Head of Vendor Relationship Management

Appealing Points:

• Lead strategic IT vendor management by driving sourcing, contract negotiations, governance, and long-term partner relationships across Japan.
• Make a business impact by optimizing vendor performance, reducing costs, managing risks, and improving service quality through data-driven decision-making.
• Collaborate with global stakeholders across IT, Procurement, Legal, and Compliance while shaping enterprise vendor strategy and governance.

Job Responsibilities:

• Vendor Strategy & Relationship Management: Lead strategic vendor identification, relationship management, and long-term partner governance across Japan IT vendors.
• RFP / RFI Planning & Support: Support strategic sourcing activities, including requirements alignment, vendor evaluation inputs, and coordination with procurement stakeholders.
• Renewals & Contract Consolidation: Drive renewal planning, contract consolidation opportunities, and reduction of vendor complexity while maintaining delivery continuity.
• Contract & SOW Administration: Oversee SOW administration, contract reporting, deliverable tracking, governance cadence, and documentation discipline.
• Vendor Governance & KPIs: Set up governance forums, define KPI / SLA / SLO expectations, manage scorecards, and monitor performance across key vendors.
• Risk, Issues & Control Gaps: Track vendor risks, issues, control gaps, and remediation plans in partnership with IT, Legal, Compliance, Procurement, and Global Vendor Management.
• Commercial & Financial Analysis: Lead contract financial analysis, forecasting, deal risk tracking, and value realization across major vendor arrangements.
• Negotiation Strategy & Execution: Shape negotiation strategy with Procurement and business stakeholders to improve cost, flexibility, quality, and risk outcomes

Job Qulaifications:

• 10–15+ years of experience in IT vendor management, procurement, sourcing, contract management, IT service management, or technology delivery governance.
• Experience managing complex vendor ecosystems, preferably in a global or regulated company in Japan.
• Hands-on experience with RFP/RFI support, contract renewals, SOW administration, vendor scorecards, and risk remediation.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Technology, Supply Chain, or related field;
• MBA or procurement / contract management certification preferred.
• Strong negotiation, commercial analysis, and stakeholder influencing skills.
• Ability to translate vendor performance, commercial risks, and control gaps into concise executive recommendations.
• Strong governance mindset with experience setting up operating rhythms, KPIs, reporting, and accountability mechanisms.

Language Proficiency: Business Level Japanese (JLPT N2 or higher) and Business Level English.

Company Description:

We are a technology-led software services company that fulfills technology companies' software product development needs worldwide. As a trusted partner of today’s enterprises, we build software solutions for the future. We aim to understand our customers' needs and aspirations to deliver software that aligns with their vision. We are passionate about creating future-ready software focusing on superior user experience and ultimate simplicity.Specializing in mobile, web, and cloud-based software development services across various industry verticals, we cater to customers globally. We focus on developing next-generation software products that require a deep understanding of communication networks, operating system internals, device diversity, and critical system resources. Our core strength lies in combining these engineering environments to create cutting-edge software solutions.

. Skillset Required: Strategic vendor management, Sourcing, Contract negotiations, Governance, Relationship management, RFP/RFI planning, Requirements alignment, Vendor evaluation, Procurement coordination, Renewal planning, Contract consolidation, SOW administration, Contract reporting, Deliverable tracking, Governance cadence, Documentation discipline, KPI definition, SLA management, SLO management, Scorecard management, Performance monitoring, Risk tracking, Issue tracking, Control gap tracking, Remediation planning, Commercial analysis, Financial analysis, Forecasting, Deal risk tracking, Value realization, Negotiation strategy, Cost optimization, Quality improvement, Risk management, Stakeholder influencing, Governance mindset, Operating rhythms, Reporting, Accountability, IT vendor management, Procurement, Contract management, IT service management, Technology delivery governance, Contract renewals, Vendor scorecards, Risk remediation, Japanese (JLPT N2), English