Vendor Management Specialist

IFG - International Financial Group; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

IFG - International Financial Group is seeking an experienced Vendor Management Specialist to support vendor relationships, contract lifecycle management, and third-party governance. The role entails collaboration with procurement, risk, legal, and technology teams, as well as external vendors, to ensure compliance and process improvements.

The position is 12 months with potential extension, and requires hybrid work – 2 days onsite (Mondays and Tuesdays).

Qualifications

• Approximately 3+ years of experience in vendor management and contract lifecycle management.
• Hands-on experience supporting procurement processes and third-party/vendor governance activities.
• Experience coordinating or supporting Third-Party Risk Assessments (TPRA).
• Strong experience managing vendor documentation, contracts, renewals, approvals, and related records.
• Strong project management and coordination skills, with familiarity with methodologies and tools such as JIRA, Kanban, Agile, or similar.

Responsibilities

• Support the vendor contracting lifecycle from ideation through execution and ongoing portfolio management of third-party suppliers.
• Manage relationships and contracting activities across a portfolio of 30+ vendors, including market data, research, technology, and professional services suppliers.
• Support quote meter audits, coordinating audit requests, documentation, and audit reports.
• Ensure compliance with procurement standards, intake requirements, and TPRA processes.
• Maintain a centralized library of vendor and contracting documentation (NDAs, RFIs, RFPs, onboarding documents, invoices, contracts, amendments).
• Coordinate with procurement, governance, operations, risk, audit, legal, finance, technology, and product teams to ensure vendor governance and compliance.

Skills

Vendor management

Contract lifecycle

Third-party governance

Stakeholder management

Procurement processes

TPRA coordination

Project management

JIRA / Kanban / Agile

Tools

JIRA

Kanban

Agile

Procurement systems

Job description

Our client, a leading Canadian financial institution, is looking for an experienced Vendor Management Specialist to support vendor relationships, contract lifecycle management, procurement activities, third-party governance, and ongoing process improvement initiatives. This role will work closely with internal stakeholders across procurement, risk, legal, operations, technology, finance, and product teams, as well as external vendors.

Contract: 12 months

Extension: Potential based on business needs

FTE Conversion: Not confirmed

Hybrid: 2 days per week onsite – Mondays and Tuesdays

Interview Process: 2 virtual rounds, approximately 30 minutes each

Key Responsibilities

• Support the vendor contracting lifecycle from initial ideation through execution and ongoing portfolio management of third-party suppliers.
• Manage relationships and contracting activities across a portfolio of 30+ vendors, including market data, research, technology, and professional services suppliers.
• Support quote meter audits, working with external market exchanges to coordinate audit requests, documentation, and audit reports.
• Ensure compliance with procurement standards, intake requirements, and Third-Party Risk Assessment (TPRA) processes.
• Maintain a centralized and organized library of vendor and contracting documentation, including NDAs, RFIs, RFPs, onboarding documents, invoices, contracts, and amendments.
• Liaise with procurement, governance, operations, risk, audit, legal, finance, technology, and product teams to ensure vendor governance and compliance requirements are maintained.
• Support procurement activities including vendor pricing negotiations, onboarding of new vendors, contract drafting, amendments, and renewals.
• Coordinate required market data documentation, questionnaires, exhibits, schedules, and related vendor forms.
• Coordinate and circulate draft contracts and agreements to key stakeholders and secure required approvals.
• Prepare executive summaries and supporting documentation for budget owner approvals.
• Support external vendor relationship management, including issue resolution, stakeholder communication, and ongoing vendor performance monitoring.
• Monitor contract renewals and expirations, ensuring stakeholders are alerted to upcoming deadlines and required actions.
• Support vendor performance scorecards, contract trackers, vendor expenses, budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning activities.
• Track vendor costs, pricing increases, and opportunities to achieve greater value and identify potential cost-saving opportunities.
• Facilitate resolution of issues, risks, and contracting-related escalations with appropriate internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to vendor strategic planning and analysis, including competitive intelligence related to products, services, market data, and industry research.
• Identify and recommend process improvements and opportunities to improve efficiency across vendor management and contracting processes.
• Work independently while managing multiple vendors, contracts, documentation requirements, approvals, deadlines, and changing priorities.

Must-Have Skills

• Approximately 3+ years of experience in vendor management and contract lifecycle management.
• Hands-on experience supporting procurement processes and third-party/vendor governance activities.
• Experience coordinating or supporting Third-Party Risk Assessments (TPRA).
• Strong experience managing vendor documentation, contracts, renewals, approvals, and related records.
• Strong project management and coordination skills, with familiarity with methodologies and tools such as JIRA, Kanban, Agile, or similar.
• Experience working with multiple internal and external stakeholders throughout vendor and contracting processes.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple vendors, contracts, deadlines, and competing priorities.
• Strong analytical, documentation, communication, follow-up, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently, take ownership, and manage activities with minimal supervision.

Nice to Have

• Experience with TPRA platforms such as Archer, Coupa Risk Assess, or similar systems.
• Experience using procurement systems and workflows.
• Previous experience within financial services, banking, wealth management, or online brokerage environments.
• Experience working with market data, research, technology product, or professional services vendors.
• Experience supporting vendor performance management, scorecards, budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimization.
• Experience working with legal, procurement, risk, audit, and governance teams on contracting and third-party risk activities.