IT Vendor Contract Manager

Profile

Req ID: 283174 

 

BASIC PURPOSE: The IT Vendor Contract Manager is responsible for managing the contract life cycle, which includes changes, modifications, and the enforcement of performance clauses, including incentives and remedies. The IT Vendor Contract Manager acts as the key contact and subject matter expert for all contract-related and tender activities. This includes assisting with negotiating contract terms, conditions, modifications, incentives, and remedies, while working with key stakeholders to ensure that their requirements are met. Additionally, this position manages the contract execution process, resolving problems, mitigating delays, assisting with audits, mediating disputes, and escalating issues. 

 

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

*Ensure that the organizations suppliers and their related contracts are managed appropriately to support the delivery of quality products and services. *Work alongside procurement colleagues to assist with developing statements of work (SOWs) and understand any current requests for information (RFIs), requests for quotations (RFQs) and requests for proposal (RFPs) that are in the pipeline.  *Establish contract management objectives, procedures, templates and workflow processes for vendor contracts and deliverable schedules. Maintain a contract management database that contains all executed contracts, as well as contracts that are under development but are not yet active. Moreover, track obligations, deliverables, and contract change notes. Manage and control access to documents as appropriate. *Negotiate contracts and ensure that suppliers meet all contractual obligations and deliverables throughout the lifecycle of the agreement.   *Work with legal representatives to develop and insert appropriate legal protections in contracts, as warranted. *Work with all teams (security, compliance and tax, HR, accounts payable [AP], and so on) to ensure that vendors are performing in accordance with existing requirements and regulatory obligations. *Manage contract amendments, contract renewals, contract terminations and the expiration of contracts. *Manage contract review meetings with internal customers to ensure delivery against objectives and contract budgets for renewal. Develop regular reports on contract milestones, execution, and risk, and inform internal customers, vendors and management of activities and progress through regular written and verbal communication. *Maintain proper records of all IT contracts and develop a process to continually audit and improve existing contracts.   *Develop a knowledge base of negotiating strategies, best practices, and negotiation personnel and teams. Make improvements to processes, procedures, workflow, and organizational structures for contract management. *Administer commercial and financial arrangements with vendors to include billing, invoicing, performance incentives, remedies, and internal chargebacks, where appropriate.  *Work with vendors and key stakeholders to establish clear contract change control processes.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

*Education:

*Bachelor's Degree in an analytical field (such as general business, economics, psychology, computer science, mathematics, statistics, or finance) *Preferred: ITIL experience desired, but not required

*Experience:

*Minimum of five years' experience with negotiating and managing contract life cycles, with an emphasis on technology or IT service agreements.  *Experience in managing large complex contracts in one or more IT categories, including hardware, software, service, and communication.  *Experience working with all key departments (security, compliance, finance, tax, AP, legal and procurement), and knowledge of procurement and vendor management practices and certifications (CIPS, ITIL and COBIT).  *Knowledge of IT concepts and systems.  *An ability to determine contractual and financial exposure and negotiate contracts, and ability to participate in the development of the asset management mission, goals, and objectives. *Knowledge of contracting trends, licensing models, and traditional and emerging contract and vendor performance models. *Deep market knowledge of the category of IT vendor for which the contract manager is responsible. *Strong project and process management skills, with the ability to handle multiple vendors and multiple contracts, as well as a wide range of tasks. *Ability to understand contract risks and to work with other parts of the organization in crafting tactics and strategies for risk mitigation. *Knowledge of best practices for IT contract negotiation tactics and strategies. *Ability to structure bids, evaluate bids against a broad set of evaluation criteria and provide recommendations for vendor selection. *Where applicable, understanding of government and industry regulations that will influence contracting approach and vendor behavior. *Strong ability to communicate with IT users, legal and procurement staff, and business leaders to craft contracts that align complex needs with contractual requirements to achieve business outcomes. *Customer-focused approach to delivering contract management services to internal customers. *Strong relationship and interpersonal skills to be applied in working with vendors across the entire contract life cycle. *Ability to distinguish what is required versus what is nice to have, and ability to manage conflicting stakeholder needs and wants.

SKILLS AND PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

*Skills:

*Strong interpersonal, oral communication and written communication skills

*Typical Physical Demands:

*On-call availability as needed. *Requires prolonged sitting, some bending and stooping. *Lifting and transporting of heavy to moderately heavy objects, such as computers and peripherals. *Manual dexterity sufficient to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and to handle other computer components.

Job Function(s): Information Technology 

 

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores is the industry-leading travel stop network in the United States. For more than 55 years, we've provided customers with highway hospitality and Clean Places, Friendly Faces. We're passionate about serving drivers with clean, modern facilities stocked with fuel, food and supplies. We offer meals from popular restaurant chains, trucking supplies, showers and everything needed to get back on the road quickly. The Love's Family of Companies includes:

*Gemini Motor Transport, one of the industry's safest trucking fleets *Speedco, the light mechanical and trucking service specialists *Musket, a rapidly growing, Houston-based commodities supplier and trader *Trillium, a Houston-based alternative fuels expert

 

Company info

Loves Travel Stops and Country Stores
Website : http://www.loves.com