Lead, IT Vendor Management

Job Summary:

The Lead, IT Vendor Management is responsible for supporting the oversight, governance, and ongoing management of Porter Airlines’ technology vendor portfolio. Reporting to the Managing Director, IT Systems and Delivery, this role helps ensure IT vendor relationships are well structured, commercially managed, performance-driven, and aligned to Porter’s business and technology objectives.

A key priority for this role is to strengthen Porter IT’s approach to managing existing vendor relationships, with a focus on strategic renewals, vendor performance, governance, cost optimization, and long-term value realization. Working closely with IT leadership, Procurement, Finance, Legal, and business stakeholders, the Lead supports renewal planning, commercial analysis, vendor negotiations, and the management of vendor commitments, risks, and improvement actions.

The Lead also plays an important role in maturing vendor management practices across the IT organization. This includes maintaining a clear view of the IT vendor landscape, supporting vendor tiering, coordinating governance forums such as MBRs, QBRs, and Executive Business Reviews, and contributing to tools and standards such as scorecards, contract repositories, reporting templates, governance frameworks, and the IT vendor management playbook.

Working cross-functionally with IT leadership, Procurement, and business stakeholders, this role ensures vendor relationships are structured, transparent, and effectively managed, while contributing to the ongoing development of vendor management processes, tools, and standards.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Manage day-to-day relationships between Porter IT and technology vendors, ensuring alignment with contractual obligations, service expectations, business needs, and long-term value

Develop account strategies for key strategic vendors, including relationship objectives, commercial posture, renewal outlook, roadmap alignment, performance risks, and opportunities to increase value

Maintain a multi-year renewal roadmap for strategic IT contracts, ensuring sufficient lead time for stakeholder review, commercial planning, negotiation, and decision-making

Coordinate contract lifecycle activities, including renewals, amendments, terminations, and related vendor actions, in partnership with IT stakeholders, Procurement, Finance, Legal, and other internal teams as required

Support vendor negotiations by preparing renewal strategies, commercial objectives, benchmarking, spend analysis, risk considerations, and recommended options

Identify and drive vendor value opportunities, including cost optimization, license optimization, service improvements, consolidation, demand management, innovation proposals, and capability uplift beyond baseline contractual commitments

Maintain a centralized vendor inventory and contract repository, including key commercial terms, SLAs, renewal dates, vendor contacts, spend information, and governance requirements

Support the development and refinement of Porter IT’s vendor tiering model, ensuring governance, performance tracking, and engagement cadence are aligned to vendor criticality, spend, risk, and strategic importance

Coordinate vendor governance activities, including MBRs, QBRs, Executive Business Reviews, scorecards, stakeholder feedback, action registers, and follow-up on vendor commitments

Track vendor performance against SLAs, KPIs, contractual commitments, and business expectations, ensuring gaps, risks, remediation plans, internal owners, vendor actions, due dates, and escalation paths are documented and managed

Partner with IT leadership, Procurement, and Finance to support budget planning, financial tracking, vendor-related decision-making, and renewal prioritization

Identify opportunities to rationalize, consolidate,, or exit existing vendor relationships based on performance, cost, risk, duplication, business value, and strategic fit

Contribute to the continuous improvement of vendor management processes, governance frameworks, scorecards, templates, reporting, and the IT vendor management playbook

Ensure vendor management activities and documentation align with internal policies, audit requirements, risk management expectations, and governance standards

Actively participate in Porter's Safety Management System (SMS), including reporting hazards and incidents encountered in daily operations; understand, comply with, and promote the Company Safety Policy.

Perform other duties as assigned by IT leadership

Behavioural Competencies:

Concern for Safety: Identifying hazardous or potentially hazardous situations and taking appropriate action to maintain a safe environment for self and others.

Teamwork: Working collaboratively with others to achieve organizational goals.

Passenger/Customer Service: Providing service excellence to internal and/or external customers (passengers).

Initiative: Dealing with situations and issues proactively and persistently, seizing opportunities that arise.

Results Focus: Focusing efforts on achieving high quality results consistent with the organization’s standards.

Fostering Communication: Listening and communicating openly, honestly, and respectfully with different audiences, promoting dialogue and building consensus.

Qualifications:

Post-secondary education in Business, Supply Chain, Technology, or a related field

4–6+ years of experience in vendor management, procurement, IT operations, or a related role supporting third-party services

Demonstrated experience supporting contract management activities, including renewals, amendments, or vendor negotiations

Exposure to vendor spend management, budgeting, or cost optimization initiatives

Strong understanding of service level agreements (SLAs), KPIs, and vendor performance tracking

Experience leading, coordinating, or participating in vendor governance activities (e.g., vendor reviews, performance discussions)

Proficiency in Google Suite and Microsoft Office tools

Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple vendors, contracts, and competing priorities

Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with experience working across IT, Procurement, and business teams

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret data and support decision-making

Ability to balance operational execution with continuous improvement, including identifying opportunities to enhance processes or reduce costs

Collaborative, proactive mindset with a focus on accountability and follow-through

Familiarity with vendor scorecards, contract tracking tools, or governance frameworks is an asset

Experience in a regulated or operationally complex environment (e.g., aviation, transportation, financial services) is an asset

Company Description:

Since 2006, Porter Airlines has been elevating the experience of economy air travel for every passenger, providing genuine hospitality with style, care and charm. Porter’s fleet of Embraer E195-E2 and De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft serves North America, including a coast-to-coast domestic Canadian network, the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Headquartered in Toronto, Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline® in the World Airline Star Rating®. Visit www.flyporter.com or follow @porterairlines on Instagram, Facebook and X.