Strategic Supplier Relationship Manager

Contract Type:  Permanent

Hiring Manager Susan Moore

Recruitment Business Partner Georgina Dunne

Location:  Edinburgh or Alderley Edge

Working style: Hybrid 50% home/office based

Closing date:  20/05/2025

The successful candidate will be responsible for the management and development of strategic and commercial relationships for a number of Royal London’s IT partners; working with relevant business stakeholders to deliver a structured supplier management framework, covering supplier performance, risk, cost, value, and relationship considerations.

They will manage the ongoing assessment and review of controls and risks within the scope of the supplier delivered services in order to ensure compliance with Group Policy and Risk Management principles.

This is a particularly exciting time to join a well-respected Procurement team who are helping to deliver Royal London’s strategic outcomes and ambitions across a number of change programmes, driving the fullest commercial value from our partner relationships and new procurement opportunities.

Key responsibilities

• Drive significant cost, risk, performance, and relationship value generation from best-in-class end-to-end supplier management.
• Develop and maintain Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier account plans to include revenue targets, continuous cost and service improvement plans, risks/issues, potential growth/change, contractual and regulatory requirements, contingency and exit plans.
• On-going pro-active review of existing contractual arrangements, working in collaboration with category business executives and service owners.
• Lead the supplier relationships, providing regular updates on Royal London’s strategic priorities and targets to build enduring partnerships.
• Provide an escalation route for supplier non-compliance and invoke / manage appropriate contractual provisions.

Criteria

• Significant experience in supplier management, preferably within financial services.
• Strong commercial knowledge and negotiation skills, from service optimisation through to leveraging third party relationships to maximise business benefit.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with substantial experience of working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Great collaborator, with proven ability to effectively challenge and influence business stakeholders.
• Experience of coaching and developing others in a continuous improvement environment.

About Royal London

We’re the UK’s largest mutual life, pensions and investment company, offering protection, long-term savings and asset management products and services.   

Our People Promise to our colleagues is that we will all work somewhere inclusive, responsible, enjoyable and fulfilling. This is underpinned by our Spirit of Royal London values; Empowered, Trustworthy, Collaborate, Achieve. 

We've always been proud to reward employees by offering great workplace benefits such as 28 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays, an up to 14% employer matching pension scheme and private medical insurance. You can see all our benefits here - Our Benefits  

Inclusion, diversity and belonging 

We’re an Inclusive employer. We celebrate and value different backgrounds and cultures across Royal London. Our diverse people and perspectives give us a range of skills which are recognised and respected – whatever their background.