Supplier Management Manager

🌐 We're Hiring: Supplier Management Manager📍 Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote)🕒 Employment Type: Full-Time💼 Experience Level: Mid-Level to Senior🌐 Work Arrangement: Fully RemoteAbout UsWe are a commercially focused organization committed to building resilient, transparent, high-performing, and strategically managed supplier relationships.Our distributed teams collaborate across Supplier Management, Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Category Management, Purchasing, Finance, Legal, Risk, Compliance, Sustainability, Operations, and Supply Chain to maximize supplier value while managing performance, risk, cost, quality, service, and long-term business continuity.The RoleWe are seeking an experienced Supplier Management Manager to lead supplier governance, performance management, relationship management, supplier development, risk monitoring, and continuous improvement across the supplier portfolio.The role will establish structured supplier-management practices that improve supplier performance, commercial value, quality, service, resilience, compliance, innovation, and stakeholder satisfaction.The successful candidate will manage strategic and critical supplier relationships throughout the supplier lifecycle, from onboarding and qualification through performance management, development, remediation, renewal, and exit.Key ResponsibilitiesSupplier Management StrategyDevelop and execute the Supplier Management strategy aligned with Procurement and business objectives.Establish supplier segmentation based on spend, criticality, risk, performance, capability, switching costs, and strategic importance.Develop differentiated management approaches for strategic, preferred, critical, transactional, and developmental suppliers.Establish supplier governance frameworks, policies, standards, and operating procedures.Develop annual supplier-management plans and priorities.Identify opportunities to consolidate, diversify, develop, or strategically partner with suppliers.Establish supplier relationship-management principles and governance.Align supplier strategies with sourcing, category, risk, operational, and business requirements.Supplier Lifecycle ManagementManage the supplier lifecycle from onboarding through renewal, development, remediation, and exit.Establish standardized supplier onboarding and qualification processes.Coordinate supplier due diligence with Procurement, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and business stakeholders.Ensure required supplier documentation, certifications, financial information, compliance records, and contractual information are complete and current.Establish supplier approval and qualification criteria.Monitor changes in supplier ownership, financial condition, capabilities, certifications, locations, and other relevant information.Maintain accurate supplier master data.Identify duplicate, inactive, or obsolete supplier records.Establish supplier offboarding and exit procedures.Ensure supplier exits are managed with appropriate commercial, operational, data, and continuity controls.Supplier Performance ManagementEstablish supplier-performance frameworks and standardized scorecards.Define KPIs covering cost, quality, delivery, service, responsiveness, innovation, compliance, sustainability, and other relevant measures.Establish performance targets aligned with contracts and business requirements.Monitor supplier performance against agreed KPIs and SLAs.Analyze supplier-performance trends and recurring issues.Conduct regular supplier-performance reviews.Prepare supplier-performance reports and dashboards.Identify underperforming suppliers and establish corrective-action plans.Track corrective actions through resolution.Escalate persistent or material performance issues.Work with suppliers and internal stakeholders to identify root causes and sustainable solutions.Ensure supplier performance is reflected in sourcing and renewal decisions.Strategic Supplier Relationship ManagementBuild effective relationships with strategic and critical suppliers.Establish structured governance for key supplier relationships.Lead Quarterly Business Reviews, Executive Business Reviews, and other supplier governance meetings.Develop supplier relationship plans for strategically important suppliers.Maintain appropriate executive-level engagement with key suppliers.Establish clear communication channels and escalation mechanisms.Balance collaborative supplier relationships with strong commercial and contractual discipline.Identify opportunities for joint value creation.Encourage suppliers to contribute ideas for cost reduction, innovation, service improvement, quality improvement, and operational efficiency.Develop long-term strategic partnerships where commercially and operationally appropriate.Supplier Risk ManagementEstablish supplier-risk management frameworks.Identify supplier financial, operational, geographic, geopolitical, regulatory, cybersecurity, quality, capacity, compliance, sustainability, and continuity risks.Identify critical and high-risk suppliers.Develop supplier-risk assessments and monitoring processes.Establish early-warning indicators for significant supplier risks.Monitor supplier financial health and business stability.Assess supplier concentration and dependency.Identify single-source and single-point-of-failure risks.Develop mitigation strategies including dual sourcing, multi-sourcing, alternative suppliers, contingency arrangements, inventory strategies, and supplier development.Partner with Risk, Compliance, Supply Chain, Business Continuity, Finance, and Procurement teams.Monitor changes in supplier markets and external conditions that could affect supply continuity.Escalate material supplier risks to appropriate leadership.Maintain supplier-risk registers and mitigation plans.Supplier DevelopmentIdentify suppliers with potential for performance or capability improvement.Develop supplier-development programs for strategic and critical suppliers.Work with suppliers to improve quality, delivery, cost, service, productivity, capacity, and responsiveness.Establish improvement targets and action plans.Facilitate supplier workshops and improvement initiatives.Monitor supplier-development outcomes.Identify opportunities for supplier capability-building and process improvement.Support suppliers in adopting new technologies, processes, quality standards, sustainability practices, or operational improvements where appropriate.Evaluate whether supplier development can create greater value than supplier replacement.Ideal CandidateThe successful candidate should have experience in Supplier Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Category Management, Vendor Management, Supply Chain, or related commercial disciplines.The candidate should demonstrate:Proven experience managing strategic, critical, or complex supplier relationships.Strong understanding of supplier lifecycle management.Experience with supplier onboarding, qualification, performance management, remediation, development, renewal, and exit.Strong supplier-segmentation and portfolio-management capabilities.Proven experience developing supplier scorecards, KPIs, SLAs, and performance frameworks.Strong experience conducting supplier business reviews and executive supplier meetings.Experience managing supplier corrective-action plans and performance escalations.Strong supplier-risk management capabilities.Understanding of financial, operational, geographic, regulatory, compliance, cybersecurity, sustainability, and continuity risks.Experience developing supplier-risk mitigation and business-continuity strategies.Strong commercial and contractual awareness.Experience monitoring pricing, rebates, service levels, contractual obligations, and commercial performance.Strong stakeholder-management and influencing capabilities.Experience working cross-functionally with Procurement, Finance, Legal, Risk, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, and business teams.Strong analytical capabilities and experience using supplier-performance and spend data.Advanced Microsoft Excel skills; Power BI or similar analytics experience is advantageous.Experience with ERP, Supplier Management, Procurement, Contract Management, or Source-to-Pay platforms is advantageous.Strong supplier-development and continuous-improvement capabilities.Experience supporting supplier innovation, productivity, cost reduction, quality improvement, or operational improvement is advantageous.Understanding of sustainable and responsible supplier management is advantageous.Strong understanding of procurement governance and supplier controls.Experience in multinational or multi-business-unit organizations is highly advantageous.Experience working with suppliers across multiple countries and regions is advantageous.UAE, GCC, Middle East, or international supplier-management experience is advantageous.Strong project-management and problem-solving capabilities.Ability to manage multiple suppliers, priorities, risks, and stakeholder requirements simultaneously.Strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills.Ability to work independently in a fully remote and internationally distributed environment.Relevant degree in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Operations, Engineering, or a related discipline is highly advantageous.Professional qualifications in Procurement, Supply Chain, Supplier Management, or related fields are advantageous.Strong written and verbal English communication skills; Arabic is advantageous for UAE/GCC environments.High level of commercial judgment, analytical rigor, relationship management, risk awareness, accountability, organization, and attention to detail.Strong supplier-focused, commercially disciplined, data-driven, relationship-oriented, risk-aware, and results-driven mindset.