Vendor Manager

About the role:

We are seeking a commercially driven and strategic professional to drive our partnership development, vendor negotiations, and extended assortment strategy.

In this role, you will be responsible for identifying, building, and managing high-value relationships with (new) vendors/partners that drive sustainable growth with a focus on product and category extensions. You will act as a key negotiator, ensuring that our partnerships create long-term value for both our company and our partners.

You will serve as a vendor owner for the extended ranges and develop and implement strategies to maximize profitability by managing costs, selling prices, and vendor relationships. Responsibilities include defining the assortment, negotiating contracts, managing contractual agreements, assessing vendor performance, product lifecycles (end to end onboarding or offboarding of items and or vendors) and pricing strategies. Everything you do, is to support our sales and margin targets.

Key Responsibilities:

Partnership & Strategic Deal-Making

• Identify, evaluate, and secure strategic partnerships that expand market opportunities and create long-term value.
• Lead complex negotiations with vendors, partners, and stakeholders to deliver win-win outcomes and strengthen business relationships.
• Structure and close strategic agreements including alliances, sourcing deals, licensing, and joint ventures.
• Stay on top of market developments and trends across existing and new products / categories.

Assortment & Pricing Strategy

• Develop and own the overall assortment strategy, including product selection, end-to-end onboarding and purchasing prices.
• Stay on top of market developments and trends for the most relevant pricing when sourcing.
• Own and source the private/own brand assortment: defining products, vendor selection, tender cycles, and negotiations.

Vendor & Sourcing Strategy

• Develop vendor and sourcing strategies to optimize costs, margins, and rebates while mitigating market cost pressures.
• Lead vendor negotiations to improve costs, contractual terms, and cash flow management.
• Manage vendor performance in line with contractual agreements, driving accountability, and continuous improvement.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Customer Focus

• Partner with Sales to meet customer needs, supporting product specifications, large deal requirements, and tender processes.
• Build strong internal and external relationships to influence and align stakeholders on assortment, sourcing, and vendor plans.
• Provide market-relevant insights into vendor performance, cost developments, and future forecasting to enable effective decision-making.

Qualifications:

• Proven experience in business development, partnerships, vendor management, or assortment strategy.
• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of leading negotiations and improving cost/margin performance.
• Experience in developing product and pricing strategies across multiple markets or countries.
• Excellent relationship-building, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret market trends, forecast costs, and drive strategic decision-making.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Supply Chain, or related field (MBA is a plus).

If you are a commercially minded professional with strong negotiation skills and a passion for building strategic partnerships that drive business growth, this is an excellent opportunity to make an impact. Join us in shaping our extended assortment and vendor strategy, contributing directly to our commercial success and long-term value creation.

We look forward to receiving your application.