Job Description
Job Title: Transformation Manager (Project and Vendor Management)
Role Overview
This role will spearhead critical transformation initiatives within our support transition, ensuring seamless knowledge transfer, robust SLAs, and a path toward Zero Ops. The Transformation Project Manager will coordinate complex moving pieces—encompassing partner ecosystem simplification, dependency mapping, budgeting, and risk/issue management—while simultaneously laying the groundwork to evolve into a Vendor Management function.
In the steady-state model, this position will transition to leading key Vendor Management competencies:
- Demand Management : Identifying and quantifying technology needs (including recurring expense subscriptions, volumetric impact on capacity, roadmap impacts to data center optimization strategy, as well as services in QA and AD, and in partnership with our architecture and data strategic leadership teams) grounded with Upbound’s budget parameters incorporating usage forecasting and prioritization.
- Financial Operations Management : Design and Build an operational framework that bridges financial accountability with technical innovation to drive business value.
- Service Management : Overseeing end-to-end service delivery from internal and external suppliers, ensuring consistent, measurable quality and performance.
- Performance Management : Establishing frameworks to measure and optimize vendor and service delivery performance against agreed SLAs including action oriented planning to avoid, mitigate or resolve performance issues.
- Risk Management : Implementing processes and controls to prevent, detect, and mitigate business and sourcing risks inherent in technology services.
Key Responsibilities
- Program & Project Leadership:
- Lead the program management support transition effort, managing timelines, budgets, and cross-functional dependencies.
- Coordinate and measure the knowledge transfer quality from existing suppliers to our preferred partner, ensuring relevant stakeholders are aligned and informed.
- Facilitate development of clear metrics and SLAs in collaboration with our preferred partner.
- Dependency Mapping & Risk Management
- Identify and track cross-functional impacts, ensuring risks and issues are documented, escalated, and resolved proactively.
- Maintain a holistic view of the transformation roadmap, aligning priorities and milestones across workstreams.
- Cost, Timeline & Budget Oversight
- Monitor and report on budgets, expenditures, and resource allocations associated with transformation projects.
- Provide input on financial planning and usage forecasting to align with Upbound’s budgetary guidelines.
- Service Delivery Integration
- Work closely with internal teams and external partners to ensure seamless, end-to-end service delivery.
- Establish and enforce measurement practices and compliance for our competitive SLAs to drive accountability and continuous improvement.
- Vendor Management Foundations
- Develop preliminary structures, processes, and governance mechanisms that will be the basis for a robust vendor management office.
- Partner with stakeholders to define performance metrics, compliance standards, and vendor relationship protocols.
- Steady-State Transition
- Evolve into a Vendor Management leadership role, guiding demand management, service management, performance oversight, and risk mitigation.
- Serve as a key liaison between the organization’s strategic objectives and outsourced service delivery.
Qualifications
Experience & Domain Expertise
- 10+ years in project/program management, preferably in large-scale transformation or transformation environments.
- Demonstrable success in coordinating cross-functional teams, managing risks/issues, and governing third-party relationships.
Technical & Analytical Skills
- Proficiency in project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid).
- Strong budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis capabilities.
- Experience with IT service management (ITIL), QA, or application development is highly desirable.
Leadership & Collaboration
- Excellent communication skills to foster alignment between technical teams, business stakeholders, and external vendors.
- Ability to influence decision-making and build consensus in matrixed, fast-paced environments.
Future-Focused Mindset
- Keen interest in evolving into a Vendor Management role, with a view toward establishing and optimizing vendor performance, demand, and risk management processes.
Success Factors
- Comprehensive Oversight of Zero Ops Transformation in support and development from a technical and human resource perspective.
- Consistently accurate visibility into dependencies, timelines, and cross-functional impacts.
- Timely resolution of risks and issues, minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
- Effective Coordination of Support Transition.
- Clear, documented knowledge transfer plan and well-structured, objectively measurable SLAs that meet organizational needs.
- Demonstrated progress toward simplifying the partner ecosystem and enabling net-zero operations.
- Established frameworks for monitoring vendor performance, optimizing services, and governing risk.
- Seamless transition into a steady-state Vendor Management function that underpins strategic IT demand and service delivery.
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