About the Role
Clinical Ink is seeking an Enterprise Vendor Manager to join our Vendor Management team! The Enterprise Vendor Manager will play a key role in building and owning the full vendor lifecycle including: vendor lifecycle governance, vendor management, SOP & process development, quoting process management, cross-functional relationship building, and quality management & compliance. The ideal candidate will be a strong relationship builder, thrive in fast-paced environments, and bring proven experience designing vendor governance frameworks in regulated industries.
This role is open to individuals located in the United States or Denmark. The Enterprise Vendor Manager's responsibilities include:
Vendor Lifecycle Governance
Own the end-to-end vendor lifecycle — qualification, onboarding, contracting, performance monitoring, renewal, and exit — for connected device and passthrough vendor categories.
Support compliance in the maintenance and automation of the Approved Vendor List (AVL) in alignment with regulatory requirements and internal quality standards.
Develop and publish vendor onboarding SOPs, performance frameworks, and lifecycle process documentation where none currently exist.
Ensure no vendor enters active use without completing qualification, quality documentation, and compliance requirements.
Vendor Management
Serve as the primary Clinical Ink relationship owner for designated strategic vendors.
Monitor vendor roadmaps, discontinuation notices, and supply constraints; proactively flag risks to Operations and Study Teams.
Coordinate device-related change management across studies in collaboration with Operations, Quality, and Technology teams.
Own the enterprise governance relationship— distinct from the day-to-day operational coordination managed by Operations.
Review and approve any vendor quotes before they enter study proposal pricing; act as the passthrough cost governance gate between Operations and Commercial.
Establish and maintain SLA frameworks, KPI scorecards, and QBR cadences for all passthrough vendors.
Govern MSA, SOW, and change order integrity — ensuring contractual scope, pricing, and performance commitments are aligned and enforced.
Identify and escalate passthrough cost overruns, billing discrepancies, and scope deviations in a timely manner.
Ensure all strategic vendors operate under current, executed agreements — no active vendor relationships without documented contractual and quality coverage.
SOP & Process Development
Write and own vendor management SOPs from scratch — onboarding, performance review, quote governance, risk escalation, and vendor exit.
Develop and maintain standardized templates for vendor scorecards, QBR agendas, risk registers, and change order tracking.
Build documentation that is audit-ready, practical, and designed for a lean team operating at pace.
Quoting Process Management
Own the end-to-end quote governance workflow for passthrough vendor categories — from initial request through approval and Commercial handoff.
Define and enforce the quote intake process: establish what information is required from vendors (pricing, lead times, regional constraints, subcontractor dependencies) before a quote is valid for use in a proposal.
Review all vendor quotes for accuracy, AVL compliance, and alignment with contracted rate cards and master agreements before approving for use in study pricing.
Maintain a quote log and historical pricing library to support benchmarking, trend analysis, and negotiation leverage across studies and contract cycles.
Identify quote anomalies — price escalations, scope creep, unapproved subcontractor additions — and resolve or escalate before quotes reach Commercial.
Work with Operations and Commercial to continuously improve quote turnaround timelines without compromising governance rigor.
Cross-Functional Relationship Building
Act as the primary Procurement point of contact for Operations, Commercial & Pricing, Quality, and Technology on all vendor-related matters.
Build trusted relationships with internal stakeholders who have historically managed vendors in silos — influence without authority is essential.
Participate in study mobilization calls to ensure vendor readiness, lead times, and cost assumptions are validated before study activation.
Represent Procurement in cross-functional forums, including the AI Council and any vendor governance committees.
Quality Management & Compliance
Maintain vendor risk classifications (Critical / High / Medium / Low) for all managed vendors, aligned with FM-REG-004-E and internal risk policy.
Own the vendor quality management framework — ensure all strategic vendors operate under current quality agreements, and that obligations (issue notification windows, CAPA timelines, audit rights) are understood and enforced.
Coordinate with QMS on vendor deviations, complaints, and CAPAs; track open items, owners, and due dates across the portfolio.
Support MHRA and FDA inspection readiness — ensure vendor documentation, quality agreements, and audit trails are maintained, current, and audit-accessible at all times.
Drive continuous improvement through QBR findings, CAPA outcomes, and vendor performance trend data; translate quality events into process improvements and SOP updates.
Identify and escalate vendor concentration risk, single-source dependencies, compliance gaps, and financial exposure before they become study-impacting issues.
Requirements
- 5–8 years of vendor management, procurement, or supplier relationship experience in a regulated industry — clinical research, medtech, logistics, pharma, or comparable.
- Demonstrated experience building or significantly improving vendor management processes, not just executing within established ones.
- Proven track record of owning vendor relationships end-to-end, including contracting, performance governance, and issue escalation.
- Experience working in or alongside regulated environments (FDA, MHRA, ISO, GxP, or equivalent); comfort with audit documentation and compliance requirements.
- Hands-on experience with connected devices, clinical supply chain, or logistics vendors is strongly preferred; cross-industry candidates with comparable regulated supply relationships will be considered.
- Ability to author a wide range of documentation ranging from MSAs to SOPs
- Ability to work cross-functionally with a global team
- Strong relationship management skills, with the ability to build trust with vendors and internal stakeholders through clear communication and consistent follow-through, including navigating difficult conversations and influencing senior leaders without formal authority.
- Strong executive communication skills, with the ability to translate complex vendor risks and procurement recommendations into clear, concise updates for senior leadership, both in writing and in presentations.
About the Company
Clinical Ink is the global life science company that brings data, technology, and patient science together to unlock clinical discovery. Our deep therapeutic-area expertise, coupled with Direct Data Capture, eCOA, eConsent, telehealth, neurocognitive testing, and digital biomarkers advancement, drive the industry standard for data precision and usher in a new generation of clinical trials. With offices in the United States and Denmark, Clinical Ink is rewriting the clinical development experience.