SDM Role - Partner Manager

Key Responsibilities

A. Operational & Performance Management

• Own the Management-tier governance cadence leading Monthly Business Reviews and contributing to Quarterly and Weekly Business Reviews.

• Drive SLA/KPI compliance and enforce corrective-action timelines (3-business-day fix; root-cause report on continued breach).

• Manage the partner escalation matrix, operating as the second-tier escalation point (issues escalated to Operations Managers with defined response times, e.g., 36 hours at 2nd level).

• Oversee ramp-up/ramp-down, pilots and special projects, ensuring proper notice periods and written amendments.

B. Relationship & Lifecycle Management

• Serve as primary commercial/operational point of contact for assigned partners.

• Manage onboarding, performance reviews, and structured exit/transition (Termination Assistance Services), ensuring continuity of staffing and knowledge transfer.

• Identify process-improvement and cost-efficiency opportunities across the partner base.

C. Commercial & Financial Management

• Track partner spend against the Maximum Total Cost / NTE for each SOW and initiate amendments or Change Orders before caps are breached

• Trigger threshold notifications (e.g., the client-side 75% MTC notification obligation) and manage burn-rate reporting.

• Reconcile partner rate cards (Google TKM/Hourly, Apple UKM/rate cards) against client billing to protect delivery margin.

• Manage invoicing and payment, ensuring each invoice contains a valid Cognizant-issued PO number and payment occurs within agreed terms, including management fees where applicable.

D. Compliance & Contract Governance

• Enforce partner flow-down terms, laws/road-traffic compliance, Operator consents, and anti-corruption training obligations.

• Ensure partner adherence to background check requirements for all personnel with unescorted premises access or remote system access, compliant with applicable laws including the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

• Govern Operational Guidelines adherence, treating breaches (fraud, confidentiality, holding out as Cognizant/Customer personnel) as material breach.

• Manage insurance evidence — e.g., partner-maintained Commercial General Liability insurance of not less than US$1,000,000 per claim and US$1,000,000 aggregate, naming Cognizant, the Customer and their affiliates as additional insureds.

Qualifications & Experience (Manager Level)

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field (Master's/MBA preferred).

Experience

• 6–10 years in vendor/partner/supplier management, or delivery management, with 2–3 years at a supervisory/managerial level.
• Experience in outsourced/field operations or geospatial/data-collection environments strongly preferred.

Core Competencies

• Governance & stakeholder management: Running QBR/MBR/WBR cadences and multi-tier escalation with partners and clients (Google/Apple).
• SLA/KPI management: Root-cause analysis, corrective-action plans, performance reporting.
• Compliance orientation: Background checks, PII/data-privacy (GDPR/SCCs), insurance, anti-bribery (FCPA/UK Bribery Act) awareness.

Personal Attributes

• Strong negotiation, communication, and cross-cultural coordination skills (global partner base across EU, US, APAC, LATAM).
• Analytical, detail-oriented, and able to operate under high financial and reputational accountability.
• Availability to attend urgent meetings outside normal work hours when required for internal stakeholder and client management.