Senior Vendor Relationship Manager

✨ ONE PLATFORM, A WHOLE WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY

The best jobs are often restricted to a few wealthy cities, but talent exists everywhere. Oyster set out to change this by launching a global employment platform that enables companies to hire, pay, and support talent anywhere.

We're proof that a strong, engaged culture doesn't require an office. Since January 2020, Oyster has:

🌏 Built a distributed team of 500+ across 60+ countries

👩💻 Featured in Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2024/01/25/work-from-home-or-anywhere-top-30-companies-for-remote-jobs-in-2024/ as #9 in FlexJobs Top 30 Companies for remote jobs

🌈 Formed a diverse leadership team and a workforce that's 60% female

🏆 Earned top employee engagement scores

🦄 Raised $286 million; valued at $1.2 billion

💚 Achieved B Corp status in 2023

Our momentum shows the power of global employment, and we're just getting started! If you want to help us drive change and work remotely, we'd love for you to apply!

Location: While this position is posted in a specific region, all of Oyster's positions are fully remote, and you can work from home. Forever. To create the best experience for our new hire, this role requires that you be based within UTC -1 to UTC +3

Please note: This is a 12-month fixed-term contract position.

In this highly strategic and cross-functional role, you'll own and evolve Oyster's global vendor ecosystem, acting as the bridge between our business, our customers, and our external partners. You'll manage critical relationships across partners, ensuring they deliver scalable, high-quality solutions that enable our customers to hire anyone, anywhere. You'll combine commercial acumen, operational excellence, and strong relationship management to drive vendor performance, resolve complex escalations, and continuously strengthen our global partner ecosystem. From leading negotiations and governance frameworks to identifying new partnership opportunities and improving operational processes, you'll play a critical role in shaping how Oyster delivers global employment solutions at scale.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys solving complex operational challenges, and can confidently influence stakeholders internally and externally. You are commercially minded, data-driven, solutions-oriented, and energized by building strong partnerships that create long-term business impact.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Vendor Ownership

- Own strategic relationships with key operational vendors
Develop a deep understanding of partner capabilities, service models, geographic coverage, and operational risks

- Position partners effectively within Oyster's broader global employment ecosystem

- Ensure partners are equipped to support scalable, high-quality customer solutions

- Manage the full vendor relationship lifecycle, from onboarding through ongoing partnership management

- Continuously evaluate vendor fit and performance as Oyster scales globally

- Build and maintain expertise in global employment partner models and operational best practices

Vendor Performance & Governance

- Monitor, maintain, and strive to improve vendor KPIs, SLAs, and accountability frameworks

- Lead recurring business reviews and performance discussions with partner leadership teams
Present vendor performance insights, trends, and improvement plans to internal stakeholders and leadership

- Monitor operational performance and proactively identify service risks or quality concerns

- Conduct structured audits and operational reviews across the partner ecosystem

- Drive consistent governance standards and operational excellence across vendors

Commercial & Partnership Management

- Build trusted, long-term relationships with external partner leadership teams

- Lead commercial discussions, contract negotiations, and partnership renewals

- Strengthen strategic partnerships to support business growth and customer outcomes

- Act as an escalation lead for complex or high-impact customer issues involving partners

- Collaborate cross-functionally and externally to resolve sensitive operational challenges

- Support customer and internal stakeholder conversations requiring partner expertise

- Identify and source new partners to strengthen global coverage and capabilities

Vendor Ecosystem Development

- Identify operational or geographic gaps within the vendor ecosystem

- Evaluate and onboard new partners to strengthen Oyster's global coverage

- Recommend improvements to ecosystem strategy, scalability, and service quality

- Partner cross-functionally to evolve how Oyster leverages and manages external vendors

- Drive initiatives that improve partner consistency, efficiency, and customer experience

Strategic Business Partnership

- Advise internal teams on vendor capabilities, strengths, and operational considerations

- Guide partner selection decisions based on customer needs and