IT Vendor Mgmt Specialist

It Vendor & Strategic Sourcing Specialist

As this is a hybrid role, working out of our Creative Studios in Westlake, Ohio, we will focus on candidates currently residing in Northeast Ohio. American Greetings is looking for an organized and detail-oriented IT Vendor & Strategic Sourcing Specialist to support procurement and vendor management activities across our technology categories. This role is responsible for coordinating vendor onboarding, contract renewals, sourcing events, and compliance tracking in collaboration with IT, finance, legal, and internal stakeholders. You will contribute to cost savings initiatives, assist with vendor performance tracking, and help maintain best practices in IT sourcing and supplier governance.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Vendor Management Support

Assist with onboarding new IT vendors and ensuring all documentation and compliance requirements are met.

Monitor contract expiration dates and support timely renewals or termination processes.

Maintain vendor scorecards and collect performance metrics to support service-level discussions.

Help manage issue tracking, escalations, and resolution follow-ups under guidance from vendor leads.

Facilitates the design, implementation, and management of vendor management process improvements.

Sourcing & Procurement Coordination

Lead the execution of sourcing activities (e.g., RFQs, RFPs, supplier analysis, negotiations, renewals) for IT-related purchases.

Collect and consolidate pricing, service details, and commercial terms for evaluation and comparison.

Collaborate with IT and business stakeholders to understand procurement requirements and timelines.

Prepare documentation and assist with purchase requisition processes.

Contract & Compliance Administration

Maintain organized records of vendor contracts, and supporting documents in procurement systems.

Ensure contracts include appropriate cybersecurity, privacy, and risk language in collaboration with IT Technical and data security, and legal.

Track vendor compliance with internal policies, license management and audit readiness requirements.

Review and monitor vendor invoices to ensure appropriateness.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Partner with IT teams on procurement needs including hardware, software, SaaS, network and services.

Support finance and procurement leadership in reporting, budgeting, and tracking savings initiatives.

Educate business partners on procurement procedures and help facilitate purchasing workflows.