Lead Partner Governance

POSITION OBJECTIVE:

Lead and strengthen the governance of strategic partners, vendors, and managed service providers supporting GSM, Mobile Money, and B2C business operations across 14 countries. The role ensures partner performance, compliance, risk management, contractual adherence, and value realization through effective governance frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and end-to-end partner lifecycle management, including RFP/RFI processes, vendor selection, delivery oversight, and continuous improvement.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Governance & Oversight

• Establish and maintain partner governance frameworks, operating models, and engagement structures.
• Drive regular governance reviews with strategic partners and stakeholders.
• Monitor partner performance against contractual obligations, KPIs, SLAs, and business outcomes.
• Ensure governance practices align with organizational policies and industry best practices.

Performance Management

• Define, track, and report partner performance metrics and scorecards.
• Conduct monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews.
• Identify performance gaps and drive corrective action plans.
• Ensure continuous service improvement and value realization from partners.

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

• Act as the primary governance contact between internal stakeholders and strategic partners.
• Facilitate executive-level governance forums and steering committee meetings.
• Build strong relationships with business, technology, procurement, legal, risk, and compliance teams.
• Escalate and manage partner issues and disputes to resolution.

Contract & Financial Governance

• Support contract management, renewals, and governance of IT commitments.
• Monitor contractual deliverables, penalties, incentives, and obligations.
• Oversee financial governance, including budget alignment, and cost optimization opportunities.
• Track value realization from strategic partnerships.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Prepare governance dashboards, executive reports, and performance insights.
• Identify opportunities to enhance governance processes and operational efficiency.
• Drive automation and standardization of partner governance activities.
• Benchmark governance practices and recommend improvements.

IT RFP Governance

• Support commercial negotiations to ensure contractual obligations, KPIs, SLAs, penalties, incentives, and governance requirements are incorporated into agreements.
• Facilitate transition governance and onboarding of newly selected partners.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:

• Partner SLA/KPI achievement rate
• Governance review completion rate
• Contractual obligation compliance
• Stakeholder satisfaction score
• Cost optimization and value realization targets
• Issue resolution and escalation closure timelines