Job Categories: Management

Job Title: Technology Vendor & Contract Team Lead

About bpx:
At bp/bpx energy, we’re reimagining energy for people and our planet. With operations around the world working across almost every part of the energy system, we are reinventing our business to help us reduce the carbon in our operations, grow new low carbon businesses and products, and actively advocate for progressive climate policies.

We are a diverse team of engineers, scientists, traders, and business professionals determined to find ways to tackle some of the world’s biggest issues. But we know we can’t do it alone. So, whether you’re at the start of your career, or a have few years under your belt, we are looking for people who share our passion for reinvention who can bring a fresh perspective, collaborative spirit, and challenge our thinking in our ambition to achieve net zero.

About the Role:
The Vendor & Contract Team Lead is responsible for the smooth operation of the Technology and IT vendor and contract ecosystem including supporting business-sector requests for new technology capabilities. The Vendor & Contract Team Lead shall have a track record of managing and evaluating suppliers, processing, and negotiating contracts, supporting business units to define requirements to develop statements of work, commercial risk management, and communication skills that include metrics-based dashboard status reporting. Finally, the Vendor & Contract Team Lead will be comfortable operating in an environment of technology-based products and services such as cloud service agreements.
 
Key Accountabilities Include:
Strategic Leadership:
The Vendor & Contract Team Lead will advance the group’s role within bpx by improving:

• Key metrics and reporting for upward and sideways status communication
• Supplier segmentation to identify strategic suppliers, including evaluation process such as Scorecard for major suppliers
• Automation to decrease work-clutter, including ServiceNOW ingestion process, ContractAI negotiation process, etc.
• Communication roles with counterparts in BP Group
• Team mentoring and management
• Commercial risk-management process, including ability to effectively communicate difficult messages

To effectively accomplish these goals, the Vendor & Contract Team Lead must have exceptional
communication skills, credibility with leadership teams, negotiation, and gravitas both within bpx and to the vendor community.

Vendor Management:
Bpx vendor management culture is collaborative and respectful of vendors and their employees.
Vendor Management proficiencies include:

• Vendor performance evaluation process and scorecard
• Segmentation of Vendors by importance, financial spend, or other strategic metrics
• Monthly/Quarterly service reviews of most-valued vendors
• Value leakage – identify and remediate value leakage
• Develop a sourcing strategy for large IT segments
• Dispute resolution and mediation, including consulting with bpx stakeholders with contract interpretation and recommendations to resolve disputes

Contract Manager:
Bpx IT and Technology/Business community is segmented into a few large strategic relationships
and is heavily augmented by point-solutions offered by niche technology firms, often in the
cloud-services/SaaS space. Contract management overlaps with traditional procurement functions.
Contract Manager proficiencies include:

• Selection Process (e.g. RFP, RFI, etc.): For new work, this often includes working with the relevant business team to specify and organize requirements in a market-sensible manner; and serve as the key commercial member of a project team
• Negotiation Process including devising Negotiation Strategy. For both new and existing suppliers, leadership to drive creation and final documentation of statement of work. For legal terms and conditions, collaborate with legal to provide business context
• For expansion of work for current supplier, organize, negotiate, and finalize relevant documents such as Statement of Work; and conform to MSA terms and conditions
• Process contract extensions
• Risk summary and presentation to senior leadership for approval
• Knowledge of managed service, software, and cloud service agreements

Team Management:
The Vendor & Contract Team Lead team is small and cannot be fully segmented by traditional
procurement categories, primarily in contract services, software agreements, and infrastructure services. Team Management proficiencies of the role include

• Hands-on practitioner
• Mid-range strategic view to improve processes, automate, and out-task repeatable tasks and free-up cycles for higher value work
• Gravitas and communication skills
• Mentoring and leadership abilities
• Collaboration with adjacent teams in Legal, PSCM, and BP Group

Required Qualifications:

• University Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or Engineering. MBA is a plus.
• 5+ years of experience negotiating and managing IT and Technology Contracts. Experience in a Technology / Fortune 500 company is a plus
• Strong ERP experience (SAP)
• Agile experience
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with both technical and nontechnical team members and stakeholders
• Encourage and demonstrate comfort with change, ambiguity, debate, conflict, experimentation, and informed risk taking
• Ability to maintain high ethics and integrity
• Experience and comfortable in working in a dynamic fast paced environment
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, with excellent time management skills