Vendor Sourcing Specialist

Lessen•Chicago, IL

About The Position

Lessen is the tech-enabled, end-to-end property service provider that is transforming how commercial and residential real estate services are delivered and managed at scale. Lessen’s technology platform provides data-driven insights that unlock key growth opportunities for the entire real estate ecosystem—including investors, owners, managers, and service providers. The company leverages a network of over 30,000 vetted, qualified vendors (Lessen Affiliates) serving clients with over 1 million properties and completing more than 3.5 million work orders annually across an expanding range of services. Lessen, LLC is a venture-backed, privately held company with offices in Scottsdale and Chicago. The Vendor Sourcing Specialist supports the Exteriors department by sourcing, qualifying and contracting vendors, building collaborative relationships, monitoring and developing their performance, and acting as the prime point of contact for vendors over commercial, contractual and practical arrangements. The position is expected to use independent judgment and discretion to locate vendors and negotiate terms with those vendors in a way best benefiting the Company.

Requirements

Excellent Microsoft product skills - high-level experience with Excel and Word required.
Experience/ability to setup/lead meetings or plan remote business events required.
Bachelor’s degree or related experience.
Experience in Facilities, Supply chain, or Procurement preferred
3-5 years customer service or related experience preferred

Responsibilities

Interview, identify and qualify new vendors in assigned market and service lines; establish and grow relationships with vendors through direct communication to achieve seamless, high-quality service and advantageous pricing.
Negotiate pricing and service terms with vendors for contracted services while maintaining margin requirements.
Communicate with vendors on insurance and other compliance requirements; ensure vendor meets the minimum requirements to work for Lessen.
Ensure proper and timely onboarding of new client accounts; initiate the recurrence of existing seasonal accounts.
Analyze opportunities and risks with vendors and vendor onboarding team; recommends resolution to leadership
Analyze location alignment and capacity opportunities; recommends improvements to leadership
Understand varying scopes of work of our clients and convey those requirements to vendors.
Establish and grow relationships with vendors.
Take ownership of complex issues escalated by the client independently and with a sense of urgency; maintains responsibility for ultimate resolution and escalates the most consequential issues to department leadership with actionable recommendations for solutions.
Work with operations team to identify and terminate underperforming vendors.
Must be available to adjust work schedule during high peak periods when necessary.