Vendor & Consultant Relationship Specialist

About the role

PenFed is hiring a Vendor & Consultant Relationship Specialist at our San Antonio, Texas Service Center. The primary purpose of the Vendor Relationship Specialist is to serve as the primary liaison between internal lending teams, enterprise vendor management, risk, compliance, and external partners. This role focuses on execution, performance monitoring, issue resolution, and continuous improvement across vendor-supported operational capabilities. Under guidance from the Management team, this role ensures vendors deliver contracted services effectively, compliantly, and in alignment with operational goals, regulatory requirements, and member experience standards.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary relationship contact for vendors and consultants both on and offshore.
• Within established operating rhythms with domestic and offshore teams, conduct regular check ins, status reviews, and escalation paths.
• Track and report on SLA adherence, quality metrics, and operational output for assigned vendors.
• Maintain vendor scorecards and performance dashboards to include surface trends, variances, and risks.
• Conduct vendor performance reviews in coordination with Management to document outcomes, agreed actions, and follow up timelines.
• Identify early indicators of vendor non-compliance / adherence and escalate appropriately before issues affect operations or member experience.
• Partner with Procurement, Third Party Risk Management, and Legal on new contracts, amendments, and renewals.
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding of vendor resources in partnership with HR, IT, and Management.
• Partner with Management to ensure vendors and consultants support operational goals.
• Support implementation and enhancement initiatives led by Management, including vendor onboarding, consultant onboarding, expanding scope of current consultants, etc.
• Coordinate deliverables, timelines, and dependencies across internal teams and external partners.
• Track and report vendors and consultants spend against approved budgets.
• Identify areas of opportunity for cost optimization, scope efficiency, or contract consolidation.
• Recommend enhancements to workflows, controls, and performance management frameworks.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree in related field.
• Minimum of three (3) years' work experience in vendor management required.
• Experience with third-party vendor oversight within financial services is highly preferred.
• Experience managing offshore or outsourced teams is highly preferred.
• Strong understanding of Consumer Banking / Lending operations and regulated financial services highly preferred.
• Proficiency in Excel or similar tools for performance tracking, reporting, and data reconciliation.
• Experience partnering with enterprise vendor management, legal teams, risk, compliance, and IT teams.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills; comfortable interfacing with external vendors and senior leadership.
• Familiarity with financial services and/or lending technology vendors.
• Knowledge of third-party risk management frameworks and vendor governance requirements in a regulatory environment.
• Experience supporting contract review processes, vendor due diligence, or RFI/RFP activities.
• Experience using AI tools preferred.

Licenses and Certifications

• Certified Vendor Manager (CVM) highly preferred.
• Certified Third-Party Risk Professional (CTPRP) preferred.

Pay

The anticipated starting salary range for this role is $60,000.00 - $103,343.00. This position is eligible for an organizational performance based annual bonus, subject to board discretion and approval. This position is eligible for an individual performance based annual bonus.

Benefits

At PenFed, we offer a robust benefits package designed to support you both personally and professionally. You'll have access to comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans; paid time off; and family-friendly benefits like paid parental leave, care support, and fitness center access. Financial wellness is encouraged through features like a 401(k) match, employee loan discounts, and fully paid life and disability coverage. We also support growth via education assistance, community involvement, and volunteer opportunities.