Post Office to hire a 'head of IT vendor management'

Post Office wants someone with strong negotiation, relationship and inter-personal skills for newly created role

The Post Office is looking for a head of IT vendor management to develop, formalise and direct relationships with IT vendors.

The new role has been created as a part of the Post Office's 2020 strategic vision, which will transform every aspect of the organisation - people, systems, infrastructure, processes and customers, the Post Office claims in its job ad.

The successful candidate will have to establish internal policies and approve external policies, standards, processes and templates for working with IT vendors. They will facilitate and maintain relationships between vendors and internal resources, including IT stakeholders and executive leadership. He or she will also have to develop a framework for interactions between vendors and the business.

The head of IT vendor management will have to develop and lead an IT vendor management strategy, and ensure that IT vendors deliver maximum value. They will have to understand IT vendor spending by category, cost centre and SIAM tower, while managing staff that are part of the vendor-management team.

The Post Office is looking for someone with strong negotiation, relationship and interpersonal skills, as well as basic understanding of the technology or services delivered by IT vendors.

The right candidate will have to understand internal decision making and the decision making that occurs among vendors; understanding their motivations, strategic plans and market challenges.

In addition, he or she will have to have strong dispute resolution and mediation skills, knowledge of market trends in contract and pricing models, service delivery and performance management, and the ability to bridge communication between IT and the business.

According to the job ad, the head of IT vendor management will report to the IT service director and be located in London.

Computing has filed questions with the Post Office to get more information and will update the story in due course.