Strategic IT Vendor & Contract Lead

The Fountain Group; Basking Ridge (NJ); On-site; USD 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

The Fountain Group is seeking an IT Vendor Management professional to lead vendor contracting, sourcing, negotiation, and governance with internal stakeholders and external vendors. Strong knowledge of contract terms, business requirements, and cross-functional collaboration with IT, Legal, Finance, Procurement, and suppliers.

It is a 6-month engagement with a target pay of $35-45 per hour, 35–40 hours weekly. Local candidates who can come into the office on Wednesdays are preferred.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in vendor management, contracts, sourcing, procurement, supplier relationship management, or a related business function.
• At least 1 year of project management experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of contract structures, legal and financial terms, business requirements, and vendor obligations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with vendors and internal stakeholders at multiple levels.
• Strong organizational, time management, analytical, and follow-up skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and complex documentation simultaneously.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively to solve complex problems, drive decisions, and keep activities moving forward.
• Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders, manage change, assume responsibility, and make sound decisions in alignment with established processes.
• Technical aptitude and ability to learn and use various business, procurement, contract management, and vendor management systems.
• High attention to detail, sound judgment, and commitment to confidentiality, accuracy, and process compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate the end-to-end contract process for IT vendor engagements, ensuring business, legal, financial, and operational requirements are understood, documented, and addressed.
• Review, interpret, and support negotiation of contract terms and conditions, including business-specific requirements, pricing, service expectations, and vendor obligations.
• Partner with Business, IT, Procurement, Legal, and Finance stakeholders to evaluate vendor requests, analyze costs, resolve issues, and keep contract and sourcing activities on schedule.
• Plan and manage RFI and RFP activities in collaboration with IT, business stakeholders, and Corporate Procurement, including information gathering, vendor communications, presentation coordination, follow-up, and selection support.
• Communicate effectively with vendors throughout sourcing, negotiation, onboarding, and contract execution activities.
• Support vendor selection and negotiation activities for IT goods and services, applying sound judgment, strong negotiation skills, and alignment with internal processes and governance standards.
• Lead strategic supplier management activities using an evidence-based vendor classification model across defined supplier tiers.
• Manage up to five vendor governance forums, scaled appropriately by vendor tier and business criticality.
• Maintain and monitor vendor risk registers, ensuring risks, issues, actions, and decisions are tracked and escalated as appropriate.
• Apply a baseline-first KPI model and minimum global data set to support consistent vendor performance measurement.
• Use a five-dimension vendor scorecard to assess IT vendor performance, risk, value, relationship health, and service delivery effectiveness.

Skills

Vendor management

Negotiation

Contract terms

Communication

Organization

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Confidentiality

Procurement systems

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Contract management systems

Job description

The Fountain Group is seeking an IT Vendor Management professional to lead vendor contracting, sourcing, negotiation, and governance with internal stakeholders and external vendors. Strong knowledge of contract terms, business requirements, and cross-functional collaboration with IT, Legal, Finance, Procurement, and suppliers.

It is a 6-month engagement with a target pay of $35-45 per hour, 35–40 hours weekly. Local candidates who can come into the office on Wednesdays are preferred.