Vendor Operations Manager (Contract – 3 Months)

OGC is a boutique research and consulting agency specializing in data-driven strategy, market research, and Customer Experience (CX). We work with some of the world’s leading brands across various industries, including Telecommunications, Financial Services, Specialty Retail, Hospitality, and Software. We help our clients better understand their customers, develop actionable insights, and improve business processes.

We are seeking a Vendor Operations Manager to work closely with a Fortune 500 Telecommunications company. This role will focus on ensuring vendors are onboarded efficiently, meet compliance requirements, and can operate effectively within our systems and processes. The position will work closely with procurement, analytics leadership, IT security, and external partners to streamline vendor operations and maintain governance standards.

This role will play a key role across four primary areas:

• Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of research vendors, including onboarding, contracting, renewals, offboarding, and ongoing relationship management.

• Serve as the primary liaison between internal stakeholders and external research vendors, coordinating across Legal, Privacy, Procurement, Cybersecurity, Finance, and other partner groups to facilitate vendor onboarding, approvals, compliance reviews, contract execution, and governance requirements.

• Coordinate the creation, review, execution, and administration of vendor agreements, including SOWs, MSAs, NDAs, amendments, renewals, and related contractual processes.

• Establish, maintain, and oversee centralized vendor management documentation, tracking, and governance frameworks, including vendor records, contracts, compliance status, risk assessments, privacy and security reviews, audit documentation, and other required records to ensure operational transparency, regulatory compliance, and audit readiness.

• Monitor vendor performance through scorecards, KPIs, service-level metrics, and compliance tracking, identifying and escalating operational, contractual, privacy, security, or performance risks as needed.

• Develop, document, and continuously improve vendor management processes, standards, and governance practices that drive consistency, accountability, transparency, and scalability across the organization.

• Partner with internal stakeholders and external vendors to resolve operational issues, mitigate risk, and improve overall vendor effectiveness, compliance, and business partnership outcomes.

• Manage vendor budgets, forecasts, purchase orders, invoices, accruals, and financial tracking processes across research initiatives and vendor engagements.

• Develop, maintain, and enhance budget trackers, dashboards, reporting tools, and operational metrics using Smartsheet and other platforms to provide visibility into budget performance, spending trends, and financial health.

• Monitor budget utilization, forecast accuracy, and financial performance, proactively identifying variances, risks, and opportunities for improvement while recommending appropriate mitigation strategies.

• Partner with leadership to support annual planning, forecasting, budget reviews, and financial reporting activities.

• Collaborate with Finance and Procurement to ensure accurate budget allocation, timely invoice processing, payment reconciliation, and compliance with financial controls.

• Reconcile invoices against contracts, purchase orders, project budgets, and approved expenditures to ensure financial accuracy and accountability.

• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve documentation, operating procedures, and governance frameworks that support budget oversight, approval workflows, financial management, and expense controls.

• Drive improvements in financial transparency, operational efficiency, and audit readiness through process standardization, workflow optimization, and the implementation of scalable and automated financial management solutions.

• Partner with Vendor Management teams to ensure vendors and research activities meet corporate security, privacy, legal, and compliance requirements.

• Create and maintain governance documentation, policies, procedures, and audit-ready records.

• Support vendor compliance reviews and ongoing monitoring activities, ensuring adherence to contractual obligations, company policies, and regulatory requirements.

• Monitor departmental workflow and operational processes for compliance risks and recommend mitigation strategies.

• Drive consistency in operational controls and governance practices across the department.

• Assist in developing compliance training materials, documentation, and process guidance.

• Support audit preparation, evidence collection, and compliance reporting activities.

• Promote awareness and understanding of compliance requirements across internal stakeholders and department members.

• Own and administer operational systems and platforms, including Smartsheet and related tools, that support vendor management, budget governance, compliance oversight, reporting, and associated workflow execution.

• Design, document, and optimize vendor management, budget management, compliance, and governance workflows to improve operational efficiency, transparency, consistency, and scalability.

• Identify and implement opportunities to automate manual processes, streamline cross-functional coordination, and strengthen operational controls related to vendor onboarding, contract administration, budget tracking, compliance reviews, and governance activities.

• Develop and maintain documentation, SOPs, governance standards, training materials, operational playbooks, and user guidance supporting vendor management, budget administration, compliance requirements, and governance processes.

