Vendor Performance Administrator

State of Washington • Thurston County – Olympia, WA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Vendor Performance Administrator plays a vital role in the success of the One Washington program by fostering strong vendor partnerships and ensuring vendors deliver high-quality services that support the program's strategic objectives. This position leads vendor performance management and governance activities by establishing clear performance expectations, monitoring vendor delivery, and providing meaningful insights to program leadership to support informed decision-making and continuous improvement. The position manages day-to-day operational coordination, and maintains documentation of vendor-related actions, approvals, and communications to ensure audit readiness, oversees vendor onboarding and offboarding, coordinates compliance activities, and validates vendor deliverables to ensure contractual and operational requirements are met. Working in close partnership with Legal and Contract Services, the Vendor Performance Administrator provides operational expertise and vendor performance support to help strengthen vendor accountability, mitigate risk, and contribute to the successful delivery of one of Washington state's most significant modernization initiatives. One Washington (OneWA), led by the Office of Financial Management, is an enterprise-wide transformation project focused on replacing 1960s-era technology with a cloud-based Workday solution for finance, procurement, budget, HR, and payroll processes. OneWA is a long-term, yet extremely fast-paced project anticipated to fully implement all phases by 2030.

Requirements

• Knowledge of vendor governance and contract administration principles, including how performance expectations, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and service level agreements Service Level Agreements/Key Performance Indicators (SLAs/KPIs) are defined, tracked, and evaluated in a complex enterprise environment.
• Knowledge of public sector contracting and procurement frameworks, including the roles of program operations, procurement, and legal counsel in contract development, amendment, interpretation, and execution.
• Knowledge of Enterprise Report Planning (ERP) implementation environments and how vendor performance directly impacts system delivery, business process integration, and cross-functional program outcomes.
• Knowledge of operational controls and processes related to vendor lifecycle management, including onboarding, offboarding, compliance coordination, and access/security coordination (e.g., system permissions and documentation workflows).
• Knowledge of risk identification and escalation practices in a complex, multi-stakeholder program environment, particularly where vendor performance or contract compliance may impact delivery, cost, or schedule.
• Skilled in organizing and maintaining complex contract and vendor documentation systems in a way that supports transparency, audit readiness, and rapid retrieval of information.
• Skilled in translating operational needs and business requirements into clear vendor expectations, service descriptions, and contract-ready language.
• Skilled in analyzing vendor performance data and operational information to identify gaps, trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Skilled in developing dashboards, reports, and structured communications that clearly convey vendor performance status and issues to leadership and stakeholders.
• Skilled in managing multiple concurrent vendor relationships, workflows, and priorities while maintaining accuracy, consistency, and follow-through.
• Skilled in communicating clearly and effectively across technical, legal, operational, and executive audiences, including situations involving performance issues or contractual disagreements.
• Skilled in building and maintaining collaborative working relationships with vendors and internal stakeholders while maintaining accountability for performance expectations.
• Skilled in using structured processes to track commitments, approvals, and decisions in a manner that ensures consistency and accountability.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment in determining when vendor performance issues can be resolved operationally versus when escalation to Legal and Contract Services or program leadership is required.
• Ability to operate effectively in a dual-accountability environment where contract authority resides with Legal and Contract Services while operational vendor governance is managed within the program.
• Ability to maintain strong organizational discipline in managing high volumes of contract, vendor, and performance-related information without loss of accuracy or traceability.
• Ability to identify process breakdowns, inefficiencies, or gaps in vendor governance and recommend practical improvements aligned with program goals.
• Ability to work effectively in a highly collaborative environment where success depends on coordination across legal, procurement, technical, and operational stakeholders.
• Ability to adapt quickly to new systems, processes, and governance requirements in a complex, evolving ERP implementation environment.
• Ability to maintain constructive working relationships with vendors while holding them accountable to defined expectations and deliverables.
• Ability to recognize when a lack of familiarity with state contracting processes, security/access protocols, or ERP environments may impact performance and proactively seek clarification or support.
• The ability to learn and grow: Curious about themselves and others, who take responsibility for knowing their own strengths and weaknesses, and who use their learning to make government programs and processes more efficient and effective to serve all in Washington.
• The ability to meet the needs of others: Flexible, adaptable, customer-service focused, and willing and able to empathetically respond to the unique needs of the people we work with and serve.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with large-scale enterprise ERP implementation environments, including systems such as Workday or comparable integrated finance, procurement, budget, and human capital management platforms.
• Experience working in complex public sector or highly regulated environments involving multiple oversight functions such as legal, procurement, finance, and program governance.
• Exposure to contract development, vendor management, or procurement support activities within a structured organizational environment.
• Experience supporting or participating in vendor performance management practices, including use of KPIs, SLAs, dashboards, or other performance tracking tools.
• Familiarity with interagency agreements (IAAs), system integrator relationships, or multi-vendor program environments.
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders in technical, operational, and executive settings to support decision-making and program delivery.
• Exposure to process improvement, governance development, or standard operating procedure (SOP) development in a program or enterprise setting.
• Experience working with or supporting data visualization, reporting tools, or structured performance reporting for leadership audiences.

Responsibilities

• Leads the One Washington vendor performance management and governance function by developing the program's strategy, implementing associated processes, and maintaining governance practices that promote consistent evaluation of vendor performance and alignment with contractual and operational expectations.
• Develops vendor performance strategies; identifies and tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs); analyzes vendor performance data; and develops dashboards, reports, and presentations for program leadership and stakeholders.
• Identifies trends, risks, and performance gaps and provides recommendations for improvement and mitigation.
• Maintains documentation of vendor performance issues, lessons learned, and process improvements to support transparency, accountability, and long-term program effectiveness.
• Manages vendor lifecycle activities for the One Washington program, including vendor onboarding, offboarding, compliance coordination, and ongoing oversight throughout the duration of vendor engagement.
• Coordinates onboarding and offboarding processes; manages access and security-related coordination (including SharePoint access and related systems); manages contractor compliance with state and program requirements; and verifies completion of required training and administrative requirements.
• Validates vendor deliverables and reviews invoices to confirm that services and deliverables meet defined requirements prior to approval for payment.
• Rejects deliverables that do not meet requirements and communicates deficiencies and resolution options to vendors.
• Responds to vendor questions, manages day-to-day operational coordination, and maintains documentation of vendor-related actions, approvals, and communications to ensure audit readiness.
• Works in partnership with Legal and Contract Services to develop, amend, and negotiate contracts for the One Washington program, with emphasis on system integrator and non-system integrator agreements.
• Provides operational input, vendor performance data, and subject matter expertise to inform contract development and negotiation activities.
• Participates in negotiation discussions as an operational representative, identifies risks and impacts related to contract terms, and develops recommended approaches and language for consideration by Legal and Contract Services.
• Develops contract-related requirements by engaging with business owners, contributes to service definition development, and translates operational needs into contract-ready language and documentation.
• Identifies risks, impacts, and potential downstream effects of contract terms on vendor performance, delivery, and program operations.
• Manages ongoing vendor relationships to support effective communication, issue resolution, and alignment between vendors and the One Washington program.
• Maintains collaborative working relationships with vendors and internal stakeholders; triages and escalates vendor-related issues as appropriate; and supports consistent communication regarding expectations, performance outcomes, and operational needs.
• Identifies opportunities to improve vendor-related processes, is involved in the development of standard operating procedures, and contributes to long-range planning and executive-level reporting.
• Partners with Finance on analysis of contract terms, payment trends, and related reporting as needed.

Benefits

• An environment of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• 12 paid holidays, 14 paid vacation days (minimum), and 12 days of sick leave per year
• State retirement programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed