Title: Director, Vendor Management Location: United States-Virginia-Virginia Beach Job Number: 230004CM Are you an experienced leader in merchandising, planning, or process improvement? Do you have a knack for building strong relationships and optimizing processes? If so, we invite you to join Navy Exchange as our Director of Vendor Management. In this pivotal role, you will serve as a vital link between our organization and our valued vendor partners, ensuring seamless communication, compliance, and efficiency in our vendor relationships. Your expertise in vendor management, process improvement, and project management will play a key role in enhancing our operations and supporting our mission to serve the military community. Key Responsibilities: - Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with vendor partners, fostering collaboration, trust, and alignment with Navy Exchange's objectives. Conduct financial analysis of business opportunities to meet and exceed revenue and profitability targets by executing annual and ongoing negotiations. - Continuously improve and streamline vendor management processes, identifying areas for efficiency gains, control costs, manage risks, and support compliance with standards and requirements. Maximize business and financial profitability through selection optimization and expansion opportunities. - Serve as the face of the business to outside distributors and the primary point of contact between Navy Exchange and vendor partners, facilitating effective communication and issue resolution. Meeting with suitable vendors to assess their products, inquire about their services, negotiate prices, and communicate any product or service-related concerns. - Ensure vendor compliance with all contractual obligations, including quality, timely delivery, and pricing agreements, by providing a solid foundation of information and resources. - Analyze business and financial results to support the sales organization. Set goals and strategic direction for the department, ensuring alignment with broader business goals and visions. - Develop and maintain vendor management policies and procedures, ensuring consistency and adherence to best practices. - Manage the vendor onboarding process, including due diligence, negotiations, and establishing mutually beneficial partnerships. Forge partnerships with sister Exchanges, including but not limited to social compliance programs and brand coalitions. - Oversee and optimize drop shop programs, ensuring smooth operations and timely inventory replenishment. Stay abreast of industry and competitive trends, leverage customer insights, and execute at both tactical and strategic levels. - Manage Trading Partner Agreements (retail resale contracts) in collaboration with legal and procurement teams, ensuring compliance and favorable terms. - Leverage Green or Black belt project management skills to lead process improvement initiatives and drive operational excellence within the vendor management function. Lead all projects in collaboration with Code I relative to the Website) and leverage Vendor platforms. - Utilize data analysis and reporting to monitor vendor performance, identify areas for improvement, and track key performance indicators. - Collaborate with internal teams, including Merchandising, Planning, Finance, and Legal, to align vendor management activities with organizational goals and meet deadlines. - Provide guidance and training to vendor partners on Navy Exchange's processes, requirements, and expectations. - Identify and mitigate potential risks associated with vendor relationships, ensuring continuity of supply and minimizing disruptions. - Ensure vendor practices align with Navy Exchange's ethical and sustainability standards. - Defines the escalation paths and methods to use to resolve problems. Conduct regular evaluations and assessments of vendor performance, providing clear, actionable, constructive feedback to encourage cooperation and drive continuous improvement in vendor performance. Resolve vendor services and supplies issues and keep accurate and timely records of all orders and inventory levels. - Develop and maintain vendor scorecards to measure and communicate performance metrics. - Collaborate with Finance to manage the vendor management budget effectively. - Build and lead a high-performing vendor management team, promoting a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement. Set goals and strategic direction for the department, ensuring alignment with broader business goals and vision. - Works under the supervision of the VP of Merchandising Support, who establishes deadlines and indicates the scope of responsibility. Incumbent receives minimum supervision, carries out mission with a high degree of independence and exercises initiative and judgment in resolving problems and executing assignments. Carries out duties in accordance with established methods, procedures, and guidelines. - Performs other related duties as assigned. The incumbent of this position must file a Financial Disclosure Report (OGE) Form 450, as required Qualifications: Requires the following combination of experience: GENERAL EXPERIENCE: 3 years of experience gained in administrative, professional, technical, or other responsible work, which enabled the applicant to gain knowledge of retail merchandising and procurement practices; demonstrated skill in dealing with operating personnel and supervisory responsibilities; and the ability to analyze problems and recommend practical solutions using sound judgment and specialize experience as indicated below. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: 1 year of academic study above the high school level may be substituted for 9 months of experience, up to a maximum of a 4 years bachelor's degree in Business Management, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related field of study may be substituted for 3 years of general experience. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: 6 years of progressively responsible substantive industry-related experience, which provided background in vendor management, merchandising, planning, or process improvement; demonstrated experience working with cross-functional teams; managing risk and compliance programs, large budgets, and profit trends; database/spreadsheet software applications, and Supervisory responsibility of human resources or similar responsible work which demonstrated the knowledge and ability within on or more operational or merchandising areas of non-appropriated fund or private sector retail management. Job: Merchandising Systems
