Job Description

Grant Thornton is seeking a Vendor Management Associate Director to join the team. Approved office locations can be found below.

Grant Thornton’s Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management Team team is looking for an Vendor Manager to ensure that the services and quality of services provided by each critical/key supplier continues to meet and/or exceed the operational and business needs and requirements. As part of the F&A team , the Associate Director Vendor Manager will be accountable for managing the operational processes and service performance management across each critical/key suppliers and the Vendor Management Global Team. The Vendor Manager will also manage the service performance review management process and will conduct regular reviews of service performance reports with GT operations and each critical/key suppliers. Working with the operational, critical/key suppliers and service delivery teams, the Vendor Manager will facilitate the definition and continuous refinement of Service Level metrics and reporting. The Associate Director will lead a team of vendor managers to support the critical/key suppliers.

Essential Duties Responsibilities:

• Accountable process owner of operational processes and governance oversight.
• Support the implementation and ongoing management of service performance critical/key suppliers governance program processes, capabilities and tools.
• Propose enhancements to policies and processes to improve services; resolve any gaps in practice when required.
• Monitor and evidence performance against SLAs and firm governance policies.
• Regularly communicate with partners and critical/key suppliers to review service delivery.
• Collaborate with various lines of business stakeholders and operations to continually evolve service delivery and performance; work to improve the maturity level of critical/key suppliers relationships.
• Collaborate with Security to ensure security policies and controls are enforced with critical/key suppliers.
• Facilitates the operation review of performance reporting from MSP/key supplier and related functions.
• Serves as governance liaison between operational teams, various LOB leaders and technology as well as the applicable critical/key suppliers service delivery team for area of responsibility.
• Facilitates service trend analyses and significant problem and root-cause analyses with each MSP/key suppliers and the service operations and across services and critical/key suppliers, as required.
• Manages the annual Service Level review process, including the continuous improvement process for Service Level metrics.
• Provides guidance to service operations for the promotion and demotion of Critical Service Levels and Key Measurements and changes to the Service Level Credit Allocation %.
• Provides analysis and support of service metric benchmarking, comparison and/or changes.
• Ensure MBRs and QBR’s are establishes, measuring value to the organization and ensuring action plans where necessary.
• Supports the business and operational stakeholders in addressing:
  • Ongoing continuous improvement
  • Service performance assessments
  • Service level validation and reporting
  • Performance and operational reporting
  • Support of service metric benchmarking, comparison and/or changes.
  • Identification and resolution of service performance issues related to MSP/key supplier services
  • Support commercial teams with changes to services, new services and performance related contract changes.
• Review, analyze and evaluate critical/key suppliers Invoices for accuracy, and contractual mandated requirements
• Provide oversight of MSP (Managed Service Providers) Subcontractor On boarding and Off Boarding process/tools.

Service Performance

• Primary focal point for service performance management across all applicable critical/key suppliers.
• Governance Tower Lead for Firm Policies & Operational Processes / Service Management (i.e. Incident, Problem, Change, Service Request, Capacity, Release, Monitoring, Availability, etc.)
• Attends critical/key suppliers operational and management committees and provides input on overall critical/key suppliers service performance.
• Support Service Knowledge Management Process and manages annual review of critical/key suppliers Policy and Procedures Manuals (PPM).
• Collaborates with business stakeholders & operational teams to review Operational Incidents and approves critical/key suppliers root cause analysis reports, remediation plans and service improvement plans to ensure compliance to GT Incident and Problem Management Processes.
• Identifies opportunities for improved service delivery and suggests process improvements.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor Degree in Business, with key focus on communication, contracts and technology or equivalent business experience
• Minimum of 8-10 years of experience in working in a technology based MSP/key suppliers outsourcing operating model
• 5+ years’ experience working with technology and professional services and within a service performance/delivery capacity
• 5+ years’ experience working within an information technology governance role
• Knowledge of best practices in ITIL and managed service governance
• ITIL accreditation is highly preferred
• Understanding of industry best practices with regards to professional services and technology and service delivery
• Experience in outsourcing/managed services environment is required
• Experience in supervising offshore MSP/Key suppliers delivery teams
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team environment
• Able to collaborate with diverse teams and staff of all levels
• Ability to manage multiple priorities
• Previous resource management experience

The base salary range for this position in the firm’s Chicago, IL, Downers Grove, IL, Cleveland, OH, Minneapolis, MN, and Baltimore, MD offices only is between $136,000 and $204,000 per year.

The base salary range for this position in the firm’s Washington, DC, Boston, MA, Edison, NJ, and New York, NY, and Melville, NY offices only is between $146,880 and $220,320 per year.

At Grant Thornton, we believe in making business more personal and building trust into every result – for our clients and you. Here, we go beyond your expectations of a career in professional services by offering a career path with more: more opportunity, more flexibility, and more support. It’s what makes us different, and we think being different makes us better.

In the U.S., Grant Thornton delivers professional services through two specialized entities: Grant Thornton LLP, a licensed, certified public accounting (CPA) firm that provides audit and assurance services ― and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC (not a licensed CPA firm), which exclusively provides non-attest offerings, including tax and advisory services.

In 2025, Grant Thornton formed a multinational, multidisciplinary platform with Grant Thornton Ireland. The platform offers a premier Trans-Atlantic advisory and tax practice, as well as independent American and Irish audit practices. With $2.7 billion in revenues and more than 50 offices spanning the U.S., Ireland and other territories, the platform delivers a singular client experience that includes enhanced solutions and capabilities, backed by powerful technologies and a roster of 12,000 quality-driven professionals enjoying exceptional career-growth opportunities and a distinctive cross-border culture.

Grant Thornton is part of the Grant Thornton International Limited network, which provides access to its member firms in more than 150 global markets.