Manager, IT Vendor Management

Reporting to the Director of Vendor Management; the Manager, IT Vendor Management serves as a core member of Columbia University Information Technology’s Vendor Management Office (CUIT VMO), providing operational, analytical, and systems-based support across the full vendor and contract lifecycle.

This role is responsible for intake management, contract lifecycle tracking, systems of record maintenance, reporting, and coordination of vendor and stakeholder activities across CUIT’s centralized IT environment. The Manager ensures accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of vendor and contract data while enabling effective governance, compliance, and renewal management across the portfolio.

This position supports the University-wide IT Transformation initiative, which is centralizing IT services, vendors, and contract management into CUIT. As CUIT’s vendor governance model matures, this role is expected to evolve and expand. Accordingly, responsibilities are intentionally broad and may include additional Vendor Management Office functions as assigned in support of operational priorities, process improvement, and institutional standardization.

The Manager plays a key role in enabling CUIT to scale vendor governance capabilities, reduce operational risk, and ensure continuity of service for academic and administrative units during and after transformation.

Responsibilities

Contract Intake, Lifecycle Management & Operations

• Manages intake, triage, and processing of contract requests, renewals, amendments, and terminations across CUIT-managed vendors and services, including those resulting from IT Transformation consolidation activities.
• Maintains accurate and complete contract records in ServiceNow and other systems of record, ensuring visibility into contract status, ownership, co-termination, and related dependencies.
• Tracks contract milestones and proactively trigger renewal workflows, targeting engagement 60-90+ days prior to expiration, with attention to coordinated timing across transitioning or consolidating units.
• Supports end-to-end contract lifecycle activities, including documentation preparation, workflow tracking, and record retention.

Vendor & Stakeholder Coordination

• Serves as an operational point of contact for contract status inquiries, ensuring timely communication with CUIT service owners, Finance partners, and transitioning school/unit stakeholders.
• Coordinates vendor onboarding and offboarding activities, including documentation, compliance forms, account setup, and service transition logistics.
• Supports coordination with CUIT Central Purchasing, Legal, IT Risk, and Enterprise Architecture teams to facilitate reviews, approvals, and required assessments.

Contract Review & Commercial Support

• Reviews contract documents for completeness, consistency, and alignment with CUIT and university standards, escalating non-standard terms as appropriate.
• Prepares initial redlines, issue summaries, and documentation for senior VMO and Legal review.
• Supports development of pricing analyses, renewal comparisons, and negotiation preparation materials for senior staff engagement with vendors.
• Participates in vendor discussions as needed to support clarification of commercial terms such as pricing structures, renewal options, contract duration, and discounts.

Systems, Documentation & Reporting

• Maintains contract repositories, templates, and documentation standards to ensure audit readiness and consistent governance across CUIT.
• Ensures data integrity across procurement and contract systems (e.g., ServiceNow and related tools), including cleanup and normalization during IT Transformation consolidation efforts.
• Develops and maintains operational dashboards and reports tracking contract pipeline, renewals, backlog, cycle times, and compliance metrics.
• Supports ad hoc reporting, audit requests, and data validation efforts related to vendor records and contract portfolio management.

Process Improvement & Transformation Support

• Contributes to continuous improvement of VMO intake processes, SOPs, templates, and workflows to support scalability and standardization.
• Supports IT Transformation initiatives related to vendor consolidation, contract rationalization, and elimination of redundant agreements.
• Identifies opportunities to improve operational efficiency, reduce manual effort, and strengthen governance across contract lifecycle activities.
• Performs additional Vendor Management Office functions as assigned in support of evolving operational needs and organizational priorities.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; advanced degree desirable.
• Minimum 5-7 years of related experience.
• 3+ years of experience in contract administration, procurement operations, vendor management, or related business operations functions.
• Experience working with procurement or contract lifecycle management systems; ServiceNow experience strongly preferred.
• Strong organizational skills with demonstrated attention to detail and accuracy in documentation and data management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to coordinate across technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven, service-oriented environment
• Strong customer service skills are required.
• Must be comfortable navigating complex and myriad stakeholder issues.
• Familiarity with new technologies and IT trends.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Ability to work on weekends and outside regular hours on occasion., * Experience supporting IT procurement, technology contracts, or enterprise vendor management functions.
• Familiarity with higher education procurement policies and governance structures.
• Experience with Oracle/PeopleSoft financial systems or similar ERP platforms.
• Working knowledge of IT service management (ITSM) frameworks and operational processes.
• Experience supporting contract consolidation, co-termination strategies, or vendor rationalization efforts in a centralized environment.
• Familiarity with procurement and contract tools such as DocuSign, Jaggaer and ServiceNow.
• Experience supporting contract redlining and negotiation preparation, including pricing analysis, term comparisons, and commercial structuring support.
• Familiarity with the use of generative AI tools in sourcing, procurement, and vendor management activities.
• An understanding of contractual terms and conditions that are specific to generative AI tools including but not limited to the use, ownership, and handling of customer data.