Partner Management Lead

VIVO provides facilities management and accommodation maintenance for the UK military and its partners. VIVO embodies both experience and innovation.

We put our Customers and Families First. They are the driving force behind everything we do. We drive forward improvements for them to ensure the service they receive, whether reactive repairs or a major project, is completed safely and on time. In order to achieve this, we have 4 core values: open, caring, agile and collaborative. These are at the heart of everything we do.

Location: Home based, candidates must be based in or near the Midlands due to the need for national travel.

Permanent, Full time

Salary: Competitive + Benefits

We are looking for an experienced and commercially focused Partner Management Lead to take ownership of the end-to-end management of VIVO’s specialist supply chain across the business. This is a strategic leadership role responsible for developing and managing supplier relationships, driving commercial performance and creating a consistent, high-performing Partner Management function across multiple contracts within the Defence Estate.

Working closely with operational, commercial and procurement teams, you will help shape how specialist service partners are sourced, onboarded, managed and developed throughout the full supplier lifecycle. You will lead a small procurement and supplier management team, providing direction, coaching and leadership while embedding a collaborative, commercially focused and performance-driven culture.

The role requires strong stakeholder engagement across the business to ensure supply chain models are implemented consistently and effectively, with a clear focus on operational delivery, value for money and customer outcomes. A major part of the role will involve building strong relationships with strategic suppliers and acting as a trusted commercial lead across the business.

You will develop supplier management frameworks that strengthen collaboration, improve accountability and ensure suppliers align with VIVO’s contractual obligations, service standards and company values. You will oversee the commercial and contractual management of specialist suppliers across core services, billable works, goods and materials, and indirect spend categories. This includes ownership of contracts, supplier performance management, KPI and SLA monitoring, change control processes and commercial governance.

You will also play a key role in standardising supplier agreements, frameworks and terms and conditions across the business. Working closely with operational teams, you will develop clear and consistent scopes of work for strategic suppliers and ensure these are effectively communicated and embedded across contracts.

You will also identify opportunities to improve supply chain performance, reduce cost, increase operational efficiency and introduce innovative supplier solutions that enhance margins and service delivery. The role carries responsibility for budgetary oversight and spend management across the specialist supply chain. You will establish controls, monitor supplier spend against budgets and support stakeholders in developing supplier-specific financial plans and forecasting activities.

You will also lead tendering and sourcing activities, including market testing, benchmarking exercises and supplier evaluations to ensure competitiveness, best value and continuous improvement across the supply chain. This includes managing complex procurement processes, evaluating submissions and presenting recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Technology and process improvement are also central to the role. You will utilise e-procurement systems such as Proactis to improve supplier management, contract control and procurement efficiency while helping to modernise and strengthen supply chain governance processes across VIVO.

In addition, you will organise supplier engagement activities, including “Meet the Buyer” events, helping to strengthen relationships with existing partners while identifying opportunities to expand and diversify the supply chain. This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially driven procurement or supply chain professional to play a key role in shaping a newly established Partner Management function within a growing national FM organisation.

About You: You will have significant experience within procurement, commercial management or supply chain leadership, ideally within facilities management, construction or a defence-related environment. A strong understanding of hard FM services, supplier management and contract delivery is essential, along with proven experience managing complex supplier relationships and full sourcing processes from design through to implementation.

You will be commercially astute with strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills, capable of influencing at all levels both internally and externally. Experience managing supplier performance frameworks, contract governance, KPI monitoring and commercial controls is highly desirable.

You should be confident leading tender processes, evaluating complex submissions and presenting commercial outcomes clearly and professionally. Strong analytical skills are essential, including the ability to extract, interpret and present data to support business decisions and performance improvement.

You will also be highly organised and comfortable managing multiple priorities within a fast-paced environment. Excellent communication skills are essential, along with strong Microsoft Office capability, particularly within Excel and Word.

A degree or equivalent qualification in Procurement, Commercial Management or a related discipline is required, alongside relevant professional membership such as CIPS, RICS, CIOB or IWFM. Leadership or management qualifications would be advantageous.

The role offers flexible working with a combination of home working and travel across England and Wales. Due to the nature of the contracts, the successful candidate will be required to achieve and maintain BPSS Clearance and be eligible for SC Clearance.

What We Offer: 6% employee matched pension contribution, Bonus, Company car/Car allowance, 1 professional subscription per year, 25 days annual leave, Life assurance 2x annual salary, Private medical cover for self and partner.

At VIVO, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. Therefore, we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working and operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly a Disability Confident Leader. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.