Manager/Senior Manager, Vendor Operations and Innovation, External Talent Function

WHAT MAKES US A GREAT PLACE TO WORK:

Bain & Company is recognized as one of the top international management consultancy firms.  We assist major corporations worldwide with strategy, acquisitions, organizational design and performance improvement.

We are proud to be consistently recognized as one of the world’s best places to work, a champion of diversity and a model of social responsibility. We believe that diversity, inclusion, and collaboration is key to building extraordinary teams. We hire people with exceptional talents, abilities, and potential, then create an environment where you can become the best version of yourself and thrive both professionally and personally.

Position overview

Bain’s Primary Research capability supports high-quality insight generation for client teams through a broad ecosystem of external research partners, including expert networks, survey providers, specialist research vendors, and other third-party partners. The Manager, Vendor Management, will support category management, quality and risk-related initiatives, commercial and performance tracking, stakeholder communications, and operational improvement efforts.

The ideal candidate is a strong Manager-level operator who can bring structure to ambiguity, coordinate across multiple stakeholders, manage complex vendor workstreams, and translate priorities into practical execution.

Why this role matters

Primary Research is an important capability for Bain, helping teams develop distinctive market, customer, and expert perspectives. As research channels become more complex, Bain’s ability to manage a high-performing vendor ecosystem, maintain quality standards, and support efficient research operations is increasingly important to delivering client impact.

Key responsibilities

Support the ongoing management of Bain’s external research vendor portfolio, including expert networks, specialist research vendors, and other third-party partners.

Oversee recurring vendor management activities, including business reviews, performance check-ins, issue-resolution meetings, and commercial follow-ups.

Track vendor performance against agreed service, quality, compliance, operational, and commercial expectations.

Support vendor selection, onboarding, renewal, amendment, and offboarding processes in partnership with relevant internal stakeholders.

Support innovation initiatives that improve the quality, consistency, efficiency, and scalability of Primary Research operations.

Translate priorities into structured workplans with clear owners, timelines, risks, dependencies, and decision points.

Prepare clear updates that summarize progress, key risks, decisions required and recommended next steps.

Build trusted working relationships with internal stakeholders across business, research, Legal, Risk & Compliance, Finance, technology, and client-service teams.

Support communications with external vendors, including meeting preparation, follow-up notes, action tracking, and issue escalation.

Required qualifications

Manager-level experience in vendor management, operations, contingent workforce planning, professional services, consulting operations, external talent management, product operations, or a related field.

Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously.

Strong project management and organizational skills, with ability to translate ambiguous problems into clear plans, owners, and next steps.

Strong written communication skills, with ability to prepare concise, structured, senior-ready materials.

Strong stakeholder management skills, including ability to coordinate across teams with different priorities and incentives.

Analytical comfort with vendor performance, spend, usage, operational metrics, and issue tracking.

Commercial judgment and comfort supporting vendor negotiations, contract tracking, and performance discussions.

High attention to detail and strong follow-through.

Preferred qualifications

Experience with expert networks, primary research, survey vendors, external talent providers, professional services vendors, or knowledge/research operations.

Experience supporting risk, compliance, fraud prevention, vendor quality, or third-party management initiatives.

Experience working with product, data, or technology teams on business requirements, tool adoption, or operational enablement.

Experience in consulting, private equity support, d…