Head of Vendor Management & Governance

About the Role

This is a newly created leadership role within the Finance Department’s Operations team, serving as the first-line orchestrator of all vendor lifecycle activity. The Head of Vendor Management & Governance will partner directly with first-line vendor relationship owners to ensure vendors are onboarded, monitored, and evaluated in compliance with Company policy. This cross-functional role manages the vendor lifecycle operating model, including onboarding, monitoring, SOC review coordination, and alignment with Finance and application/AI inventory governance.

Responsibilities

• Design, own, and continuously improve the end-to-end vendor onboarding framework, ensuring all new vendors meet financial, operational, compliance, and risk thresholds prior to engagement—including due diligence questionnaires, financial viability review, contract alignment checkpoints, and risk tiering.
• Maintain a comprehensive and current vendor inventory with ownership attribution, contract metadata, and risk classifications to provide oversight over the entire vendor landscape.
• Partner with first-line relationship owners to facilitate vendor onboarding and ongoing monitoring workflows, serving as the structured risk and compliance lens while first-line owners retain the primary vendor relationship.
• Build and manage a continuous vendor monitoring program that scales review cadence and depth based on vendor risk tier, tracking performance KPIs and risk indicators and escalating material concerns to appropriate stakeholders.
• Conduct periodic vendor performance reviews in partnership with first-line owners, ensuring alignment between vendor obligations, contractual terms, and actual service delivery—serving as the escalation point for vendor disputes, performance failures, or emerging risk signals.
• Oversee the enterprise-wide annual SOC 1 and SOC 2 review program, establishing a standardized methodology for obtaining, reviewing, documenting, and actioning SOC reports received from vendors.
• Ensure complementary user entity controls (CUECs) identified in SOC reports are evidenced and appropriately mapped to the internal control environment, serving as the primary liaison with internal and external stakeholders on vendor control reliance matters.
• Develop standardized workflows, templates, and governance playbooks to reduce manual effort, eliminate fragmented ownership, and create audit-ready documentation at scale.
• Identify automation and technology opportunities to streamline vendor risk processes, coordinating closely with the Accounting Innovation & Special Projects team to prioritize and execute improvements.
• Serve as the primary finance operations partner for vendor spend management, bridging vendor contracts, actual spend, and budgeted commitments with FP&A to ensure costs are accurately forecasted, accrued, and tracked against approved budgets.
• Support contract renewal and renegotiation cycles by providing spend analytics, vendor performance data, and risk assessments to inform financial decision-making and budget cycle inputs.
• Play a key governance role in the organization's application and AI tool inventory, maintaining a finance and accounting-specific registry that captures vendor identity, data access scope, AI functionality, risk classification, and renewal timelines.
• Evaluate new tool and AI vendor requests through the vendor onboarding framework, ensuring appropriate risk review and cross-functional coordination with IT, Legal, and the Accounting Innovation arm prior to procurement approval.
• Establish and report on operational efficiency metrics, executive-ready dashboards, and governance reporting to demonstrate program maturity and provide leadership with real-time visibility into vendor risk posture and spend performance.

Requirements

• 5–7+ years of progressive experience in Big-4 accounting, vendor management, third-party risk, procurement operations, or accounting/finance operations.
• Strong working knowledge of SOC 1 and SOC 2 report frameworks, CUEC requirements, and how third-party controls intersect with SOX compliance.
• Demonstrated experience building or significantly improving vendor governance programs in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Proficiency in financial acumen and FP&A collaboration—ability to speak the language of budget owners, controllers, and finance business partners.
• Exceptional process design and documentation skills; comfort operating in environments where frameworks must be built, not just inherited.
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills—able to influence first-line owners without direct authority.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certification is preferred.
• Familiarity with software tools like Workiva (or other GRC platforms), Microsoft Visio, AI, Vendor Lifecycle Management Systems, and/or Microsoft Power BI is preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify control weaknesses and discuss effective solutions.
• Demonstrated experience leading or significantly contributing to cross-functional transformation initiatives—including process redesign, technology implementation, or organizational restructuring.

Pay

The starting base salary for this role is between $120,000.00 – $150,000.00. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, including: training, transferrable skills, work experience, business needs, and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

Schedule

Effective February 18, 2025, this role follows a hybrid work model consisting of three days or more on-site per week, Monday–Thursday, with Friday designated as a remote-working day unless business-critical tasks require an on-site presence.