Enterprise Vendor Manager

Vendor Lifecycle Governance

Own the end-to-end vendor lifecycle — qualification, onboarding, contracting, performance monitoring, renewal, and exit — for connected device and passthrough vendor categories.

Support compliance in the maintenance and automation of the Approved Vendor List (AVL) in alignment with regulatory requirements and internal quality standards.

Vendor Management

Serve as the primary Clinical Ink relationship owner for designated strategic vendors.

Monitor vendor roadmaps, discontinuation notices, and supply constraints; proactively flag risks to Operations and Study Teams.

Collaborate with Operations, Quality, and Technology teams on device-related change management across studies.

Own the enterprise governance relationship—distinct from the day-to-day operational coordination managed by Operations.

Review and approve any vendor quotes before they enter study proposal pricing; act as the passthrough cost governance gate between Operations and Commercial.

Establish and maintain SLA frameworks, KPI scorecards, and QBR cadences for all passthrough vendors.

Govern MSA, SOW, and change order integrity—ensuring contractual scope, pricing, and performance commitments are aligned and enforced.

Identify and escalate passthrough cost overruns, billing discrepancies, and scope deviations in a timely manner.

Ensure all strategic vendors operate under current, executed agreements—no active vendor relationships without documented contractual and quality coverage.

SOP & Process Development

Write and own vendor management SOPs from scratch—onboarding, performance review, quote governance, risk escalation, and vendor exit.

Develop and maintain standardized templates for vendor scorecards, QBR agendas, risk registers, and change order tracking.

Build documentation that is audit-ready, practical, and designed for a lean team operating at pace.

Quoting Process Management

Own the end-to-end quote governance workflow for passthrough vendor categories— from initial request through approval and Commercial handoff.

Define and enforce the quote intake process: establish what information is required from vendors (pricing, lead times, regional constraints, subcontractor dependencies) before a quote is valid for use in a proposal.

Review all vendor quotes for accuracy, AVL compliance, and alignment with contracted rate cards and master agreements before approving for use in study pricing.

Maintain a quote log and historical pricing library to support benchmarking, trend analysis, and negotiation leverage across studies and contract cycles.

Identify quote anomalies—price escalations, scope creep, unapproved subcontractor additions—and resolve or escalate before quotes reach Commercial.

Work with Operations and Commercial to continuously improve quote turnaround timelines without compromising governance rigor.

Cross-Functional Relationship Building

Act as the primary Procurement point of contact for Operations, Commercial & Pricing, Quality, and Technology on all vendor-related matters.

Build trusted relationships with internal stakeholders who have historically managed vendors in silos—influence without authority is essential.

Participate in study mobilization calls to ensure vendor readiness, lead times, and cost assumptions are validated before study activation.

Represent Procurement in cross-functional forums, including the AI Council and any vendor governance committees.

Quality Management & Compliance

Maintain vendor risk classifications (Critical / High / Medium / Low) for all managed vendors, aligned with FM-REG-004-E and internal risk policy.

Owning the vendor quality management framework—ensure all strategic vendors operate under current quality agreements, and that obligations (issue notification windows, CAPA timelines, audit rights) are understood and enforced.

Coordinate with QMS on vendor deviations, complaints, and CAPAs; track open items, owners, and due dates across the portfolio.

Support MHRA and FDA inspection readiness—ensure vendor documentation, quality agreements, and audit trails are maintained, current, and audit-accessible at all times.

Drive continuous improvement through QBR findings, CAPA outcomes, and vendor performance trend data; translate quality events into process improvements and SOP updates.

Identify and escalate vendor concentration risk, single-source dependencies, compliance gaps, and financial exposure before they become study-impacting issues.