Job Description

Job Description: SMS & Voice Vendor Manager

Role snapshot

This role owns Enterprise SMS and voice vendor relationships end to end: negotiating rates and routes, coordination with SMS and Voice vendors, regulatory compliance program management, registering sender IDs, launching new services, and acting as the in-house expert on both SMS and Voice.

Why this role exists

Enterprise sends critical-event alerts by SMS and voice, mostly in the US, and spreads that traffic across several vendors. Rates are layered, with carrier service-provider fees, permessage MT/MO fees and vendor add-ons, and the invoices are hard to read. Sender IDs, short codes and numbers need registration in each country, and rules keep changing.

This role gives Enterprise one accountable person who lowers cost, reduces the number of vendors, and keeps service running without surprise blocks.

Key responsibilities

1. Rate and route negotiation

• Review invoices and rate cards, and break each vendor's price into carrier fees, MT/MO fees and add-ons. Flag hidden or duplicate charges.
• Negotiate volume-tiered pricing and aim to cut the number of vendors. Run repricing and traffic-migration proposals across SMS and voice.
• Choose routes on delivery quality and cost together. Review local-number and area-code routing for voice.
• Own vendor contracts: renewal dates, minimum commitments, price-increase clauses and exit terms.

1. Sender ID, short code and number registration

• Register and maintain sender IDs, short codes, long codes, toll-free numbers and voice numbers with vendors and carriers, country by country.
• Track requirements, approval status, owner and renewal date in one registry. Clear the current backlog, then stay ahead of regulatory changes (A2P 10DLC, sender ID rules, STIR/SHAKEN and similar).
• Escalate to in-country counsel when the rules are unclear. This role does not give legal advice.

1. New service launch

• Run launches of new SMS codes, numbers and voice routes from vendor selection through testing to go-live.
• Check compliance before any new number or code carries traffic.
• Write the launch checklist, run delivery tests and hand over to operations.

1. Weekly vendor calls on behalf of Enterprise

• Run regular calls with each active vendor with a fixed agenda atleast once/twice a month: delivery rates, open major issues, price and invoice issues, registrations, roadmap.
• Send notes and an action log within 24 hours. Hold vendors to their commitments.
• Send a short weekly summary to Enterprise: savings won, risks and decisions needed.

1. Internal expert for SMS and voice

• Be the go-to person for Enterprise engineering, operations and finance on SMS and voice related commercial issues, assist as industry expert for consulting on persistent delivery failures, carrier filtering and cost drivers.
• Consult on major of delivery problems to help isolate whether the fault sits with Enterprise or downstream.
• Write playbooks and train the Global Messaging Operations team, so knowledge stays after the engagement.

Outcomes and success measures

Success means lower cost, fewer vendors and no service loss from missed registrations.

Targets below are starting proposals to agree with Enterprise. Ongoing target: Blended SMS and voice cost per message or minute falling. Vendor count adjusted to keep the costs down, business requirements met.

Requirements

Must have:

• 8+ years in telecom messaging or voice, in CPaaS, aggregator, carrier or enterprise vendor-management roles.
• Hands-on rate negotiation with SMS/voice vendors, including reading MT/MO fees, carrier pass-through fees and surcharges.
• Working knowledge of US A2P SMS (10DLC, short codes, toll-free verification) and sender ID rules in major international markets.
• Working knowledge of voice routing, local-number and area-code routing, and STIR/SHAKEN.
• Ability to read invoices and delivery reports and turn them into a savings case.
• Confident on calls with vendor account teams. Clear written notes and action tracking.
• Comfortable working alone and reporting to non-telecom stakeholders.

Nice to have:

• Experience with large SMS and Voice aggregators
• Experience with critical-event or emergency notification, where delivery speed matters.
• Knowledge of SMS and Voice regulatory environment and processes.
• Experience building a compliance registry or vendor scorecard. Assumptions and open questions
• Scope covers SMS and voice only.
• The person only negotiates and recommends vendor routes and rates.