Carrier Relations Manager | IT Recruitment

Position Purpose:

Responsible for procurement of the company’s products and services from regional vendors, in order to support internal stakeholders, by establishing and maintaining long-term beneficial relationships and strategies. The role supports sales and project teams in their growth and delivery objectives.

 

Key stakeholder Relationship:

Internal

• Finance, Procurement, Operations, Sales, Project Managers, Quality Assurance, Contract Manager

 

External

• Customers, Vendors/suppliers, Attorneys

 

Experience & Qualifications:

Minimum Qualification:

• ITIL basic foundation certification
• Bachelors degree in commerce, supply chain or related tertiary qualification preferable
• Project management or service delivery background advantageous

 

Minimum Experience

• 5 years’ experience in telecommunications industry, data networking products (MPLS, Ethernet, WAN, etc.).
• Experience in procurement from international suppliers, predominately in Africa and Middle East (preferable)

 

Other Requirements

• Valid passport
• Willing to travel internationally on an ad hoc basis
• Prepared to work overtime, if required

 

Key Performance Areas & Indicators:

PROCUREMENT

Tasks

• Fully engage with Commercial Manager to confirm any technical requirements, SLA and delivery lead times for all firm requests
• Ensuring services are sourced and negotiated at market-related prices or less.
• Monitor escalations received from Commercial Managers to ensure pricing requests completed within the timeline for the respective country matrix.
• Negotiate further discounts, based on firm order and obtain an official quote for all requests at 100% probability
• Submit a final offer to Commercial Managers accurately
• Ensuring pricing books are up to date and communicated with management if any price changes take place.

 

CARRIER RELATIONS MANAGEMENT

Tasks

• Work with global suppliers, ensuring open and transparent communication of supplier feedback
• Develops, reviews, and refines supplier score cards and procedures for vendor rules of engagement.
• Leverage score card analytics to make data-driven decisions and recommendations to stakeholders and leaders.
• Manage and resolve supplier escalations from internal departments
• Responsible for resolving Supplier invoice holds and payment issues from suppliers.
• Retrieve reports from the system and generate monthly reports to measure trends

SLA / CREDIT MANAGEMENT

Tasks

• Ensure SLA criteria including penalties are in place with all vendors
• Analyses monthly SLA reporting received from QA for non-performance
• Negotiate necessary credit note with the supplier based on SLA reporting
• Obtain necessary credit note and ensure captured by Finance

COST SAVINGS

Tasks

• Participate in transformational, consolidation and negotiate annual cost-savings initiatives
• Analyze annual spend per supplier and advise on consolidation or other initiatives to reduce costs and improve service delivery

 

CANCELLATION

Tasks

• Request cancellation terms from suppliers
• Timeous and accurate processing of all requests
• Provide accurate feedback to Commercial Managers on cancellation period and penalties

 

Competency requirements for position

KNOWLEDGE

• Product knowledge of Ethernet, MPLS and Internet data solutions
• Knowledge of ISP/data solution providers and markets across Africa
• Basic knowledge of telco regulations and legislation in various countries

SKILLS

• Basic Cost-Accounting skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with vendors for competitive advantage
• Basic Cost-Accounting skills
• Report Writing skills
• Intermediate skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint)

BEHAVIORAL

• Strong negotiation skills
• Strong Business Acumen
• Analytical skills
• Accurate, attention to Detail
• Deadline driven
• Planning and Organisational skills
• Initiative
• Ability to prioritize
• Problem-solving skills
• Stress tolerance
• Team player