Vice President, Technology Vendor Management (Strategy & Category Management)

American Express • Phoenix, AZ

11d

About The Position

At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values and Leadership Behaviors, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and colleagues. From delivering differentiated products to providing world-class customer service, we operate with a strong risk mindset, ensuring we continue to uphold our brand promise of trust, security, and service.
As part of Team Amex, you'll experience this powerful backing with comprehensive support for your holistic well-being and many opportunities to learn new skills, develop as a leader, and grow your career. Here, your voice and ideas matter, your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of American Express.
How will you make an impact in this role?
We are seeking a strategic, enterprise-oriented leader with a demonstrated ability to translate vision into measurable impact. This successful candidate must be able to shape how we manage our most critical technology and data vendors, strengthen risk and compliance rigor, and drive enterprise-wide value creation.
About Technology Vendor Management:
Technology Vendor Management (TVM) partners across Technology to optimize third-party spend while maximizing value creation, mitigating risk, and enhancing supplier innovation. TVM plays a critical role in ensuring world-class management of our global technology vendors through robust governance, performance monitoring, risk management, and collaborative partnerships with Global Supplier Management (Sourcing), Technology Risk, the General Counsel Organization (Legal), Controllership and Finance colleagues.
About the Role:
The Vice President of Strategy & Category Management will lead a multi-disciplinary team focused on driving performance, accountability, and long-term value across our top strategic vendor portfolio (software, cloud, IT labor, and infrastructure). This leader will move vendor engagement beyond transactional oversight toward collaborative, value-driven partnerships anchored in joint business planning and shared innovation objectives.
The VP will establish and mature vendor management practices across the full technology domain, ensuring compliance with internal and external policies and procedures, including but not limited to the Interagency Guidelines on Third-Party Risk Management. This includes oversight of the entire vendor lifecycle (planning, due diligence, contracting, ongoing monitoring, and termination).

Requirements

• 15+ years of experience in vendor management, technology procurement, sourcing, or related functions, with expertise in regulated financial services.
• Deep knowledge of technology supplier ecosystems (software, cloud, IT labor, and infrastructure) and associated risk dynamics.
• Strong understanding of the Interagency Guidelines and proven ability to operationalize regulatory requirements into vendor governance frameworks.
• Track record in building and executing vendor performance frameworks, risk mitigation strategies, and regulatory-compliant vendor governance programs.
• Proven leadership ability to motivate teams, influence senior executives, and manage complex vendor ecosystems.
• Excellent negotiation, relationship management, and communication skills, with the ability to manage board-level and regulator-facing discussions.
• Strategic thinker with financial acumen, data-driven decision-making, and operational resilience expertise.
• Bachelor’s degree required

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred.
• Previous experience negotiating AI-specific agreements.

Responsibilities

• Build and execute a forward-looking vendor strategy that positions strategic partnerships as a source of competitive differentiation in the market.
• Develop AI-enabled and advanced analytics capabilities to generate predictive insights, strengthen negotiation leverage, and enhance supplier performance transparency.
• Establish joint business planning frameworks with key vendors to align supplier roadmaps with enterprise technology priorities.
• Launch innovation programs with strategic partners to co-develop solutions, accelerate modernization, and unlock new sources of value.
• Drive operating model evolution across vendor categories to enable scale, agility, and performance optimization.
• Lead enterprise-wide technology vendor governance aligned to organizational risk appetite, regulatory expectations, and operational resilience objectives.
• Operationalize the Interagency Guidelines on Third-Party Risk Management through embedded, risk-based lifecycle management practices.
• Design and implement redundancy and diversification strategies to mitigate concentration risk across critical technology suppliers.
• Establish crisis management and contingency planning frameworks to address high-impact vendor disruptions.
• Oversee risk tiering methodologies and heightened governance for vendors supporting critical customer-facing or operational capabilities.
• Ensure board-ready reporting, regulatory documentation, and exam readiness across the strategic vendor portfolio.
• Own end-to-end strategy for the strategic technology vendor portfolio, including commercial positioning, performance governance, and long-term value realization.
• Serve as the Technology co-lead alongside Global Supplier Management (GSM) for complex sourcing events and advanced commercial negotiations, ensuring integrated category strategy, disciplined commercial governance, and alignment with Enterprise Technology Services strategy, risk tolerance, and financial objectives.
• Deliver measurable cost optimization, value realization, and efficiency gains through benchmarking, demand aggregation, supplier consolidation, and innovative commercial structures.
• Lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and executive engagements that drive accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Translate complex vendor performance data into actionable insights and executive-level recommendations.
• Partner closely with GSM Sourcing to align category strategies, optimize supplier mix, and ensure contracts meet business, risk, and regulatory standards.
• Anticipate enterprise technology demand and align vendor capacity planning to support growth and resilience.
• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing vendor management organization.
• Establish a continuous upskilling strategy focused on AI-enabled analytics, regulatory fluency, commercial excellence, and strategic relationship leadership.
• Foster a culture of accountability, strategic thinking, operational excellence, and cross-functional partnership.

Benefits

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• 6%25 Company Match on retirement savings plan
• Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
• 20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy
• Free access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctors (depending on location)
• Free and confidential counseling support through our Healthy Minds program
• Career development and training opportunities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive