Senior Director, Vendor Management & Governance Lead

Location: US - GA - Atlanta

Job Description Summary

At The Coca-Cola Company, our purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We bring this purpose to life by creating loved brands, operating sustainably, and building a better shared future for people, communities, and the planet. Our culture is grounded in curiosity, empowerment, inclusion, agility, and doing the right thing—beliefs that inspire us to act with courage, collaborate across boundaries, and create meaningful, lasting impact.

We are seeking a Senior Director, Vendor Management, Governance & Contract Lifecycle Management who will provide strategic leadership and enterprise-wide direction for the organization’s technology vendor ecosystem, with responsibility for establishing and advancing a scalable global governance model across all technology vendors and strategic partnerships, governing the technology supplier ecosystem supporting enterprise infrastructure and services, and leading the Contract Lifecycle Management platform that houses and governs indirect purchasing contracts and vendor accounts.

This role serves as a senior advisor to technology and business leadership, shaping vendor strategy, commercial governance, supplier performance, third-party risk, financial optimization, and strategic sourcing. The Senior Director partners across IT, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Risk, and business functions to ensure external technology partnerships deliver measurable business value, innovation, operational resilience, cost optimization, and sustainable competitive advantage.

The position leads the evolution of vendor relationships from traditional service-provider arrangements into strategic partnerships focused on business outcomes, continuous improvement, innovation, and long-term enterprise value.

What You’ll Do for Us

Vendor Governance Strategy & Leadership

Evolve and expand the work of the current global IT Vendor Governance program and team to further maximize vendor performance, strengthen strategic supplier relationships, and drive measurable business outcomes aligned with enterprise technology and organizational objectives. Set the multiyear strategy, transformation roadmap, investment priorities, and success measures for vendor governance, supplier performance, and commercial management.

Build, lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team, establishing clear accountabilities, succession plans, and professional development priorities.

Establish multiyear governance frameworks, operating models, policies, and standards covering vendor selection, onboarding, contracting, performance management, risk management, financial governance, and relationship management.

Define supplier segmentation and tiering models, including appropriate governance requirements, benefits, incentives, performance expectations, and engagement models.

Establish executive governance forums and decision-making mechanisms that enable timely escalation, enterprise prioritization, and accountability for financial, operational, service, and risk outcomes.

Continuously mature the vendor governance program using business-partner feedback, performance data, market intelligence, industry trends, and leading practices.

Serve as a strategic advisor to IT leadership and business stakeholders on vendor strategy, supplier performance, commercial opportunities, and third-party risk.

Contract, Financial & Commercial Management

Provide financial and commercial governance (e.g. budgeting, forecasting, purchase orders) across the technology supplier portfolio in close partnership with Procurement, Legal, Finance, Global Digital Network, Digital Transformation Office , and business stakeholders.

Identify opportunities for contract consolidation, optimization, volume discounts, improved commercial terms, and cost avoidance while maintaining required service levels, business continuity, and strategic outcomes.

Develop strategic supplier relationships that extend beyond transactional contract management and support innovation and long-term enterprise objectives.

Monitor supplier billing and contractual financial commitments, resolving discrepancies and ensuring appropriate financial controls.

Develop data-driven reporting that provides leadership with visibility into supplier spend, savings, forecasts, contractual obligations, and commercial opportunities, including but not limited to dashboards, Vendor Performance Scorecards, and Vendor Risk Management reporting.

Contract Lifecycle Management Strategy & Operations

Continue to support the Legal Functions digitization and technology transformation to develop and own an enterprise CLM strategy, operating model, governance framework, and multiyear roadmap aligned with business, technology, procurement, legal, financial, and risk priorities.

Lead the evaluation, selection, design, configuration, implementation, integration, and continuous enhancement of the CLM platform, workflows, templates, controls, and reporting capabilities.

Assist the Legal function in establishing standardized processes across the full contract lifecycle, including intake, drafting, review, negotiation, approval, execution, storage, amendments, renewals, obligations, and termination.

Implement the defined CLM policies, decision rights, approval thresholds, service levels, data standards, and accountability across Procurement, Legal, Finance, IT, Risk, and business functions.

Lead stakeholder engagement, communications, training, change management, and user support to drive enterprise adoption and sustained process compliance.

Implement dashboards and performance measures that provide visibility into contract volumes, cycle times, upcoming renewals, obligations, compliance, value realization, and contractual risk.

Lead CLM program governance, platform support, data quality, access management, process optimization, and continuous improvement.

Evaluate and implement opportunities to use automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence to improve contract review, obligation management, risk identification, and decision-making.

Vendor Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Establish standardized vendor KPIs, SLAs, customer satisfaction measures, scorecards, and performance-management methodologies.
• Lead Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Business Reviews with strategic suppliers to assess performance, address service gaps, identify improvement opportunities, and align on future priorities.
• Use performance analytics and stakeholder feedback to identify trends, improve supplier accountability, and drive measurable continuous improvement.
• Develop corrective-action and improvement plans for underperforming suppliers and monitor progress against agreed commitments.

Third-Party Risk & Compliance

Integrate vendor risk management into the overall governance framework, including contractual, operational, financial, security, privacy, and compliance considerations.

Partner with appropriate risk, security, legal, and compliance teams to ensure supplier relationships meet organizational and regulatory requirements, including GDPR and SOX.

Establish mechanisms for identifying, monitoring, escalating, and mitigating vendor-related risks throughout the supplier lifecycle.

Ensure governance processes provide appropriate documentation, transparency, accountability, and audit readiness.

Maintain transparent reporting of the scale and health of the vendor and contract portfolio—including supplier spend, strategic-vendor coverage, contract volumes, geographic reach, team capacity, and risk exposure—to support executive decisions and resource prioritization.

Stakeholder & Supplier Relationship Management

• Build strong relationships with senior IT leaders, Procurement, Legal, Finance, DTO Counterparts, business stakeholders, and strategic suppliers.
• Serve as a primary point of leadership for key supplier relationships, balancing service performance, financial value, innovation, risk, and business priorities.
• Enhance stakeholder and supplier engagement by establishing transparent governance, clear performance expectations, and consistent communication.
• Facilitate resolution of complex vendor issues requiring coordination across multiple internal and external stakeholders.

Innovation & Strategic Partnerships

• Create programs that encourage technology partners to contribute innovative ideas, capabilities, and solutions to the organization.
• Develop supplier recognition and engagement initiatives that reinforce innovation, collaboration, and measurable business value.
• Lead enterprise technology recognition initiatives, including global programs that identify and celebrate innovative technology solutions across the broader ecosystem.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in Vendor Management, Supplier Management, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Technology Operations, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing enterprise or global vendor governance programs.
• Strong experience managing large technology supplier portfolios and complex managed-services relationships.
• Proven track record of leading complex, cross-functional initiatives from planning through execution and value realization.
• Proven expertise in contract negotiation, strategic sourcing, commercial management, supplier performance, and financial governance.
• Experience developing vendor KPIs, SLAs, scorecards, dashboards, business reviews, and performance improvement plans.
• Strong understanding of third-party risk, regulatory compliance, and governance requirements, including GDPR and SOX.
• Experience working cross-functionally with senior stakeholders across IT, Procurement, Legal, Finance, Risk, and business organizations.
• Exceptional negotiation, executive communication, relationship management, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing budgets, forecasts, supplier spend, savings initiatives, and commercial commitments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Technology Management, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading an enterprise CLM transformation and end-to-end implementation of a major CLM platform, including process design, integrations, data migration, governance, deployment, and post-launch optimization.
• Demonstrated experience leading organizational change and driving adoption across Procurement, Legal, Finance, IT, Risk, and business teams.
• Experience managing global technology suppliers and complex, multinational stakeholder environments.
• Relevant certification in procurement, sourcing, contract management, vendor management, change management, or project management.

Core Capabilities

Strategic Execution & Value Delivery

Ability to translate enterprise strategy into actionable execution plans and consistently deliver measurable business outcomes. Drives disciplined execution across complex, cross-functional initiatives with a clear focus on value realization.

Governance & Operating Model Excellence

Designs and implements effective governance structures, decision frameworks, and operating rhythms that enhance transparency, accountability, and execution consistency across initiatives.

Performance Management & Value Realization

Defines success metrics, monitors performance, and ensures initiatives deliver against expected value through robust tracking, reporting, and continuous recalibration of priorities.

Enterprise Prioritization & Resource Optimization

Evaluates competing priorities, balances resource allocation, and aligns organizational capacity to maximize impact and ensure focus on the highest-value initiatives.

Stakeholder Leadership & Influence

Builds strong, trust-based relationships across functions and levels, aligning diverse stakeholders and influencing outcomes in a matrixed environment without direct authority.

Data, Digital & Artificial Intelligence Fluency

Leverages data analytics, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence tools to enhance decision-making, improve forecasting accuracy, and increase execution visibility.

Risk Management & Dependency Orchestration

Anticipates risks, manages interdependencies, and proactively addresses obstacles to ensure seamless delivery across interconnected workstreams.

Continuous Improvement & Execution Excellence

Champions a culture of ongoing optimization by embedding best practices, streamlining processes, and driving operational efficiency across the value delivery lifecycle.

Change Leadership & Adoption

Leads change initiatives by ensuring effective adoption of new tools, processes, and ways of working, enabling sustainable transformation and long-term impact.

Executive Communication & Insight Translation

Synthesizes complex data into clear, compelling narratives and insights that inform executive decision-making and reinforce strategic alignment.

What We’ll Do for You

Offer the opportunity to shape our Vendor Management and Governance strategy in a globally recognized organization with significant growth ambitions.

Provide exposure to senior leadership and cross-functional teams, enabling you to influence at scale and drive meaningful impact.

Support your professional growth through access to advanced learning platforms, leadership development programs, and global experiences.

Enable you to work in a dynamic, purpose-driven environment that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

The Coca-Cola Company will not offer sponsorship for employment status (including, but not limited to, H1-B visa status and other employment-based nonimmigrant visas) for this position. Accordingly, all applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis and must not require The Coca-Cola Company's sponsorship to continue to work legally in the United States.

Skills

Pay Range

United States: 202,000 - 229,000 USD

Base pay offered may vary depending on geography, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position, is offered.

Annual Incentive Reference Value Percentage

30

Annual Incentive reference value is a market-based competitive value for your role. It falls in the middle of the range for your role, indicating performance at target.

Location(s)

United States of America

City/Cities

Atlanta

Travel Required

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided

No

Job Posting End Date

October 23, 2026

Our Purpose and Growth Culture

We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture that is grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what’s possible and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We focus on four key behaviors – curious, empowered, inclusive and agile – and value how we work as much as what we achieve. We believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive after 130+ years. Visit Our Purpose and Vision to learn more about these behaviors and how you can bring them to life in your next role at Coca-Cola.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. When we collect your personal information as part of a job application or offer of employment, we do so in accordance with industry standards and best practices and in compliance with applicable privacy laws.