IT Contracting & Vendor Governance Manager
The University of California, San Diego
About this position
Position Description
The IT Contracting & Vendor Governance Manager leads the full lifecycle governance of UC San Diego Health’s technology vendor portfolio. This role serves as the strategic leader for IT sourcing, contract negotiation, vendor lifecycle management, renewal governance, performance monitoring, and financial optimization. Under minimal supervision, and in close partnership with Information Service operational leaders and Procurement, this position ensures technology agreements deliver maximum value, mitigate risk, and align with the Health System’s strategic and financial objectives. This role blends strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, financial analysis, vendor management, and operational workflow design to support enterprise technology initiatives and digital transformation. Key Responsibilities Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Selection: Develop and execute enterprise IT sourcing strategies aligned to the Health System technology roadmap Lead market research, competitive analysis, and vendor evaluations Define technical and business requirements and develop scope for RFPs and RFIs Partner with Procurement to administer formal competitive bid processes Provide IT benchmarking and market intelligence to support strategic decision-making Contract Negotiation & Commercial Structuring: Lead negotiations of complex IT agreements, including pricing, service levels, support models, and licensing structures Draft and negotiate IT-specific contract terms including: Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Uptime and support commitments, Data protection and security requirements, Integration and interoperability requirements Coordinate redline review and approval workflows with Legal and Procurement Develop negotiation strategies, savings targets, and escalation plans Vendor Governance & Lifecycle Management: Establish and maintain a centralized IT contract repository and governance model Design and implement workflows to ensure timely contract renewals and proactive vendor management Track renewals, expirations, financial commitments, and auto-renew risks Lead vendor performance reviews and SLA monitoring Oversee vendor compliance, issue resolution, and continuous improvement initiatives Financial Oversight & Value Optimization: Identify cost optimization and vendor consolidation opportunities Analyze IT vendor spend trends and provide benchmarking insights Build financial models and total cost of ownership analyses Support annual budgeting and forecasting for IT vendor spend Validate invoices against contractual commitments and performance metrics Develop executive dashboards and reports on vendor spend and savings Leadership, Training & Program Development: Provide direct supervision, coaching, and performance management for assigned team member Establish priorities, goals, and professional development plans for team member Develop and deliver training to Information Services leaders and staff on: IT contract and negotiation best practices, Vendor engagement and governance processes, Renewal planning and intake workflows Create clear guidance, templates, and toolkits to standardize contracting and vendor management practices across the department Promote adoption of new processes and ensure consistent use of established workflows Serve as a subject matter expert and advisor to IS leaders on vendor strategy and negotiations Cross-Functional Leadership & Executive Reporting: Collaborate with Procurement to ensure compliance with UC and Health System policies Work with IS Finance to support budget alignment and accountability Coordinate across departments and IS operational teams Prepare executive-level presentations and reporting on vendor performance, risk, and spend Knowledge Management & Process Improvement: Develop sourcing playbooks, templates, and negotiation best practices Support implementation or optimization of contract lifecycle management processes Build institutional knowledge and support continuous process improvement
Qualifications
Eleven (11) years of related experience, education/training, OR a Bachelor’s degree in related area plus seven (7) years of related experience/training. Related experience: IT vendor management, strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, or technology procurement. Expert knowledge of strategic sourcing policies, practices and systems. Expert knowledge of sourcing commodity / category. Highly skilled ability to independently gather, organize, and perform financial analysis assignments. Highly developed listening and communication skills, including the ability to present information in a clear and concise manner verbally and in writing. Highly developed organizational, meeting facilitation, and decision making skills. Demonstrated ability to successfully lead and implement procurement plans and strategies to support forecasted needs of highly complex commodities / categories. Demonstrated experience negotiating complex technology agreements. Strong understanding of IT contracts, SaaS agreements, licensing models, and service-level frameworks. Experience managing multi-million-dollar vendor portfolios, Experience administering RFIs/RFQs/RFPs.