Director – Vendor Management and Software Asset Management

Job Title - Director – Vendor Management and Software Asset Management

Job Location - Bangalore

Purpose of the Role:

This is a key leadership role, Leading and Developing the Vendor Management Office (VMO) and Software Asset Management Office (S.A.M) to support €1.2B of third party spend in Unilever Operations (UniOps) spanning Foundation and Product lines covering Portfolios such as HR, Finance, IT, Customer, Facilities, and Business Process Outsourcing.  Critical collaboration with Procurement to understand and support delivery of End-to-End Collaborative Procurement Model (CPM), Portfolio, Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Relationship Management. ​​

The VMO & SAM lead will bring a strategic and proactive approach to vendor management with a key focus on managing UniOps existing vendor base and future suppliers in both business as usual as well as Transformation. 

This position is also responsible for developing and executing comprehensive software asset management strategies to optimize software licensing, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with licensing agreements.  Lead a team of experts for Unilever that will manage assets, standardize processes, control cost, and support IT security and license audit compliance.  

With the work already done in Software Asset Management, the time is now to expand the scope of VMO to cover marketing spends and to grow the spend coverage to over 5B.

VMO & SAM portfolio Lead will be responsible for post Contract & Commercial contract management activities, including publishing contract insights to support forecast, enabling strategy development through contract data analytics, supplier relationship management including performance management and identifying savings opportunities across Uniops portfolio contracts. Working collaboratively with Procurement, Foundation and Product Lines, Finance, Legal, Supplier Operations to ensure E2E connectivity for all Vendor relations.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Lead and develop the Vendor Management and Software Asset management Team, cultivating an attitude of collaboration, driving best practice, and advancing a mindset of Efficiency and Effectiveness across people, process and technology​

• Elicit and coordinate the Foundation and Product line strategies with procurement and business stakeholders to ensure alignment and consistency

• Work closely with Product and Foundation teams including Finance to provide contractual data supporting Demand and Forecast management.​

• Lead Contract management, including management of the commercial terms and conditions of vendor relationships through contract life cycle.​

• Working with Product and Foundation Leads ensure delivery of Performance management, including adherence to contractual and operational objectives, value metrics, continuous improvement, and innovation initiatives (Productivity).

• Support Uniops Risk management, with a holistic, life cycle approach that monitors and mitigates financial, operational, and strategic risks.​

• Ensure compliance with licensing agreements, minimizing the risk of non-compliance and associated penalties.

• Extend the scope of VMO to cover Marketing spends in addition to software asset management.

• Establish and enforce policies, processes, and controls.​

• Manages supplier performance & compliance at the 'aggregate level' across all services delivered by the specific Service Providers

• Identify opportunities for cost savings, participate in negotiating favorable licensing terms (S.A.M) and supporting procurement negotiations with contract data analytics ​

• Supervise the team of Senior Managers to effectively deliver key Business As Usual (BAU) activities such as contractual obligation management, dispute resolution, approvals, and reporting and proactively seek to deliver savings across Contracts​.

• Hold supplier and key stakeholders accountable to minimize value leakage on account of non-compliance to contractual obligations.​

• Lead Uniops Supplier Relationship Management ensuring adherence to process including Supplier Segmentation annually, managing, and co-ordinating Supplier Governance protocols and supporting productivity through co-ordination of supplier strategy management.

• Ensures that quantitative and qualitative data is collected and analysed to monitor the suppliers performance

• Consumption analytics to identify insights related to cost drivers and identifies optimization opportunities​​

• VMO Lead will understand the key commercial and legal constructs of contractual agreements

Necessary Experience & Qualifications:

• At least 10 years’ experience in Procurement and/or Vendor management within a Global organisation​

• MBA or equivalent is highly preferred​

• Excellent Leadership and People management skills

• Strong Strategic vision with ability to adapt quickly ensuring continuous improvement ​

• Contract licensing management & Negotiation skills​ (Software Asset Management)

• Strong Financial and Accounting knowledge, with an ability for Attention to detail

• Strong Stakeholder management skills and knowledge of Uniops business

• Relevant certifications such as Certified Asset Management Professional (CAMP/CSAM), Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) or similar can be advantageous​

• Proven delivery of programs of strategic business change and complexity​

• Understanding of Technology solutions to drive greater automation and efficiencies across Vendor Management process

• Deep understanding of Procurement and Contracts management inc. vendor performance and relationship management.​

• Experience leading and developing specialist teams​

• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with C-level executives

Preferred Experience & Qualifications: 

• Crisis Management​

• Regulatory Knowledge​

Leadership Skills:

Unilever Behaviors

• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed.

• PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience.

• TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best. Inspires powerful teamwork and collaboration, connecting people for better results.

• CONSUMER LOVE: Brings the voice of the consumer into everything we do, always.

• BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates opportunities for profitable growth through the core and beyond.

At Unilever, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We welcome applicants from all walks of life and are committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive/succeed. All applicants will receive fair and respectful consideration, and we actively support the growth and development of every employee.

NOTE:

At HUL, we believe that every individual irrespective of their race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, nationality, caste, disability or marital status can bring their purpose to life. So apply to us, to unleash your curiosity, challenge ideas and disrupt processes; use your energy to make the world a better place. As you work to make a real impact on the business and the world, we’ll work to help you become a better you!

All official offers from Unilever are issued only via our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Offers from individuals or unofficial sources may be fraudulent—please verify before proceeding.

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