Vendor Manager – Technology Services Vendor Management
About the team: The SAM and Sourcing team leads our technology & tooling purchasing with a focus on value for money, compliance and technology selection processes. The team is geographically dispersed across multiple time zones with hubs in the UK, US and Philippines to support our customer base and end users during their working day. The team works closely with Legal, Finance, Architecture, Global Procurement and our Technology Leadership.
About the role: You will join a broader team focused on software and service management, taking ownership of Elsevier’s technology services vendor management strategy. Your mission is to ensure third‑party providers are selected, governed and optimised to deliver maximum value, mitigate risk and support long‑term business objectives. This role centres on outsourcing, staff augmentation and black‑box service contracts, requiring strong leadership and strategic thinking to manage complex vendor relationships effectively.
Key responsibilities:
* Defining and owning the vendor selection and governance strategy across staff augmentation, external development, and managed/black box staffing services in Technology.
* Developing vendor location strategy (e.g., onshore/offshore/nearshore balance) to optimise cost, time zones and talent quality; in synergy with our Technology location strategy and our broader RELX sister companies’ vendor strategy.
* Partnering with Global Procurement and Legal to establish and maintain a preferred vendor shortlist, including standardised contracts and compliance checks.
* Collaborating with Global Procurement & Legal to lead the full RFP lifecycle—from requirements and evaluation through to vendor selection and tough negotiations.
* Building and running governance processes for ongoing performance management, financial oversight and risk control.
* Leading regular strategic and operational vendor reviews to confirm contractual compliance and performance, identify and track improvement actions and opportunities to deliver additional value from the relationship.
* Engaging with relevant IT stakeholders, ensuring a level of due diligence and governance is in place for onboarding, service introduction and ongoing management of vendors.
* Partnering with senior IT leaders to design bold sourcing strategies and identify/lead vendor consolidation initiatives to reduce fragmentation and cost inefficiencies.
* Engaging with vendors to drive and invite thought leadership, innovation and specialist added value by leveraging a strong working relationship.
* Driving measurable value through proposed renegotiations, rationalisation and innovative sourcing models (multi‑vendor, offshoring, managed services) in partnership with Global Procurement and Legal.
* Providing transparency and communication across the technology organisation regarding approved vendors, processes and guidelines.
* Benchmarking and introducing best practices from leading technology organisations.
* Establishing reporting metrics (cost savings, vendor performance, risk reduction and satisfaction).
* Partnering with Business Continuity, ISDP and Technical Resilience to ensure vendor compliance with our risk and security management standards and policies, and Architecture to ensure compliance with our Technology standards.
Requirements:
* Extensive experience in IT sourcing, vendor strategy, technology vendor management and transformation—ideally from a top‑tier firm.
* Strong leadership experience running RFPs, vendor selections and high‑stakes contract negotiations.
* Deep understanding of the IT services landscape (cloud, infrastructure, AWS, managed services).
* Proven results in driving cost savings, vendor rationalisation and performance uplift.
* Excellent stakeholder engagement across technology, procurement and executive leadership.
* Understanding of financial governance, compliance and risk management in vendor engagements.
Join our team and contribute to a culture of innovation, collaboration and excellence. If you are ready to advance your career and make a significant impact, we encourage you to apply.
Work in a way that works for you
We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organisation. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance and sabbaticals, we help you meet both immediate responsibilities and long‑term goals.
* Working flexible hours – flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are the most productive.
Working for you
We know that your well‑being and happiness are key to a long and successful career. These are some of the benefits we are delighted to offer:
* Home, office or commuting allowance.
* Generous vacation entitlement and option for sabbatical leave.
* Maternity, paternity, adoption and family care leave.
* Personal choice budget.
* Internal communities and networks.
* Recruitment introduction reward.
* Employee Assistance Program (global).
About our business
A global leader in information and analytics, we help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for society. Building on our publishing heritage, we combine quality information and vast data sets with analytics to support visionary science and research, health education and interactive learning, as well as exceptional healthcare and clinical practice. At Elsevier, your work contributes to the world’s grand challenges and a more sustainable future. We harness innovative technologies to support science and healthcare and partner for a better world.
Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level
Employment type: Full‑time
Job function: Other, General Business, and Engineering
Industries: Software Development and Book and Periodical Publishing
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