What does a Vendor Manager do?
Vendor managers establish and maintain an organization’s relationships with vendors, contractors, and other service providers. They are actively involved in all aspects of vendor management and coordination throughout every stage of the business relationship. They supervise any pre-screening or qualification procedures and negotiate favorable terms and prices. They initiate any onboarding or initial account setup, make introductions to direct account representatives, oversee the processing of contracts and invoices, and resolve any conflicts to ensure an ongoing positive connection. They also guide and implement high-level vendor management strategies and policies.
Vendor managers typically have a bachelor’s degree in a business or financial discipline, and a background that includes coordinating vendor relationships. Previous supervisory experience is preferred. These roles require good project management skills and strong negotiating abilities.
- Hire, develop and lead team.
- Responsible for driving the top and bottom line of the P&L.
- Analyze business and financial results to support the sales organization.
- Set goals and strategic direction for the department, ensuring alignment with broader business goals and vision.
- Stay on top of industry and competitive trends, leverage customer insights, and execute at both a tactical and strategic level.
- Drive continuous, provable improvements and efficiencies based on data.
- Create and maintain daily logs detailing all activities of vendors.
- Present findings to key contacts in the customers procurement team.
- Review and approve vendor invoices if billing is appropriate based on terms of the contract.
- Audit regularly to ensure standard operating procedures are being followed.
- Identify industry trends and develop innovative marketing and merchandising initiatives to support growth.
- Accountable for the management of product schedules, budgets, and achievement of objectives.
- Evaluate products and services to continually drive quality of customer experience.
- Recommend, plan and/or implement employee training and skill development activities.
- Serve as initial point of contact for customers' new and existing vendors.
- Generate and implement big ideas to drive business improvement, innovation, and scale within the category and across the retail business as a whole.
- Develop and implement action plans based on deep-dive analysis of product line metrics.
- Analyze performance metrics in order to maintain successful markets.
- Bachelor's Degree or higher in business, computer science, or information technology.
- Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Word and Excel.
- Demonstrated careful attention to detail.
- Strong leadership and problem solving abilities.
- Comfortable guiding and managing negotiations.
How much does a Vendor Manager make near United States?
Base Pay
Additional Pay
$79,011
/ yrVendor Manager Career Path
Learn how to become a Vendor Manager, what skills and education you need to succeed, and what level of pay to expect at each step on your career path.
Years of Experience Distribution
Vendor Manager Insights
Rocket Companies“Training and getting acclimated to my role was very difficult during the pandemic because I worked from home.”
Woot“I received a very healthy sign on bonus that was received on my first paycheck.”
Fan Favorite Vending“This could be a great way for someone to earn money if things were done correctly.”
Select Staffing“one of the supervisor deleted my file and i was unable to work for 5 years”
Petco“People you work with is nice and friendly.”
Amazon“Flexible and balanced work life is the best thing.”
Zones“10% cap on pay raises when you get a promotion based on your department and tenure.”
Amazon“4. Respect to the new ideas and implementing the same to see the outcome.”
Frequently asked questions about the roles and responsibilities of a Vendor Manager
When working as a Vendor Manager, the most common skills you will need to perform your job and for career success are Excellent Communication, Negotiation, Powerpoint, Dashboarding, and Influencing.
- Manager
- Regional Manager
- General Manager
- District Manager
The most common qualifications to become a Vendor Manager include a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree and an average of 0 - 1 years of experience not including years spent in education and/or training.