Vendor Engagement & Reliability, Sr. Manager

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts. Job Category Finance Job Details About Salesforce Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all. Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce. Team Overview The Vendor Engagement & Reliability (VER) team is a centralized function within Digital Enterprise Technology (DET) that ensures external technology and service partners deliver reliable, secure, and value-aligned outcomes. VER serves as DET’s strategic sourcing and vendor partnership capability—balancing commercial discipline, operational reliability, and long-term partnership value. Role Summary The Senior Manager, Vendor Engagement & Reliability leads DET’s vendor engagement strategy and operating model. This role defines how vendors are selected, contracted, governed, and optimized, ensuring reliability, cost transparency, risk mitigation, and value realization across DET’s vendor ecosystem. Operating as a senior leader and trusted advisor, this role partners with Engineering, Product, Finance, Legal, Enterprise Sourcing, Security, and Operations to align vendor performance with DET’s business priorities and technology roadmap. This role owns execution of portfolio-level vendor decisions, including rationalization, consolidation, and exit strategies aligned to DET priorities. Key Responsibilities Strategy, Operating Model & Leadership * Define standards, governance, and performance expectations for the VER organization * Own the end-to-end vendor engagement lifecycle, from assessment and onboarding through performance management and off-boarding * Establish scalable frameworks for vendor reliability, accountability, and partnership management Vendor Selection, Contracting & Partnerships * Oversee vendor assessments, RFPs/RFQs, competitive analysis, and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) evaluations * Lead complex commercial negotiations, ensuring contracts include clear SLAs, KPIs, and accountability * Serve as a trusted advisor to DET leaders in vendor selection and strategic partnership decisions * Lead executive business reviews and resolve vendor escalations Reliability, Risk & Governance Monitor vendor performance, incident trends, and delivery quality Identify and mitigate systemic vendor, operational, and delivery risks Enforce compliance with DET policies, security standards, and governance frameworks Financial Transparency & Optimization (FinOps) - Drive financial visibility and accountability across vendor and cloud spend - Partner with Finance, Product, and Engineering to forecast, track, and optimize costs - Establish unit economics and negotiate improved commercial models - Deliver regular reporting on vendor performance, spend, optimization opportunities, and savings Qualifications Required - Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience - 10 years in vendor management, sourcing, technology operations, or related fields - Strong commercial negotiation, contract management, and vendor governance expertise - Proven ability to influence senior business and technology leaders Preferred - Experience in SaaS, cloud, or large-scale enterprise environments - Familiarity with FinOps and consumption-based pricing models - Experience partnering with Legal, Finance, Security, and Enterprise Sourcing teams Success in This Role Looks Like - Reliable, high-performing vendor ecosystem aligned to DET prioriti ... (truncated, view full listing at source)