Manager, Vendor Management and Procurement

Sophisticated Work. In a Great City. Making a Difference.

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) manages more than $178 billion in assets, including those of the fully-funded Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS). SWIB operates at a level more often seen in top-tier global asset managers than in typical public pension funds. SWIB is a home for top talent. Approximately 61 percent of SWIB’s investment professionals are Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholders.
The City of Madison, the state capitol and home of Wisconsin’s flagship university, makes regular appearances on lists of best places to live, eat, and play. SWIB offers a modern workspace, hybrid work options, and competitive compensation and benefits.

Serving over 703,000 WRS beneficiaries, SWIB is driven by a clear mission: securing the financial future of those who serve Wisconsin. When you work at SWIB, you know your work matters.

Job Description:

About the Team

The Finance Division (Finance) serves the entire organization and is under the direction of the Chief Financial Officer. Finance is responsible for several critical functions at SWIB and comprises five teams: Fund Administration (FA), Finance Operations (FinOps), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Vendor Engagement and Oversight (VEO), and Performance. 

VEO serves as SWIB’s central coordinator and process steward for vendor-related activities, including procurement support, vendor intake, diligence coordination, lifecycle administration, renewals, reporting, and issue tracking. The team facilitates consistent execution across the vendor lifecycle by helping business teams engage the appropriate partners early, including Legal, Operational Risk, Technology, Compliance, and Finance. VEO supports disciplined process management, documentation, escalation, and follow-through while ensuring that decision-making authority remains with the applicable business owners and subject-matter experts. 

Position Overview  

This position will lead the VEO function and team and report directly to SWIB’s Chief Financial Officer. The position’s essential activities and attributes that the ideal candidate will possess are included below.  

Essential activities: 

• In partnership with all SWIB stakeholders, serve as the central coordinator for vendor-related activity, including intake, procurement support, diligence coordination, lifecycle administration, renewals, reporting, and issue tracking.  

• Maintain a clear and consistent vendor intake process that helps business teams engage the appropriate partners early, including Legal, Operational Risk, Technology, Compliance, and Finance.  

• Partner with Operational Risk in assessing vendor criticality, risk tiering, ongoing monitoring expectations, resilience planning, risk acceptance, and exit planning.   

• Collaborate with Legal to engage vendors, coordinate renewals and terminations, select appropriate RFP routes, and manage vendor contract matters. 

• Facilitate all elements of vendor lifecycle administration, including onboarding, contract and renewal tracking, vendor records, segmentation support, and coordination of termination or offboarding activities.  

• Support vendor issue management by maintaining escalation processes, tracking open items, coordinating stakeholder follow-up, and ensuring contractual, risk, service, or termination matters are elevated to the appropriate parties.  

• Coordinate procurement-related processes, including RFx coordination, sole-source or simplified-bid documentation, supplier setup support, purchase-order coordination, budget impacts, and related reporting.  

• Lead continuous improvement of vendor management processes, reporting, templates, and governance practices to improve transparency, accountability, timeliness, documentation quality, and cross-functional collaboration. 

The ideal candidate: 

• Has at least 8 years of experience, with varied and progressively increasing responsibilities in financial services, vendor management, or project management roles 

• Holds a bachelor’s degree or higher  

• Confidently manages enterprise-level relationships and can command an executive audience 

• Thrives in a project management role and can reliably coordinate varied processes 

• Is driven by results while being highly focused on process and adherence to policies 

• Is a self-starter with the ability to nimbly manage competing priorities 

• Can efficiently consume, distill, and communicate complex issues 

• Leverages their intellectual curiosity to continuously learn and develop their skills 

• Approaches situations thoughtfully, and consistently engages with and values diverse perspectives from others 

• Maintains composure and demonstrates adaptability when navigating unexpected situations 

• Has led enterprise-level relationship formation and oversight  

• Challenges the status quo when appropriate 

• Maintains strategic focus while evaluating tactical challenges 

• Competitive total cash compensation, based on AON (formerly McLagan) industry benchmarks
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Educational and training opportunities
• Tuition reimbursement
• Challenging work in a professional environment
• Hybrid work environment