Director, Vendor Management

HRforGrowth® is engaged as the exclusive talent acquisition partner to conduct this search on behalf of a client organization that is hiring for this role. HRforGrowth is not the employer for this position. HRforGrowth identifies, evaluates, and presents top-tier candidates through its global talent acquisition practice; all employment decisions — including final selection, offer terms, compensation, and conditions of employment — are made solely by the hiring organization.

The Director, Vendor Management leads the end-to-end vendor strategy and day-to-day management of the supplier base powering a national 6,000-store remodel program. This is a high-volume, high-velocity role accountable for onboarding, contracting, performance, and cost control across hundreds of vendors — general contractors, fixture and millwork suppliers, signage, lighting, flooring, HVAC/MEP trades, logistics, and specialty installers — delivering remodels at a sustained pace of dozens of stores per week. The Director owns the data backbone of the program.

This is a heavily analytical, Excel-intensive position: the successful candidate builds and maintains the vendor scorecards, cost models, capacity plans, and rollout trackers that keep thousands of concurrent work orders on schedule and on budget. They translate a sprawling vendor landscape into a controlled, measurable, repeatable machine.

Vendor Strategy & Portfolio Management • Own the overall vendor management strategy for the remodel program, segmenting the supplier base by trade, region, spend, criticality, and risk. • Build and maintain a scaled, qualified vendor network capable of supporting a sustained remodel cadence across all regions and store formats. • Establish vendor tiering and capacity models to match supplier throughput to the weekly/monthly rollout schedule and prevent bottlenecks. • Lead sourcing events (RFPs/RFQs), negotiate master service agreements, rate cards, and volume-based pricing across high-spend categories. High-Volume Vendor Operations • Manage onboarding, qualification, insurance/compliance verification, and activation for hundreds of vendors at program scale. • Coordinate concurrent vendor activity across thousands of active and upcoming store work orders, ensuring no site is under- or over-resourced. • Stand up and enforce standardized vendor playbooks, scopes of work, and service-level agreements (SLAs) to drive consistency across 6,000 locations. • Serve as the senior escalation point for vendor performance, capacity, quality, and delivery issues that threaten the rollout schedule. Data, Analytics & Excel Modeling • Design and maintain advanced Excel models for vendor scorecards, cost-to-complete, capacity planning, rate-card analysis, and rollout forecasting. • Build dynamic dashboards and trackers (pivot tables, Power Query, XLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, complex nested logic, what-if scenario modeling) to manage thousands of concurrent work orders. • Consolidate disparate vendor, cost, and schedule data into a single source of truth; produce executive-ready reporting on spending, performance, and program health. • Run cost variance, budget-vs-actual, and savings-tracking analyses; identify and quantify cost-reduction and consolidation opportunities. • Partner with PMO/IT to graduate critical models into scalable systems (e.g., procurement/PM platforms, BI tools) as the program matures.

Performance, Compliance & Risk • Define and govern vendor KPIs and SLAs; run regular business reviews (QBRs) and performance scorecarding across the supplier base. • Ensure vendor compliance with contractual, insurance, safety, licensing, and regulatory

across all jurisdictions. • Proactively manage supply, capacity, and single-source risk; build contingency and backup-vendor plans to protect the schedule. Cross-Functional Leadership • Partner closely with Construction, Facilities, Store Operations, Finance, Legal, and the PMO to align vendor activity with the master remodel schedule. • Lead, coach, and develop a team of vendor managers, analysts, and coordinators; set workload allocation and performance standards. • Communicate program status, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership with clear, data-driven narratives. Qualifications Required • 10+ years of progressive vendor management, procurement, or supplier-program experience, with 5+ years leading teams. • Proven experience managing a high-volume vendor portfolio (hundreds of suppliers) on a large, multi-site program — retail rollout, construction/remodel, facilities, or comparable. • Expert-level Excel skills — advanced formulas, pivot tables, Power Query, scenario/what-if modeling, and large-dataset management.

This will be assessed in the interview process. • Demonstrated success negotiating MSAs, rate cards, and volume pricing across multiple trade/spend categories. • Strong command of vendor KPIs, SLAs, scorecarding, and performance governance. • Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills. • Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, Construction Management, Finance, or related field (or equivalent experience). Preferred • Direct experience supporting a national retail remodel, new-store rollout, or multi-site construction program at 1,000+ locations. • Familiarity with construction/facilities trades (fixtures, millwork, signage, lighting, flooring, MEP/HVAC) and general-contractor management. • Proficiency with procurement/PM platforms (e.g., Coupa, SAP Ariba, Procore, Service Channel) and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau). • Professional certification: CPSM, CPM, PMP, or equivalent. • Master's degree or MBA. Must be able to work on Pacific time About HRforGrowth: HRforGrowth is a full-service HR and talent partner built to support companies that are scaling, transforming, or navigating change.

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