and monitors adherence to enterprise standards for center-led vendors. It maintains documentation and records, tracks decisions and actions through closure, and escalates significant performance, risk, relationship, or compliance concerns. The position also partners with business owners and risk stakeholders, advises business vendor owners on standards and governance expectations, and works with Category Management and Procurement Intelligence and Digital Transformation teams. It identifies opportunities for supplier innovation, improved service, automation, operational efficiency, stronger reporting, and continuous value creation. The role requires a hybrid schedule, reporting to 100 Church Street in New York City every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Operations Management, Information Technology, or equivalent work experience.
At least 5 years of experience in vendor management, supplier relationship management, procurement, sourcing, operations, risk management, or a related discipline.
Demonstrated experience managing supplier performance, service levels, scorecards, business reviews, or vendor governance.
Experience working across business, procurement, risk, compliance, and supplier stakeholders to resolve performance, risk, or operational issues.
Strong analytical, communication, facilitation, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
Ability to work a hybrid schedule and report to 100 Church Street, NYC every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Nice To Haves

CPSM, CIPS, Certified Third Party Risk Professional (CTPRP), or equivalent professional certification.
Healthcare payer, managed care, financial services, or other highly regulated industry experience.
Experience managing strategic, high-risk, or business-critical vendors.
Experience with supplier performance management, third-party risk management, SLA management, or vendor governance platforms.
Experience using enterprise procurement, contract management, analytics, or vendor management technologies.
Experience facilitating QBRs, performance improvement initiatives, or cross-functional remediation activities.

Responsibilities

Manage an assigned vendor portfolio according to enterprise segmentation, risk-tiering, and vendor management standards.
Apply governance requirements based on vendor risk, criticality, spend, performance, and strategic importance.
Establish and maintain governance calendars for operational reviews, QBRs, executive reviews, scorecards, risk assessments, and related activities.
For center-led vendors, verify that accountable business and supplier stakeholders complete required governance activities in accordance with enterprise standards.
For centrally managed vendors, coordinate governance with business owners and suppliers, including performance reviews, scorecards, risk and issue management, and strategic account planning.
Maintain governance documentation and escalate material performance, risk, relationship, or compliance issues through established channels.
Establish and maintain vendor performance scorecards with business owners, Procurement, and suppliers.
Ensure performance measures reflect contractual SLAs, KPIs, service quality, operational performance, risk indicators, and business outcomes.
Monitor performance against contractual commitments and identify trends, recurring issues, and emerging risks.
Develop and track performance improvement and corrective action plans with business owners and suppliers.
Escalate persistent or material performance deficiencies and track agreed remediation actions through completion within established timelines.
Establish vendor meeting and review cadences consistent with enterprise segmentation and risk-tier requirements.
Facilitate QBRs, operational performance reviews, executive business reviews, and other governance forums for centrally managed vendors.
Monitor center-led vendors’ compliance with required meeting cadences and confirm that business owners conduct reviews according to enterprise standards.
Ensure governance meeting agendas cover performance, risk, contractual commitments, strategic initiatives, and continuous improvement opportunities.
Document and maintain meeting minutes, decisions, commitments, risks, issues, and action items in designated repositories, and track them through closure.
Partner with Enterprise Risk Management, Compliance, Information Security, Privacy, Business Continuity, and other risk stakeholders to support enterprise vendor risk requirements.
Monitor vendor risks, issues, remediation activities, and mitigation plans across the portfolio.
Ensure required risk assessments and periodic reviews are completed according to vendor segmentation and risk-tier requirements.
Coordinate cross-functional remediation and track mitigation actions through resolution while maintaining accountability with the appropriate risk or business owner.
Escalate material vendor risks, unresolved issues, or deteriorating supplier performance to appropriate governance forums and leadership.
Develop and maintain strategic vendor account plans for assigned strategic and centrally managed vendors.
Build working relationships with vendor leadership and internal business owners to strengthen accountability, collaboration, and transparency.
Align business objectives, vendor capabilities, performance expectations, and strategic priorities.
Identify opportunities for supplier innovation, service improvement, automation, operational efficiency, and continuous value creation.
Partner with Category Management so vendor performance, relationship, and risk insights inform category strategies, sourcing decisions, renewals, and commercial negotiations.
Serve as the primary Vendor Management partner for assigned business functions and vendor relationships.
Guide and coach business vendor owners on enterprise vendor management standards, scorecards, templates, tools, and governance expectations.
Maintain accurate vendor governance records, scorecards, meeting documentation, issue logs, risk actions, account plans, and performance information in designated enterprise systems and repositories.
Partner with Procurement Intelligence and Digital Transformation resources to improve vendor dashboards, automated scorecards, workflow notifications, action tracking, and performance reporting.
Identify data-driven and digitally enabled opportunities to strengthen vendor governance, stakeholder experience, supplier performance, and continuous value realization.