Sr. Partner Mgr Technology Partner Mgmt Seattle, WA; Hybrid

Position: Sr. Partner Mgr. – Technology Partner Mgmt. - Seattle, WA (Hybrid)
Description

The Technology Partner Management team’s mission is to drive lifetime value in relationships with third party technology suppliers and vendor partners. We work with suppliers to ensure successful and cost-effective delivery of products and services key to the delivery of Nordstrom Technology products and capabilities. Success is measured in terms of Negotiation Value, value driven in the overall Vendor Partner Relationship, and benefit delivery.

The Sr. Partner Manager’s responsibility is to build, maintain and enhance relationships with strategic (high-value and high-dependency) Technology vendor partners and internal stakeholders (such as Technology leadership and Product Management). This senior-level individual contributor serves as liaison to the Technology business and a facilitator for contract lifecycle and Partner Management activities. The Sr. Partner Manager is also responsible for managing numerous vendor relationships simultaneously, ensuring technology and business requirements align to specifications and priorities, and leading arbitration and negotiation.

They act as a trusted advisor to our Technology leaders and a mentor and consultant for junior peers. The incumbent must ensure that the organization achieves its objectives with strategic vendor partners and assists the vendor partners in their efforts to successfully deliver contracted services. The Sr. Partner Mgr. will be accountable for developing and maturing vendor partner relationships primarily in support of various technologies.

A day in the life….

• Develop, formalize, and direct relationships with Technology vendors

• Develop negotiation strategies and execute to ensure constant cost and quality improvements while enabling innovative solutions

• Understand specific vendor needs within the Technology delivery groups as well as the associated cost drivers affecting their areas of responsibility

• Support the cost‑saving strategies and initiatives to achieve financial and productivity objectives

• Support a cadence of sourcing events to ensure Nordstrom explores a variety of solutions to achieve the best outcomes

• Define and implement the measurements necessary to manage the entire vendor ecosystem to include vendor reviews and dashboards to track, trend and evaluate performance

• Facilitate the processes, and measurements, to ensure streamlined interactions between the Technology organization and supporting corporate functions such as Strategic Sourcing, Asset Management, Contract Administration, Contractor on‑boarding, etc.

• Build the relationships and relentlessly manage the performance of preferred and strategic vendor partners and suppliers, ensuring Nordstrom‑quality expectations and contractual commitments are achieved

• Partner closely with cross functional teams including Asset Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management, Finance, HR and Audit to deliver on shared objectives

• Identify appropriate relationships in conjunction with internal customers and vendors to drive proper alignment on business and operational topics

• Develop framework for interactions between the vendor and the business

• Ensure that requirements are well‑communicated and well‑understood, and clearly defines expectations from the business

• Manage escalation and arbitration of relationship and operational issues if other avenues fail

• This position may be required to perform other related duties as assigned

• Maintains external supplier relationships across the industry

• Advises technology decisions

• Keeps up to date on broader industry even outside of assigned scope

• Proposes and advises on strategies with minimal leadership consultation

You own this if you have…

• 8+ years of combined experience in technology and technology vendor management including technology contract compliance and budget accountability with emphasis on Software as a Service, cloud technology (AWS, Google), and eCommerce

• Ability to effectively communicate complex business technical and contractual concepts to partners and stakeholders

• Effective problem‑solving skills and ability to implement creative solutions and deal structures

• Ability to…