About this role
BlackRock is seeking a Director of Strategic Technology Vendor Management to lead our most critical technology vendor partnerships. In this high-impact role, you will partner with our Enterprise Relationship Managers (ERMs) to oversee a portfolio of top-tier tech vendors – those with high financial exposure, operational criticality, and strategic alignment to BlackRock’s long-term 2030 goals. These external partners are key to our technology ecosystem and future innovation.
In your role, you will orchestrate an end-to-end strategic vendor management program to maximize business value, increase resilience, and ensure sustained performance from these partnerships. This includes driving vendor performance management, executive engagement, commercial strategy alignment, and governance for each relationship. You will work cross-functionally with technology executives, Global Strategic Sourcing (GSS), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), and business stakeholders to ensure a cohesive “One BlackRock” approach to vendor management.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Vendor Relationship Leadership: Serve as the primary relationship manager (“face of the firm”) for a set of BlackRock’s most strategic technology vendors. You will act as a horizontal leader across the enterprise for these relationships, coordinating all interactions through a “single front door” to the vendor. Develop a deep understanding of each vendor’s product offerings, roadmaps, and strategic fit, and drive alignment between the vendor’s capabilities and BlackRock’s technology strategy.
End-to-End Vendor Program Oversight: Oversee the full lifecycle of vendor management for your portfolio – from onboarding and risk assessment, through ongoing performance tracking, to contract renewals and strategic reviews. This includes implementing a formal governance framework with regular touchpoints such as Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and executive steering meetings (EBCs) to review performance, risks, and opportunities. Ensure that each vendor has up-to-date relationship artifacts (executive briefs, relationship maps, action logs, KPI scorecards) and that issues or escalations are promptly addressed and resolved.
Performance & Risk Management: Drive high service performance and resilience from each vendor. Monitor service delivery against agreed SLAs and KPIs and hold vendors accountable for meeting BlackRock’s expectations for quality, reliability, and security. Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks – ensuring vendors have robust continuity plans and that there are no single points of failure threatening our business. If performance gaps or incidents occur, lead the escalation and corrective action process in partnership with technical teams and risk management (e.g. Technology Risk, Legal & Compliance) to protect BlackRock’s interests.
Executive Engagement & Governance: Orchestrate senior-level engagement with each strategic vendor. Collaborate with designated Executive Sponsors ensure they are connected with vendor leadership at the right intervals. Facilitate C-suite and even CEO-level connectivity for our largest partners as appropriate, making sure that BlackRock’s top leaders and the vendor’s executives have a clear line of sight into the relationship’s status and strategic direction. You will prepare executive briefing materials and talking points, highlighting key decisions, risks, and achievements in the partnership.
Commercial Strategy & Financial Management: In close partnership with Global Strategic Sourcing (GSS), drive the commercial strategy for each vendor engagement. This includes overseeing contract negotiations, renewals, and any commercial escalations. aiming to achieve cost efficiencies and value-added services for BlackRock. Concurrently, work with FP&A to maintain comprehensive visibility into vendor spend and budget impact. Track and forecast the annual spend for each vendor, ensure expenses align with budgets, and quantify the ROI of vendor-provided technology. investment with its key suppliers.
Partner with Technology Business Leads to ensure vendor solutions and roadmaps meet the specific needs of our businesses. For instance, coordinating with these leads to identify opportunities for co-innovation or influence vendor product development to better support BlackRock’s requirements. Work closely with GSS (procurement) as noted, as well as Legal, Risk (RQA & Tech Risk), and Compliance teams to navigate complex issues such as contract terms, regulatory requirements, and data security with vendors.
Team Leadership and Development: As a senior leader in Strategic Tech, you will mentor and manage junior team members dedicated to this program. Provide direction and coaching to ensure the team executes effectively on coverage models, analytics, and day-to-day vendor interactions. You will also play a role in the build-out of this new function, helping to refine organizational roles, recruit talent, and define success metrics as we establish a world-class strategic technology vendor management capability.
Leadership Competencies
Strategic Vision & Innovation: Envisions how each vendor can contribute to BlackRock’s strategy and pushes for innovative collaboration. Not satisfied with simply managing contracts, you strive to transform vendor relationships into strategic alliances that drive mutual innovation and value.
Collaboration & Influencing: Navigates a complex organizational landscape with ease, bringing together colleagues from different departments to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. You can influence without formal authority and are adept at gaining buy-in for new concepts or approaches.
Executive Communication & Presence: Interacts confidently with senior leaders. Can represent BlackRock in high-stakes meetings with vendor CEOs or senior officials, projecting credibility and a partnership mindset. Equally, can communicate tough messages or negotiate hard when needed, maintaining professionalism and constructive tone.
Analytical Rigor & Accountability: Sets clear metrics for success (e.g., cost savings, performance improvements, risk reduction) and rigorously tracks progress. Holds vendors – and yourself – accountable to high performance standards. Uses a data-driven approach to identify issues early and guide decision-making.
Adaptability & Resilience: Thrives in a fast-paced environment and can adapt to changing priorities, such as shifting business needs or emerging technologies. Remains calm and effective under pressure, for instance when managing critical outages or high-pressure negotiations, and navigates obstacles to keep partnerships on course.
Our benefits
To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of benefits including a strong retirement plan, tuition reimbursement, comprehensive healthcare, support for working parents and Flexible Time Off (FTO) so you can relax, recharge and be there for the people you care about.
Our hybrid work model
BlackRock’s hybrid work model is designed to enable a culture of collaboration and apprenticeship that enriches the experience of our employees, while supporting flexibility for all. Employees are currently required to work at least 4 days in the office per week, with the flexibility to work from home 1 day a week. Some business groups may require more time in the office due to their roles and responsibilities. We remain focused on increasing the impactful moments that arise when we work together in person – aligned with our commitment to performance and innovation. As a new joiner, you can count on this hybrid model to accelerate your learning and onboarding experience here at BlackRock.
About BlackRock
At BlackRock, we are all connected by one mission: to help more and more people experience financial well-being. Our clients, and the people they serve, are saving for retirement, paying for their children’s educations, buying homes and starting businesses. Their investments also help to strengthen the global economy: support businesses small and large; finance infrastructure projects that connect and power cities; and facilitate innovations that drive progress.
This mission would not be possible without our smartest investment – the one we make in our employees. It’s why we’re dedicated to creating an environment where our colleagues feel welcomed, valued and supported with networks, benefits and development opportunities to help them thrive.
For additional information on BlackRock, please visit @blackrock | Twitter: @blackrock | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock
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