The Vendor Relationship Manager (VRM) is responsible for managing end-to-end relationships with IT outsourcing vendors to ensure delivery excellence, cost optimization, risk control, and alignment with business objectives. The role ensures vendors meet contractual obligations, service levels, and regulatory requirements.
Key Responsibilities
1. Vendor Governance & Relationship Management
- Act as the primary point of contact for strategic IT vendors
- Build strong partnerships to drive performance and innovation
- Conduct regular vendor governance meetings (monthly/quarterly reviews)
- Manage escalations and ensure timely resolution of issues
2. Contract & SLA Management
- Oversee vendor contracts, ensuring compliance with agreed terms
- Define, track, and enforce SLAs, KPIs, and OLAs
- Ensure penalties/service credits are applied where applicable
- Support contract renewals, renegotiations, and onboarding of new vendor
3. Financial & Cost Management
- Monitor vendor invoices and validate against contracts
- Drive cost optimization and savings initiatives
- Support budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning for outsourced services
4. Risk & Compliance Oversight
- Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements (e.g., outsourcing guidelines, data privacy, cybersecurity)
- Perform vendor risk assessments and due diligence
- Track and mitigate operational, financial, and reputational risks
- Coordinate with internal audit, compliance, and risk teams
5. Performance Monitoring & Reporting
- Track vendor performance using dashboards and scorecards
- Identify performance gaps and implement improvement plans
- Provide regular reporting to senior management and stakeholders
6. Stakeholder Management
- Collaborate with IT, procurement, legal, finance, and business teams
- Align vendor services with business needs and transformation initiatives
Support large programs like cloud migration, digital transformation, or managed services outsourcing
7. Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Drive vendors to deliver process improvements and innovation
- Benchmark vendor performance against industry standards
- Promote automation, efficiency, and service quality enhancements
Key Skills & Competencies
- Vendor & stakeholder management
- Strong understanding of IT outsourcing models (managed services, offshoring, cloud)
- Contract negotiation & SLA management
- Financial acumen (budgeting, cost control)
- Risk & compliance awareness (especially in regulated industries)
- Communication, negotiation, and influencing skills
Preferred Experience
- 10-15 years in IT, procurement, vendor management, or outsourcing
- Experience in banking/financial services preferred
- Exposure to frameworks like ITIL, COBIT, or ISO standards
- Familiarity with regulatory bodies like Monetary Authority of Singapore (for Singapore roles)
Typical KPIs
- SLA adherence (%)
- Vendor performance scores
- Cost savings achieved
- Audit & compliance findings
- Issue resolution turnaround time
Reporting Structure
- Typically reports to: Head of Vendor Management / CIO Office / Technology COO
- Works closely with: Procurement, Risk, Compliance, Finance, IT Delivery Teams
