Commercial Governance Manager

Location: Houston, TX | FLSA Class: Exempt | Reports to: Manager of Supply Chain

About the Role

VoltaGrid is building a strategic Supply Chain function and is seeking a Commercial Governance Manager to establish and lead the commercial and contractual governance framework that underpins our category management, vendor risk, and contract lifecycle activities. This foundational role on a newly formed team offers the opportunity to design processes, controls, and standards from the ground up. Reporting to the Supply Chain Manager, this role will directly manage the Vendor Compliance Risk Analyst and partner closely with internal stakeholders to ensure contracts, supplier commitments, and commercial decisions are governed consistently, transparently, and in line with company policy and risk appetite.

This role focuses on commercial and contract governance, vendor risk management, and front-end control design. It is not an internal audit or SOX/SOC2 compliance role but will collaborate closely with Internal Audit, Legal, and Finance.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain the commercial governance framework for Supply Chain, including approval thresholds, decision rights, and escalation paths.
• Establish standard operating procedures for contract lifecycle management—from sourcing through execution, amendment, and closeout.
• Own and evolve decision-support tools (e.g., decision models, criticality frameworks) used across the Category Management team to ensure consistent, risk-appropriate commercial decisions.
• Provide governance oversight across the contract portfolio, ensuring contracts are structured, reviewed, and approved in accordance with company policy.
• Partner with Category Managers and Specialists during contract phases to ensure commercial terms, risk allocation, and performance mechanisms meet governance standards.
• Monitor compliance with contractual obligations and commercial policies across the supplier base.
• Refine and enforce the existing Vendor Risk Management (VRM) framework, strengthening front-end controls and ensuring consistent, risk-appropriate application across the vendor base.
• Support the company’s efforts in commercial and vendor governance by building and documenting scalable frameworks and controls.
• Partner with Internal Audit, Legal, and Finance to ensure governance frameworks meet public company standards while retaining audit execution ownership within Internal Audit.
• Directly manage the Vendor Compliance Risk Analyst, including goal-setting, performance management, coaching, and professional development.
• Direct the Analyst’s work to align commercial governance with vendor risk assessments, ensuring high-risk or high-criticality suppliers receive appropriate scrutiny.
• Set priorities and quality standards for vendor compliance risk assessments, reviewing and approving the Analyst’s output before it feeds into governance decisions.
• Support supplier performance management processes, ensuring governance data (compliance, exceptions, escalations) feeds into performance reviews and business reviews.
• Develop and maintain governance reporting and dashboards for leadership, highlighting compliance trends, exceptions, and areas of commercial risk.
• Serve as a key point of contact for internal audit, legal, and finance on matters of contract and commercial governance.
• Present governance updates and recommendations to Supply Chain leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Identify gaps or inefficiencies in current commercial processes and drive continuous improvement.
• Support training and enablement for Category Managers and Specialists on governance requirements, tools, and decision frameworks.
• Contribute to broader Supply Chain initiatives, including team workshops, tool rollouts (e.g., project intake and tracking systems), and change management efforts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Law, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in commercial governance, contract management, procurement, or supply chain roles, ideally within a public energy, infrastructure, or a related capital-intensive company.
• Strong understanding of contract structures, commercial terms, and risk management principles.
• Experience building or maturing governance frameworks, policies, or decision models in a growing or evolving organization.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence Category Managers, Specialists, and senior leadership.
• Prior people management experience, with a track record of coaching and developing individual contributors.
• Strong analytical skills, with comfort translating governance data into clear reporting and actionable recommendations.
• Exceptional attention to detail balanced with pragmatic, business-oriented judgment.
• Experience with contract management or project intake tools (e.g., ERP Systems, SAP, Oracle, Ariba, GEP) a plus.