Vendor Management & Cost Optimization Manager

Partner One is a global acquirer and operator of mission-critical software companies. We drive operational excellence, financial discipline, and long-term value creation across our portfolio. Our teams work in fast-moving, high-accountability environments focused on efficiency, compliance, and sustainable growth.

Role Overview

The Vendor Management & Cost Optimization Manager is responsible for leading vendor rationalization initiatives across all Partner One companies. This role ensures each portfolio company maintains a lean, efficient vendor ecosystem, eliminates unnecessary spend, and achieves maximum value through contract renegotiation.

The ideal candidate is persistent, detail-oriented, highly analytical, and unafraid to challenge internal stakeholders. This person will push for justification of all vendors, identify redundancies, negotiate improved terms, and drive meaningful cost savings across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

Vendor Governance & Rationalization

• Review all active vendor lists across every P1 portfolio company.
• Identify redundant, unused, or unnecessary vendors and drive consolidation.
• Challenge internal teams to justify vendor usage and enforce accountability.
• Maintain accurate vendor inventories and spend tracking dashboards.

Cost Optimization

• Lead initiatives to reduce spend across software, services, telecom, cloud, and operational vendors.
• Analyze historical spend and contract terms to identify cost-saving opportunities.
• Establish KPI targets related to cost reduction, vendor consolidation, and contract improvements.

Contract Review & Negotiation

• Review vendor contracts, terms, renewals, and SLAs for risks and inefficiencies.
• Renegotiate pricing, terms, and contract structures to secure favorable outcomes.
• Work with Legal and Finance to ensure contracts comply with P1 standards.
• Proactively manage renewal calendars to avoid auto-renewals and unnecessary commitments.

Cross-Company Collaboration

• Work directly with Finance, IT, HR, Operations, and GMs across all portfolio companies.
• Drive adoption of preferred vendor lists, centralized purchasing, and volume-leveraged pricing.
• Provide regular updates to leadership on savings achieved and upcoming opportunities.

Reporting & Analytics

• Build and maintain dashboards on vendor counts, spend categories, renewal timelines, and savings.
• Present regular reports to the CFO and executive leadership.
• Track ROI on renegotiations, cancellations, and vendor consolidations.

Requirements

• 4+ years’ experience in procurement, vendor management finance
• Strong negotiation skills and comfort driving difficult conversations.
• Highly persistent, assertive personality with strong follow-through.
• Strong analytical skills; ability to interpret contracts and spend data.
• Experience in SaaS or multi-entity environments an asset.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and prioritization skills.
• Comfortable working in a high-velocity, cost-focused environment.