Vendor Management Lead (f/m/x)

Position Overview

The Global Procurement and Vendor Management function enables Deutsche Bank (DB) to optimize supplier relationships to meet its strategic objectives by:

• Partnering across DB to develop commercial strategies and create value from supplier relationships.

• Enabling the bank to manage Third-Party risks and purchase efficiently and compliantly.
• Managing sourcing demands and vendor performance on a divisional level.
• Implementing and upholding sustainable procurement practices.
• Driving transformation and ensuring future-proof procurement technology, data and processes.   

Within GPVM, the Infrastructure Vendor Management Office (IVMO) is responsible for the end-to-end management of vendors across all Infrastructure and TDI divisions to improve performance, mitigate risk, optimize costs and maximize commercial value.

Within IVMO, the Vendor Management Lead acts as the single point of accountability, ensuring that contractual, commercial, and risk outcomes are effectively managed so that vendor relationships deliver sustained value, compliant service performance, and robust risk mitigation across the contract lifecycle.  The Vendor Management Lead is the subject matter expert for the management of DB’s most strategic vendors and contracts post-signature, leading cross functional stakeholder engagement, managing business demand and proactively identifying and resolving contractual, vendor performance, and risk issues. The role may manage a portfolio of contracts and vendors relating to specific business programs within a larger divisional portfolio and may have people management responsibilities.

Responsibilities:

Business Partnering

• Lead contact for business engagement related to portfolio of contracts/vendors under management and act as interface to GPVM for queries from the business.
• Work with business to understand strategy and engage relevant stakeholder functions such as Strategic Procurement to support the build of required vendor eco-system.
• Build divisional third-party strategy and where applicable, supplier strategies, to support delivery of the business strategy.
• Manage and process sourcing requests in line with policy and the divisional third-party strategy.
• Provide reporting and insights across the vendor engagements and across the elements of vendor management.

Vendor Governance & Performance

• Act as the primary point of accountability for vendor governance, coordinating structured engagements with vendors and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment, transparency, and timely decision making.
• Maintain end-to-end visibility of all contracts in scope, ensuring a holistic overview of vendor performance and delivery and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement/innovation.
• Lead regular vendor governance and performance reviews, leveraging defined KPIs, SLAs, and ESG scoring to assess delivery quality, risk exposure, and value realization.

Commercial Contract Management

• Own and oversee contractual compliance by DB and third-party vendors, ensuring obligations are continuously monitored, documented, and enforced throughout the contract lifecycle.  
• Draft, negotiate and manage contractual changes and terminations for in-scope agreements in a structured and timely manner, ensuring continuity of service and protection of DB’s commercial and legal interests.
• Manage contractual issues and contractual disputes, leading negotiations with counterparties and engaging with the relevant DB functions such as Legal and Strategic Procurement to resolve, minimizing financial, operational, and reputational risk for DB.
• Conduct periodic contract and commercial reviews to confirm that vendor delivery remains aligned with agreed commercial terms, business demand, and the approved sourcing strategy.

Risk Management & Compliance

• Lead the remediation of in-scope supplier related audit findings and resolution of in-scope third-party risk issues where applicable.
• Ensure that applicable third-party risk, compliance, and ESG requirements are embedded into contractual documentation and reflected in ongoing governance and monitoring activities.
• Drive proactive remediation, corrective action plans, and consequence management in response to contractual, performance, risk, or ESG noncompliance, ensuring issues are addressed at root cause level.
• Provide visibility and reporting of risk management activity.

Skills:

• Experience in Financial Services or a large corporate environment with an in-depth understanding of vendor management across the entire vendor lifecycle
• 8+ years of experience in vendor management with strong demonstrable skills and understanding across contract and commercial management, issue and dispute management, risk management, service performance management, supplier governance, vendor strategy
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills with the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments
• Strong commercial awareness and understanding of different types of commercial models and how to implement and manage against them
• Strong financial acumen and understanding of business cases
• Ability to negotiate and draft commercial and contract terms and changes to those terms on Statements of Work essential
• Knowledge and exposure of sourcing process, RFI, RFP and contract lifecycle
• Strong analytical skills to analyze trends, data, spend and measure and drive improved vendor performance (SLAs, KPIs, KRIs) and internal business discipline
• Strategic overview/mindset and ability to shape business thinking
• Ability to deliver strategy
• Demonstrable experience of ability to leverage data to deliver reporting and insights to inform business decisions
• Experience in driving continuous improvement /innovation
• Legal understanding preferred
• Project management understanding preferred
• Supplier Relationship Management skills and experience or understanding an advantage
• People management experience an advantage
• Business Fluency in English required
• Capacity to effectively operate in ambiguous situations.
• Demonstrates initiative and works effectively with minimal supervision
• Experience of using Digital Procurement tools such as SAP Ariba, Coupa and digital contract workplaces
• Significant experience working with technology vendors and technology contracts is essential

Proven ability to leverage AI tools to enhance productivity, optimise workflows to solve business problems, while applying critical judgment to ensure responsible and ethical use of data and AI outputs.

Well-being & Benefits

Emotionally and mentally balanced: We support you in dealing with life crises, maintaining stability through illness, and maintaining good mental health.

• Empowering managers who value your ideas and decisions. Show your positive attitude, determination, and open-mindedness.
• A professional, passionate, and fun workplace.
• A modern office with fun and relaxing areas to boost creativity.
• Continuous learning culture with coaching and support from team experts.
• A culture where you can openly speak about mental health.

Physically thriving: We support you in managing your physical health by taking appropriate preventive measures and providing a workplace that helps you thrive. For example, Private healthcare and life insurance with premium benefits for you and discounts for your loved ones, healthier ways of working and check-ups.

Socially connected: We strongly believe in collaboration, inclusion and feeling connected to open up new perspectives and strengthen our self-confidence and well-being.

• 24 days holiday, loyalty days, and bank holidays (including weekdays for weekend bank holidays).
• Hybrid working model with 40% remote work.
• Options for flexible working hours.
• Enjoy retailer discounts, cultural and CSR activities, workshops, and more.

Financially secure: We support you in meeting personal financial goals during your active career and for the future.

• Competitive income, performance-based promotions, and a sense of purpose.
• Meal vouchers, bonuses for referrals

Interested in more: discover what our employees value in the Well-being & Benefits hub!

We strive for a culture in which we are empowered to excel together every day. This includes acting responsibly, thinking commercially, taking initiative and working collaboratively.
Together we share and celebrate the successes of our people. Together we are Deutsche Bank Group.
We welcome applications from all people and promote a positive, fair and inclusive work environment.