Vendor Manager

Within the M&E estate BT spends over £100M in Capex per annum supporting BT network and maintaining our brilliant service. This role is to lead the team ensuring we have a robust supply chain and that suppliers perform to the required standard and are held to account when needed. It also builds partnerships with key suppliers to allow BT to move at pace and innovate ahead of the market by close working relationships. The role will be working with the central partnerships team who support contractual renewals of our largest contracts.

This role is hybrid (3 days in office) in one of the following locations: Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester.

This role requires ability to travel anywhere within the UK for client meetings.

Please note formal interviews will take place in the New Year due to festive annual leave.

What you'll be doing

• Manages in life contracts. Accountable for contractor on time delivery to SLAs and alignment with committed commercial budgets across the allocated suppliers as well as maintaining and designing a reporting structure to clearly measure this.
• Ensure that suppliers understand BT's policies and standards and therefore meet regulatory and legal requirements. Where there is a lack of adherence, this role would deal with the escalation and implementation of remedial action to bring the supplier back in line with these standards.
• Responsibility for updating suppliers where standards are changed to ensure adherence.
• Perform an advisory technical role for contract services and insurance claims, interfacing between the Policy, Procurement, Legal, Group Risk, Suppliers, M&E and Field teams to drive service.
• Programme of works owned and delivered by exception to underpin insurance and warranty claims.
• Collaborate with the central Supplier partnerships team for the largest key contracts.

Skills Required for the Role

• Stakeholder Management: Able to establish and maintain internal and external stakeholder relationships and facilitates mutually beneficial negotiations to develop solutions.
• Inspiring and Engaging Leadership: Inspiring and engaging leadership capability which fosters a culture of empowerment, inclusivity, ownership and pride in the estate and the work we do.
• One Team Approach: Demonstrating broad thinking and collaborative behaviour.
• Contractual acronym and experience in creation of contracts.
• Experience in creation of KPI's and SLA's along with the use of them.
• Experience in dispute resolution.
• Minimum of 2 years experience in a commercial related role.

Experience Required for the Role

• Set up contracts, manage contracts in life against SLA & KPI's and contract exit.
• Strong MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint skills.
• Used knowledge of the business to negotiate or persuade.
• Delivered results when the deliverables were unclear.
• Strong networking skills inside and outside of the business.
• Advocating and applying technology where it has not been used previously.
• Create and streamline business processes.
• Strong Governance application.
• Coordinated the work of colleagues or team to fit within a broader programme of work.
• From January 2025, equal family leave: receive 18 weeks at full pay, 8 weeks at half pay and 26 weeks at the statutory rate. It's for all parents, no matter how your family is made up.
• Enhanced women's health support: including help with menopause symptoms, cancer screenings, period care and more.
• 25 days annual leave (not including bank holidays), increasing with service.
• 24/7 private virtual GP appointments for UK colleagues.
• 2 weeks carer's leave.
• World-class training and development opportunities.
• Option to join BT Shares Saving schemes.

About us

BT Group was the world's first telco and our heritage in the sector is unrivalled. As home to several of the UK's most recognised and cherished brands - BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet, we have always played a critical role in creating the future, and we have reached an inflection point in the transformation of our business.

Over the next two years, we will complete the UK's largest and most successful digital infrastructure project - connecting more than 25 million premises to full fibre broadband. Together with our heavy investment in 5G, we play a central role in revolutionising how people connect with each other.

While we are through the most capital intensive phase of our fibre investment, meaning we can reward our shareholders for their commitment and patience, we are absolutely focused on how we organise ourselves in the best way to serve our customers in the years to come. This includes radical simplification of systems, structures and processes on a huge scale. Together with our application of AI and technology, we are on a path to creating the UK's best telco, reimagining the customer experience and relationship with one of this country's biggest infrastructure companies.

Change on the scale we will all experience in the coming years is unprecedented. BT Group is committed to being the driving force behind improving connectivity for millions and there has never been a more exciting time to join a company and leadership team with the skills, experience, creativity and passion to take this company into a new era.

Although these roles are listed as full-time, if you're a job share partnership, work reduced hours, or any other way of working flexibly, please still get in touch.

We will also offer reasonable adjustments for the selection process if required, so please do not hesitate to inform us.

Studies have shown that women and people who are disabled, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse or from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification and criteria. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace where everyone can be their best, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement on the Job Description, please apply anyway - you may just be the right candidate for this or other roles in our wider team.