Manager, Procurement & Vendor Management

Job Description:

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community. 
Job Summary:
The Manager, Procurement & Vendor Management plays a key role in leading strategic sourcing, procurement operations, vendor management, and supplier risk oversight across the organization. The role ensures the acquisition of goods, services, and technology solutions is cost-effective, compliant, and aligned with business, financial, and risk objectives.

Acting as a central governance point for supplier engagement, the role drives adherence to company policies, legal requirements, and security standards while fostering strong, long-term supplier relationships.

This position combines hands-on execution with coordination and oversight, leveraging internal partners, systems, and automation to ensure effective procurement operations, vendor governance, and risk management.

The role is responsible for advancing modern procurement practices through the use of data analytics, procurement platforms such as Coupa, and AI-enabled tools to streamline sourcing, accelerate vendor evaluations, enhance contract lifecycle management, and drive cost optimization.
Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Procurement & Category Management
  • Execute procurement strategies aligned with company goals across all business units including Marketing, IT, HR, Facilities, Legal, Compliance, and Finance.
  • Refine and maintain category management strategies for major spend categories including technology, marketing, professional services, SaaS platforms, and operational vendors.
  • Lead competitive sourcing initiatives. Identify opportunities for vendor consolidation, improved supplier performance, and cost savings.
• Vendor Management & Supplier Strategy
  • Contribute to and enhance the ongoing management of a formal Vendor Management Program including vendor onboarding, performance monitoring, renewal planning, and offboarding.
  • Establish vendor performance metrics including service level agreements (SLAs) and periodic supplier reviews.
  • Maintain an approved vendor list and centralized vendor database.
• Contract Lifecycle Management
  • Partner with Legal and Compliance teams to manage the full contract lifecycle including contract review, commercial terms negotiation, approvals, renewals, and amendments.
  • Maintain a centralized contract repository and contract tracking system.
• AI‑Enabled Procurement & Process Automation
  • Utilize AI‑enabled tools to accelerate sourcing research, vendor comparisons, market intelligence, contract summarization, proposal analysis, and procurement documentation preparation.
  • Identify opportunities to automate repetitive procurement tasks to improve procurement cycle time and efficiency.
• Procurement Technology & Systems (P2P)
  • Utilize Coupa (or similar procure-to-pay platforms) for requisitions, approvals, supplier onboarding, and spend visibility, ensuring accuracy and adherence to procurement processes.
  • Use Coupa reporting and analytics tools to monitor spend trends and vendor utilization.
  • Identify opportunities to improve procurement automation and reporting through system enhancements.
• Third Party Risk Management (TPRM)
  • Coordinate vendor due diligence and risk assessments in partnership with Information Security, Legal, Privacy, and Compliance teams, leveraging existing TPRM processes and tools.
  • Ensure proper documentation to demonstrate vendors meet organizational standards related to data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
  • Support vendor audit and risk remediation processes.
• Spend Analytics & Cost Optimization
  • Monitor procurement spend across the organization and provide reporting to leadership.
  • Identify cost optimization opportunities through vendor negotiations, strategic sourcing, and vendor consolidation.
  • Track procurement metrics including savings achieved, vendor performance, contract compliance, and procurement cycle time.
• Procurement Governance
  • Lead sourcing and vendor negotiations for small to mid-sized engagements, with initial responsibility for contracts up to approximately $200,000 and opportunity to expand scope and ownership over time.
  • Ensure all procurement activity follows internal approval thresholds, financial approvals, and procurement policies.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Act as a central procurement advisor to internal stakeholders across departments.
  • Provide guidance on procurement best practices and vendor selection strategies.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Strategic sourcing and negotiation
• Vendor management, supplier performance monitoring, and relationship development
• Contract lifecycle management, including risk identification and mitigation
• Procurement analytics, spend reporting, and data-driven decision-making
• Proficiency with Coupa or other procure-to-pay platforms
• AI-assisted research, automation, and workflow optimization
• Risk management and compliance oversight
• Cross-functional stakeholder collaboration and influence without authority
• Ability to evaluate incomplete or conflicting supplier proposals and make commercially sound recommendations that balance cost, risk, and business requirements
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent sourcing and renewal initiatives while maintaining timeline discipline, analytical rigor, and stakeholder alignment

• Exceptional attention to detail across communications, data analysis, reporting, procurement recommendations, and negotiations, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and sound commercial outcomes

Minimum Requirements:

• 6-10 years of experience in procurement or vendor management, managing vendor contracts and supplier negotiations
• Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field
• Hands-on experience with Coupa, Ariba, or similar procure-to-pay platforms
• Professional certifications such as CPSM, CIPS or CSCP

Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.
Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially. 

Rakuten would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.

Beware of fraudulent job offers claiming to be from Rakuten. Rakuten does not send unsolicited job offers or request money during the recruitment process. Learn more: https://rakutenemploymentalert.com/

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the Compensation (base salary + discretionary bonus) for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for stock options, health, vision, dental insurance, RRSP matching, Personal Time Off (PTO), Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.