The IT vendor manager plays a vital role in establishing and maintaining a strategically beneficial relationship with third-party vendors. This hiring kit establishes a foundation for your IT vendor manager candidate search with a job description, sample interview questions, and basic want ad.

From the hiring kit:

Introduction
Establishing and maintaining a strategically beneficial relationship with third-party vendors is essential to the success of any business operation. Whether it is the overall enterprise or just one department, getting the best deal delivered in a timely fashion for all required supplies is a critical part of the process. Whatever your enterprise is attempting to do, it must start with getting the proper equipment, raw materials, and supplies.

That’s why the vendor manager plays such an important role in all enterprise operations. The ideal candidate must be able to communicate with vendors, managers, and users equally well—and more important, understand and fulfill their needs in a cost-effective and timely manner. Not everyone has a skill set that can meet the demands of vendor management, so attracting candidates takes time, effort, and a little know-how.

Job description
The IT vendor manager supervises, analyzes, and measures the overall performance of third-party vendors used by information technology operations. The IT vendor manager also determines the specifics of vendor contracts and ensures that each vendor performs in accordance with those contracts, mitigating the risk of non-performance.

Beyond managing the contractual obligations of third-party vendors, the IT vendor manager will also establish effective professional relationships with vendors by learning and gathering information about current products, as well as evaluating products in development. Knowing as much about the company’s third-party vendors as possible is essential to the position.