Vendor Management Specialist

Kairos Living LLC•Austin, TX

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Supply Chain team at Kairos Living, a rapidly growing national single-family rental fund (SFR), is seeking an experienced Vendor Management Specialist to own the full vendor lifecycle across our markets, from sourcing and onboarding through daily assignments, compliance, invoicing, performance, and relationships. This is a broad, hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who can run the day to day and think strategically. This is a phone-first role. The primary way we communicate with vendors is a live phone call, so the right person is ready to spend much of the day on the phone building relationships and working through issues with vendors. Kairos is transitioning from third-party systems such as VendorCafe and Yardi to a new proprietary platform built exclusively for single-family rental operations. The right candidate is tech-savvy and can quickly master an entirely new system and help guide vendors through the transition. The platform shares some similarities with Yardi but is fully customized to Kairos. Reporting to the Director of Vendor Management, this individual runs day-to-day vendor management alongside the Director and works closely with property management, construction, leasing, and finance.

Requirements

Minimum 3 years of vendor management or related real estate construction and management experience (4 or more preferred).
Single-family rental, multifamily, or lodging experience is required.
Comfortable and effective on the phone; this role relies on live phone conversations with vendors as the primary channel, more than text or email.
Proven ability to turn performance data into corrective action and measurable improvement.
Strong cross-functional communication and the confidence to lead conversations with vendors and internal leaders, in person and by video.
Tech-savvy and a fast learner, comfortable mastering a brand-new proprietary SFR platform (similar in some ways to Yardi but fully customized to Kairos).
Proficiency with Excel and Power BI, including pivot tables; experience with Yardi Voyager, Rently, and Asana a plus.
Comfortable with AI tools and has used them at least in a personal capacity, with an interest in applying them to the role.
Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong data accuracy in a high-volume setting.
Sound judgment and strong ownership, including the ability to make decisions and prioritize independently.
Self-starter who is dependable, process-oriented, and willing to do what it takes to hit goals and deadlines.
Willingness to travel up to 25 percent.

Nice To Haves

4 or more years of vendor management or related real estate construction and management experience.
Experience with Yardi Voyager, Rently, and Asana.

Responsibilities

Source local contractors and tradesmen through research and cold outreach to meet operational capacity needs across markets.
Onboard and train new vendors on Kairos systems and processes, including the proprietary vendor platform, Rently, RentCheck, pricing sheets, and invoicing; conduct onboarding calls, including lockout and evictions onboarding.
Own the health of the vendor network across markets, including coverage, capacity, and the right balance of core and anchor vendors.
Communicate with vendors primarily by phone, including proactive relationship touch-point calls; being on the phone with vendors is a core, daily part of this role.
Process daily vendor assignments and market-level capacity for turns, initials, lockouts, and new builds, prioritizing speed and accuracy.
Maintain vendor contact records and process profile updates (coverage, capacity, and trades).
Prepare and send volume projections to the highest-volume vendors so they can plan capacity.
Maintain vendor insurance and compliance, including COIs, W-9s, licenses as required, and expirations; follow up with vendors and insurance agencies to verify general liability coverage quarterly.
Support vendor invoicing accuracy, coach vendors on compliant submissions, and resolve rejections.
Manage vendor performance: identify low performers, deliver formal feedback and improvement plans, and drive corrective action (coach, reduce volume, or replace); escalate repeated failures to a compliance or legal hold.
Coach vendors through issues with regular check-ins, including bi-weekly calls, to reduce turnover and keep vendors performing.
Lead vendor business reviews and feedback conversations in person and by video.
Serve as the vendor's advocate inside Kairos and own the vendor feedback loop: receive, log, investigate, and close the loop with vendors.
Own vendor complaints in Asana and run point on resolution.
Lead cross-departmental issue resolution and mediation involving vendors.
Own procurement program alignment and enforcement (SIBI, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sherwin-Williams), and partner with Procurement on purchasing compliance.
Pull and maintain vendor scorecards, capacity, and coverage reports, including the coverage area survey; deliver monthly vendor scoring reports across quality, timeliness, communication, pricing, and compliance.
Analyze vendor scoring and performance trends, conduct root cause analysis, and present findings and recommendations to Supply Chain leadership.
Author and own vendor management process documentation (policies and playbooks) and lead internal training.
Evaluate current processes and refine them with Operations as needed to make the experience easier and more seamless for the vendor in the field.
Maintain the Vendor Help Center and supporting resources, and prepare data and materials for vendor performance reviews.
Assist with the quarterly vendor newsletter.
Maintain vendor requests, new-vendor follow-ups, and deactivations in Asana, and execute the vendor deactivation process.
Help lead the vendor transition to Kairos's new proprietary platform.
Take on special projects and other duties as assigned to support Vendor Management, Supply Chain, and Operations.
Travel to vendor sites and markets to build relationships and lead field visits, at least once a year per region (up to 25 percent).