Vendor Management Lead
HHMIPrimary Work Address: 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815
HHMI is focused on supporting and moving science forward in a variety of different ways ranging from conducting basic biomedical research, empowering educators, inspiring students, developing the next generation of scientists – even stretching into film and media production. Our Headquarters is in the greater Washington, DC metr
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o area and is home to over 300 employees with expertise in investments, communications, digital production, biomedical sciences, and everything in between. The work housed here supports and augments the groundbreaking research conducted in HHMI labs across the nation.
As HHMI scientists continue to push boundaries in laboratories and classrooms, you can be sure that your contributions while working here are making a difference.
This is a role for someone who reads a vendor contract and immediately spots where the leverage sits, and who is comfortable being the person who says no on HHMI's behalf. You are HHMI's advocate with its vendors: in choosing them, in negotiating with them, and in holding them to what they promised.
You will sit in Finance and report to the Director, Procurement, but the vendors you cover span the Institute (from benefits providers to enterprise SaaS vendors). Whichever department owns the day to day relationship, you own whether the vendor is actually delivering.
The job is advocacy and accountability, not account coordination. You help HHMI pick the right vendor in the first place. You negotiate contract terms and renewals to HHMI's advantage, build the service level agreements and terms that define what good looks like for us, and run the compliance reviews that catch it when a vendor falls short. When something breaks, you are the point of escalation, and you drive it to resolution instead of passing it along.
You will work closely with Procurement, the Office of General Counsel, and HHMI's other department leads, and with staff across the Institute who manage these vendors day-to-day. You will report regularly to the executive team, through the COO, on how our vendors are performing. None of the people you work with day-to-day report to you, so getting to the right outcome depends on how well you make your case.
What you will actually do
Help pick the vendor.
When a department needs a new vendor, you are in the room. You help define what HHMI needs, weigh the proposals, and push for the vendor and the terms that will serve the Institute best.
Hold vendors accountable.
Across the Institute, you track whether vendors are delivering the terms, service levels, and deliverables they agreed to, no matter which department manages the relationship day to day.
Negotiate the contract.
You negotiate terms, renewals, and amendments to HHMI's advantage, including the SLAs and the terms that will work for us, with Procurement and the Office of General Counsel alongside you on pricing, scope, and risk.
Build and run SLA reviews.
You develop and document service level agreements with key vendors, then run regular compliance and SLA reviews to confirm they are living up to them.
Take the escalation.
When a vendor is not meeting its commitments, you are the first call. You drive performance issues, errors, and delays to resolution.
Watch the biggest relationships.
You own whether HHMI's major service providers deliver, enterprise-wide, with the heaviest focus on benefits vendors and software and IT vendors.
Run performance reviews.
You lead periodic vendor performance reviews, document what you find, and hold vendors to corrective action plans when they fall short.
Coordinate without owning.
You work with the staff who deal with these vendors day to day. You gather what they know and use it to represent HHMI's interests.
Keep the executive team informed.
You report regularly to the executive team, through the COO, on vendor performance, open escalations, and what is coming up for selection or renewal.
What we are lookin