Strategic Partner Management Lead

A leading insurance and financial services organization is seeking an experienced Strategic Partner Management Lead to oversee vendor operations, commercial agreements, supplier performance, and financial controls.

This position requires a hands-on leader who can manage complex vendor relationships, negotiate commercial terms, oversee an offshore operational team, and implement improvements to vendor-management processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage offshore vendor operations supporting contract reviews, renewals, and related activities.
• Negotiate vendor pricing, extensions, discounts, rate locks, and contractual modifications.
• Review and standardize Master Service Agreements, Statements of Work, and Change Requests.
• Develop performance scorecards and evaluate suppliers against service-level commitments.
• Lead competitive vendor evaluations and commercial comparisons.
• Monitor vendor budgets, spending, and forecasts in partnership with Finance.
• Oversee vendor transitions, supplier rationalization, and operational escalations.
• Collaborate with Procurement, Legal, Cybersecurity, and technology leadership on vendor agreements, risks, and operational improvements.

Role Requirements

• Strong background in high-volume vendor or contract management.
• Proven experience negotiating complex commercial agreements.
• Knowledge of Time and Materials, fixed-capacity, and fixed-price delivery models.
• Experience developing, reviewing, and negotiating SOWs and Change Requests.
• Experience leading offshore operational teams.
• Ability to improve vendor-management processes and address supplier performance issues.
• Experience developing vendor scorecards and measuring performance.
• Strong collaboration with Procurement and Legal.
• Financial management experience involving vendor spending, budgets, and forecasts.
• Strong communication, organizational skills, and senior stakeholder engagement.

Nice to Have

• IT services vendor-management experience.
• Exposure to onshore and offshore technology service delivery.
• Insurance or financial services experience.