Vendor Relations Manager

Role & responsibilities

1. Understand the Vendor's Business: Develop deep knowledge of each vendor's model, products, competitors, and strategic priorities. Identify key decision-makers, where they have excess capacity or growth ambitions, and maintain a documented account strategy for every major vendor. 2. Serve as the Vendor's Business Analyst: Analyze performance by SKU, category, and geography, benchmarked against competitors. Translate data into clear recommendations shared with the vendor directly, not just filed internally. 3. Develop a Vendor Growth Strategy: Build a structured growth plan per strategic vendor — pricing, rebates, incentive programs, payment terms, freight support, inventory commitments, marketplace authorization, geographic expansion, exclusivity, promotional participation, returns support, and new distribution opportunities — prioritized by value and feasibility. 4. Own Commercial Negotiations: Lead negotiations using facts and history. Develop SKU-wise counterproposals instead of cold rejection or blanket acceptance. Know when to hold firm, compromise, or escalate. 5. Build Strong Vendor Relationships: Develop trusted relationships with owners, senior leaders, and operational stakeholders. Run structured business reviews, communicate difficult messages clearly, and maintain the relationship even through disagreement. 6. Drive Business Development Within Accounts: Treat every account as a continuing BD opportunity — expand assortment, channels, and territories; identify new brands or divisions and seek introductions to additional decision-makers within the vendor's org. 7. Coordinate Internal Execution: Work with pricing, procurement, supply chain, catalog, and finance to ensure agreed terms are implemented. Resolve internal bottlenecks and escalate commercial or relationship risks promptly. 8. Manage Vendor Performance & Risk: Track revenue, profitability, inventory, and service levels. Flag early signs of decline, reduce dependency risk from vendor concentration, and ensure compliance with marketplace, legal, and documentation requirements. 9. Use Data, CRM & AI Effectively: Maintain accurate pipelines and account notes in CRM. Use Excel/dashboards for analysis and AI tools for research, prep, and automating routine reporting.