Associate Vendor Manager III

Job Overview:

Across the globe, we keep our commitment to improve health and improve lives, and at Covance we are looking for exceptional people who are eager to play an important role pushing new frontiers in how we diagnose, monitor and treat patients.

Our Drug Development business continues to support and meet the needs of our pharmaceutical and biotechnology client partners: we continue to initiate new studies from Early Development through Phase IV, and our Central Labs are fully operational.

In this spirit, we would like to keep growing our relationship with a talented Associate Vendor Manager III that can will be home based across the United States.

Main responsibilities: Manage a high number of vendors with various specialties on complex studies independently Review 3rd party vendor proposals and make selections of qualified vendors to provide services on assigned projects utilizing the qualified/preferred 3rd party vendor list Review vendor contracts for inclusion of appropriate scope, pricing and agreed service standard Obtain appropriate Project Management and Client approvals for original vendor scope and budget and for any subsequent scope changes Work closely with Clinical Sourcing Group to ensure all vendor related contract documentation is approved and processed on-time Participate in and present vendor management processes in project KOM Participate in Investigator's Meetings and provide training on 3rd party vendor services, if required Establish and maintain a good working relationship with the 3rd party vendors Create Vendor Management Plan on assigned projects and obtain study team and Client approval Serve as a liaison between the operational study teams, Client and 3rd party vendor(s)  Maintain ongoing communication with assigned 3rd party vendors, track status of service development and progress on tasks performed throughout project duration  Participate in ongoing study team/Client meetings and provide updates on status of vendor services  Follow up with 3rd party vendors to ensure timely resolution of issues o Escalate vendor-related issues and corrective action plans, as necessary to Client, QA and Vendor Relationship Management group Analyze vendor performance trends and provide proactive issue resolution Perform proactive assessments of vendor service risk and recommend mitigating actions Provide oversight of review and approval of vendor invoices based on the terms of the contract Maintain status of budget vs actual spend for all 3rd party contracts  Provide monthly update on budget statistics For scope changes ensure delineation of costs between task orders and change orders Provide oversight of tracking and filing of vendor management and 3rd party vendor documentation in eTMF according to eTMF guidelines Function as an SME for a vendor specialty or a departmental process within GVM group If required, manage vendor services across several studies of one client Participate and independently support vendor management processes in client audits of assigned projects Support onboarding of new hires and mentoring junior VMS and VM specialists Provide support with proposal development by obtaining quotes from 3rd party vendors Lead departmental process improvement initiatives Complete other tasks, as assigned by management Education/Qualifications:Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience Degree in life sciences preferred Ability to work with staff in different timezones Ability to work remotely Ability to travel domestically and internationally, as required Experience:Years of experience in the job discipline: 2-4 Years of experience in other professional roles: 4-6 Other required work-related experiences Clinical trials industry experience required Operational team project management experience required Vendor specialty experience preferred Ability to handle multiple priorities and work well under pressure Ability to meet tight deadlines Ability to think 'out of the box' Effective negotiation skills Strong interpersonal skills Strong presentation skills Strong client facing skills Strong organizational skills Training and mentoring skills preferred Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (intermediate level) Pro-active (self-starter) Quick learner Multi-tasker Creative problem solver Tenacious in follow-up/follow-through Team Player

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