Data Center Vendor Specialist

About the role

The Vendor Specialist plays a crucial role in managing the relationships between Salute, the customer, and its suppliers. This role is responsible for maintaining the established vendor management program under the direction of the Director of Vendor Management, with a dotted line to the Data Center Critical Facilities Manager of Engineering. The scope of the vendor management program covers the complete lifecycle of contractor relationships including vendor identification, assessment, onboarding, KPI tracking, Finance coordination, contract renewals, and offboarding.

Responsibilities

• Ensure contract requests align with company guidelines, track with operations department needs, and maintain good financial judgement.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive database of vendor information, including contact details, services offered, and performance records.
• Track and report on purchase orders and vendor invoicing activity as part of vendor management processes.
• Carefully coordinate with Finance on prebilling confirmation or related inquiries where applicable.
• Be the subject matter expert for all department contracts, including the administration of a contract repository and expiration tracker.
• Evaluate requests for vendor relationships from internal stakeholders, guide them through the standard framework for vendor onboarding, and provide comparative analysis to support a well-informed contract awarding process without bias.
• Coordinate with Compliance and Legal on requested changes to standard contract language, ensuring documentation and version control are maintained.
• Maintain an agreed upon cadence with the Account Coordinator/Finance Team to review and align payable and receivables with active vendor contracts, ensuring tracking and communication between Vendor Management and Finance.
• Aid site team with budgeting and forecasting activities by providing current data via trackers and historical documents.
• Be the central resource for the site team on contract procedures, concepts, policies, and changes to the same as it relates to vendor management.
• Collaborate with vendor management leadership to execute, renew, and terminate vendor contracts as needed by internal stakeholders in accordance with internal policies.
• Completes administrative tasks including, but not limited to, financial metrics, reporting, reconciliations, audits, and regulatory compliance.
• Facilitate communication between vendors and internal departments to address and resolve any issues or concerns.

Qualifications

• Required Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting, legal studies, finance, or a related area of study; a minimum of four years of related work experience, preferably including property management, supply chain management, accounting, or vendor management.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, including MS Excel, Outlook, etc.
• Familiarity with strategic sourcing processes.

Competencies

• Excellent communication skills (verbal/written), organization, and strong customer service.
• Good grammar, content creation skills, and the ability to take accurate notes and translate them into action(s) as required.
• Ability to handle multiple simultaneous tasks under pressure while maintaining strong customer service and professionalism.
• Exceptional accuracy and attention to detail.
• Flexibility, including the willingness and ability to readily respond to changing circumstances and expectations.
• Solid work ethic and integrity, able to work effectively and be self-directed.
• Provide exceptional client and vendor relationships, ensuring success with our preferred suppliers.

Location

This position is located in Barstow, TX (Relocation Assistance is Available, if eligible).

Hours

Monday - Friday | Standard Business Hours | Flexibility to include evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Pay

The base hourly range for this role is $34.00 to 38.00/hour.

Benefits

Our comprehensive benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance, Health Savings Account (HSA), gym discount, mental health, Discounted Group Life & AD&D, Discounted Group Short & Long-term Disability, 401(k) retirement matching, PTO/paid holidays, and parental leave.