Vendor Management & Governance Manager - 8m contract

About Schroders
We're a global investment manager. We help institutions, intermediaries and individuals around the world invest money to meet their goals, fulfil their ambitions, and prepare for the future.

We have around 6,000 people on six continents. And we've been around for over 200 years, but keep adapting as society and technology changes. What doesn't change is our commitment to helping our clients, and society, prosper.

The base
We moved into our new HQ in the City of London in 2018. We're close to our clients, in the heart of the UK's financial centre. And we have everything we need to work flexibly.

The Team
We support our international offices by developing, rolling out and maintaining our systems and processes, using cutting edge software and hardware. 

We know that helping you balance personal and professional commitments is a big part of that, so we're open to flexible working. Our teams work in multiple time zones to deliver their services.

Technology at Schroders
There's a huge amount of change going on at Schroders. Technology's shaping our business more and more, so there are many opportunities waiting to be grabbed.  And because we're a big financial player, we can put hefty backing behind good ideas.

We're a serious business – we have enormous responsibilities to our clients and shareholders. But just because we're suited and booted, that doesn't make us stuffy; our tech teams are friendlier and more informal than you might expect.

Who we're looking for 
The IT Manager – Vendor Management & Governance maintains oversight of strategic third-party relationships across End User and Production Services and is responsible for cultivating strong partnerships with third parties and Schroders stakeholders alike.

This role is responsible for delivering value for money from our third parties, encouraging innovation and improving third party performance to enable a great customer experience for Schroders, globally.  You will enjoy building and maintaining relationships both with internal stakeholders and strategic third parties. 

You will have a structured approach for the organisation to optimise third party relationships, ensuring ethical and compliant practices with Schroders policies.  

What you'll do

• You'll define and maintain a governance and reporting framework for managing third party relationships that ensures transparency, accountability, and strategic alignment with our organisation's goals;
• Cultivating strong partnerships with third parties and stakeholders alike will be key to driving innovation and delivering exceptional value for money;
• You will provide oversight of third-party risks across End User and Production Services;
• Drive the continuous improvement of third-party performance, enabling us to consistently meet the evolving needs of our customers and stakeholders;
• Build a collaborative ecosystem that drives long-term success, growth, and mutual trust;
• Promote transparency by providing stakeholders with insights into third party activities, performance, and adherence to contractual obligations;
• Maintain a record of all third party provided resources along with location and costs to support contract optimisation;
• Regularly evaluate and monitor third party performance against key measures, fostering a culture of continuous improvement;  
• Support activities to re-procure strategic services through Requests for Information or Requests for Procurement;
• Support the due diligence of strategic suppliers;
• Make sure we're consistent around the world, by working with your peers to improve common processes and controls and 
• Own the Continual Improvement Management module on serviceNow, working with your peers to drive productivity improvement, Cost Avoidance and Cost reduction initiatives and reporting across End User and Production Services via our ‘FIT for 2028' process. 

The knowledge, experience and qualifications you need

• Strong business management experience, in particular, overseeing third party relationships;
• Experience of understanding customers and meeting business expectations;
• Experience of managing third parties through a governance framework to deliver against expectations;
• Experience of maintaining great stakeholder relationships across different time zones;
• Knowledge of managing third party risk and 
• Experience of working in a regulated organisation.

The knowledge, experience and qualifications that will help

• ITIL v4;
• Management of cost centre budgets and
• Experience of creating a vision and being able to articulate that vision to stakeholders of all levels.

What you'll be like

• A motivating, challenging and supportive leader;
• A great problem solver with the knack of coaching others to do the same;
• A really good communicator – great at listening, persuading, influencing and negotiating;
• Self-motivated and enthusiastic;
• Good at working alone, and with other teams;
• A real attention to detail;
• Able to work under pressure and with tight deadlines and
• Flexible and willing to learn. 

We recognise potential, whoever you are
Our purpose is to provide excellent investment performance to clients through active management. Diversity of thought, facilitated by an inclusive culture, will allow us to make better decisions and better achieve our purpose. This is why inclusion and diversity are a strategic priority for us and why we are an equal opportunities employer. You are welcome here, regardless of your age, disability, gender identity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, or any other protected characteristic.