Manager, Technology Strategic Sourcing

The Job 

The Manager of Technology Strategic Sourcing (TSS) will collaborate with our global internal clients across the global WBD Technology organizations to execute sourcing and procurement strategies that drive value creation and improved business capability. The Manager will be responsible for managing technology acquisitions from WBD’s mid-tier and top-tier technology partnerships, with a primary focus on deal negotiation and strategy in the technical and professional services  

fields. Responsibilities will include managing sourcing & competitive events for more complex technology acquisitions, contract planning and negotiation, creating and implementing category strategies and development of sourcing and relationship management policies. 

The Daily 
Manager will manage sourcing projects and will handle business and technical contract negotiations for mid-tier and top-tier technology transactions, including: 

• Gathering requirements from relevant WBD stakeholders. 

• Reading, interpreting, understanding, and communicating technology contract terms. 

• Partnering with legal to understand legal concepts and challenges, and problem solve to overcome challenges. 

• Working with Finance and Business Stakeholders to identify budgetary constraints and develop desired set of commercial terms. 

• Negotiating pricing and other commercial terms, as well as Statements of Work, Service Level Agreements, and other technical/operational documents. 

• Owning overall responsibility for delivering finalized agreements in accordance with applicable timing requirements and other relevant factors. 

• Serving as negotiation lead on deal terms including presenting position, counters, and developing fallbacks to produce material savings, improved terms and conditions, and risk reduction for WBD. 

• Managing the request for proposal/quote/information (RFX) process and the competitive bid process for technology vendor selection, where applicable. 

• Deliver cost savings through daily work and through driving proactive cost savings initiatives as part of WBD’s Technology Sourcing team. 

The Manager will be responsible to lead the technology vendor and procurement strategy, including: 

• Act as liaison for Technology Business Unit Stakeholders across Legal, Finance, Security, and Procurement and other WBD departments throughout contract negotiation and relationship management process. 

• Implement knowledge of sourcing, contract negotiation and relationship management best practices and industry trends. 

• Identify areas of opportunity in partner categories e.g., supplier and technology rationalizations 

Manager will act as an WBD business representative conducting relationship management for WBD mid and top tier technology vendors, including: 

• Managing WBD’s business relationships with vendors, focusing on business issues, escalations, and other non-operational matters. 

• Planning and managing vendor business reviews; analyzing and rating key vendors. 

• Developing supplier debriefing materials to address performance issues and identify opportunities to improve relationships 

• Preparing and delivering briefing documents, status reporting, and other data/reports on key WBD’s technology relationships for senior management. 

• Advising and consulting with clients on market trends, technology, new products, and training. 

• Building strong internal client relationships and serve as a trusted advisor and partner. 

• Maintaining accurate contracting data, vendor records, and transaction information. 

Manager will provide support to the processing and operations functions of the TSS team, including: 

• Overseeing the request for proposal/quote/information (RFX) process and the competitive bid process for technology vendor selection, where applicable. 

• Identifying and assessing technology vendors/products from a strategic perspective, to ensure that vendor/product selection is aligned with WBD’s Technology objectives and strategies. 

• Assessing impact of technology purchases on other parts of the WBD organization, domestically and globally 

• Ensuring compliance with WBD’s sourcing & procurement policies. 

• Identifying areas for process improvement, providing recommendations, and working within cross-functional teams to implement changes and improvements to create operational efficiency, savings, improve WBD partner relationships, or mitigate risks. 

The Essentials 

• BS/BA degree (business/technology) required; advanced degree JD/MBA a plus. 

• 8+ years of experience in sourcing, or related field preferably for leading technology/data/media companies. Experience in technology and media & entertainment; especially managing technical and professional services suppliers 

• Advanced Level of english.

• Experience evaluating technology and data vendors, category management and support rationalizing vendors and consolidating agreements. 

• Exceptional negotiation skills for both internal and external negotiations and the ability to coach and develop others to do the same. 

• Works on complex issues where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of variable factors. 

• Develops financial models, including present mode of operation (PMO) and future mode of operation (FMO), to determine business case for deal or comparison between multiple vendors 

• Exercises impartial judgment in selecting methods and evaluation criteria for obtaining results or evaluating supplier responses to RFXs. 

• Identify opportunities that could benefit multiple business units by understanding the landscape and impact of supplier’s collective business across WBD. 

• Stays current on market intelligence to assist in negotiation effectiveness. 

• Must be flexible and adapt to the ever-changing business needs of technology and advertising clients, be able to work well under pressure in a fast-paced and evolving environment 

• Ability to own and drive deals to execution and will need to build collaborative relationships in multi-functional teams and have a problem-solving mindset to do so. 

• Team player, self-starter, and quick learning with interpersonal and solution-oriented attitude and an ability to effectively operate with high energy and flexibility in a fast-paced cross functional environment; able to prioritize tasks and projects accordingly. 

• Ability to identify and deconstruct issues to overcome obstacles. 

• Exceptional written and verbal communications/interpersonal skills, research/analytical skills, and presentation communication skills 

• Ability to work across global teams and work non-traditional hours, as needed 

• Advanced proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint. 

• Experience using Ariba, CLM tools, SpendHQ, and Scout preferred.