• Develop and enhance dashboards, reporting frameworks, budget trackers, compliance monitoring tools, and operational metrics that improve visibility into vendor performance, financial management, compliance status, and governance activities.

• Research, evaluate, and recommend technologies, tools, and process improvements that strengthen vendor management, budget oversight, compliance monitoring, and operational governance capabilities.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that reduce operational complexity, increase process maturity, and ensure vendor, budget, compliance, and governance processes remain measurable, repeatable, audit-ready, and aligned with organizational objectives.

• 3+ years relevant experience in operations, vendor management, procurement operations, research operations, compliance, project management, financial operations, or a related operational role.

• Experience supporting vendor onboarding, contract administration, supplier management, compliance reviews, governance activities, and audit readiness processes.

• Experience supporting budget management, including financial tracking, forecasting, invoice reconciliation, spend management, and operational reporting.

• Demonstrated success coordinating complex cross-functional processes involving internal stakeholders, external vendors, and multiple business functions.

• Experience developing, documenting, and optimizing operational workflows, governance processes, SOPs, and business procedures.

• Experience creating and maintaining dashboards, reporting frameworks, trackers, operational metrics, and KPI monitoring tools.

• Experience utilizing Smartsheet, Monday.com, or similar workflow and operational management platforms to support vendor management, budget tracking, compliance oversight, reporting, and process execution.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and project management skills, with exceptional attention to detail and follow-through.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively coordinate and influence stakeholders across all levels of the organization.

• Ability to quickly learn and adapt to new systems, tools, and technologies.

• Ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently, and navigate ambiguity within a fast-paced, evolving operational environment.

• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel and PowerPoint.

• Experience supporting Market Research, Consumer Insights, Research Operations, Vendor Management, Procurement Operations, or similar professional services functions.

• Experience partnering with Legal, Privacy, Procurement, Compliance, Cybersecurity, and Finance teams within a large or highly matrixed organization.

• Advanced experience with Smartsheet, including workflow automation, dashboards, reporting, system administration, and process optimization.

• Experience leading or supporting operational transformation, process improvement, workflow automation, systems implementation, or governance initiatives.

• Familiarity with vendor governance frameworks, compliance programs, audit readiness practices, and risk management methodologies.

• Experience developing executive-level reporting, dashboards, performance metrics, and operational scorecards.

• Knowledge of vendor performance management practices, including KPIs, SLAs, scorecards, and vendor oversight frameworks.

• Familiarity with operating within a continuous improvement model.

• Strong systems thinking with the ability to design, optimize, and scale operational processes, governance frameworks, and workflow solutions.

• Exceptional organizational, project management, and prioritization skills, with the capacity to effectively manage multiple high-volume, cross-functional workstreams simultaneously.

• Strong analytical, financial, and problem-solving capabilities, including the ability to identify risks, evaluate tradeoffs, and develop practical, scalable solutions.

• The ability to work independently and navigate ambiguity within a highly matrixed and evolving operational environment.

• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to drive alignment across internal teams and external vendor partners.

• A strong attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence, accuracy, compliance, governance, and audit readiness.

• The ability to establish structure, documentation, and scalable processes in environments with evolving requirements and limited existing frameworks.

• A continuous improvement mindset focused on automation, efficiency, operational maturity, and long-term scalability.

• Strong judgment and risk management capabilities, with the ability to proactively identify issues and implement effective controls and mitigation strategies.

• Proficiency leveraging operational systems, reporting tools, dashboards, and performance metrics to drive visibility, accountability, and informed decision-making.

• Success in managing efficient and compliant vendor onboarding, contracting, governance, and vendor management processes.

• The ability to effectively manage budget planning, forecasting, tracking, reconciliation, and financial reporting activities.

• A proven track record of improving operational efficiency through process optimization, workflow standardization, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Strong compliance performance and audit readiness across vendor, budget, governance, and operational processes.

• The ability to build productive partnerships and effectively coordinate activities across Legal, Privacy, Procurement, Cybersecurity, Finance, business stakeholders, and external vendors.

• Success in increasing visibility, transparency, consistency, and scalability across operational processes and reporting frameworks.

• The ability to identify and eliminate operational bottlenecks, reducing cycle times and improving efficiency across vendor management, budget operations, compliance, and governance workflows.