Director of Technology Vendor Management

Salary Range:

This pay range represents the minimum and maximum compensation that the position offers, and final compensation can vary within the range depending on work location, job experience, skills, and relevant educational attainment and/or training.

Job Title: Director of Technology Vendor Management

Location: Lake Forest / Irvine, California
Employment Type: Full-Time

The Role

The Director of Technology Vendor Management leads strategic sourcing, procurement, software license governance, supplier relationship management, and technology outsourcing initiatives for AVEVA's global R&D organization.

Sitting at the intersection of technical innovation, procurement, software asset management, commercial governance, and legal risk, this role ensures that our developers and technologists have access to best-in-class software, developer tools, cloud environments, AI technologies, and external engineering services while maintaining cost optimization, operational resilience, and compliance.

This role manages long-term supplier relationships, strategic outsourcing partnerships, high-stakes commercial negotiations, technology supply chain risk, third-party compliance (including EU Cyber Resilience Act compliance), and cost optimization across the entire technology ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities:

Specialized R&D Sourcing

• Lead the procurement lifecycle for specialized R&D assets, including developer tools, testing hardware, developer platforms, cloud services, AI technologies, and external R&D consulting and engineering services.

Strategic Outsourcing & Commercial Leadership

• Lead strategic management of global R&D outsourcing partnerships and technology service providers. Own complex commercial negotiations, including multi-year software, engineering services, cloud, and technology agreements. Drive supplier performance, contractual governance, value realization, risk mitigation, and executive-level partner relationships.

Cost Optimization & Rationalization

• Identify and deliver cost-saving opportunities through vendor consolidation, enterprise license agreements (ELAs), volume discounts, contract renewals, cloud optimization initiatives, and sourcing strategies that maximize business value.

Software Asset Management (SAM)

• Implement and govern software asset management frameworks and tools to monitor software utilization, audit compliance, optimize licensing investments, and prevent over-provisioning.

Commercial & Licensing Governance

• Lead complex commercial negotiations, master service agreements (MSAs), SaaS contracts, OEM/licensing models, cloud commitments, and strategic sourcing initiatives to maximize leverage and optimize spend.

Technology Supply Chain Risk & Governance

• Lead enterprise-wide governance of the R&D technology supply chain, spanning third-party software, technology vendors, engineering services, and outsourcing providers.
• Establish robust supplier assurance and risk management practices to ensure cybersecurity, software supply chain integrity, intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience throughout the supplier lifecycle.

AI & Emerging Technology Vendor Management

• Lead the sourcing, evaluation, onboarding, contracting, and governance of AI and emerging technology vendors.
• Partner closely with R&D, Legal, Information Security, Corporate Procurement, and Finance to enable rapid technology adoption while maintaining appropriate commercial, security, data privacy, intellectual property, and governance controls.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Establish supplier risk frameworks and third-party software governance processes to ensure compliance with emerging regulations and industry standards, including CRA, SOC 2, software supply chain security requirements, and intellectual property protection.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the strategic bridge between R&D and business functions, partnering closely with Procurement, Legal, Information Security, Finance, Product Development, and executive leadership to align supplier strategies with business objectives.

Desired Skills and Competencies:

Commercial & Legal Expertise

• Proven track record structuring and negotiating complex enterprise software licenses, cloud commitment models, outsourcing agreements, managed services contracts, OEM/embedding agreements, and strategic technology partnerships.

Outsourcing & Supplier Management Leadership

• Demonstrated experience leading global outsourcing strategies, managing large-scale technology vendor portfolios, and driving measurable business outcomes through supplier performance management and commercial governance.

Technology Supply Chain & Risk Management

• Deep understanding of supplier risk management, third-party software governance, software supply chain security, cybersecurity requirements, operational resilience, and technology vendor assurance frameworks.

AI & Emerging Technology Acumen

• Experience evaluating, procuring, and governing AI, machine learning, and emerging technology solutions.
• Understanding of the commercial, legal, security, data privacy, intellectual property, and compliance considerations associated with AI adoption.

Regulatory Acumen

• Strong understanding of global software compliance standards, open-source licensing (SBOM/SBOA), cybersecurity regulations, and regulatory frameworks such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).

Leadership & Influence

• Outstanding cross-functional leadership skills with a proven ability to influence technical stakeholders, procurement teams, legal partners, and executive business leaders in a highly matrixed environment.

R&D at AVEVA 

Our global team of 2000+ developers work on an incredibly diverse portfolio of over 75 industrial automation and engineering products, which cover everything from data management to 3D design. AI and cloud are at the centre of our strategy, and we have over 150 patents to our name.

Our track record of innovation is no fluke – it’s the result of a structured and deliberate focus on learning, collaboration and inclusivity. If you want to build applications that solve big problems, join us.

Find out more:

USA Benefits include:

Flex work hours, 20 days PTO rising to 25 with service, three paid volunteering days, primary and secondary parental leave, well-being support, medical, dental, vision, and 401K.

It’s possible we’re hiring for this position in multiple countries, in which case the above benefits apply to the primary location. Specific benefits vary by country, but our packages are similarly comprehensive.

Find out more: aveva.com/en/about/careers/benefits/

Hybrid working

We work in a hybrid way at AVEVA. Most roles are based at a local AVEVA office, with an expectation of being on-site 50% of your working hours to support collaboration and connection. Some positions are fully office-based depending on the nature of the work, and certain roles that support specific customers or markets may be remote. The working arrangement for this position will be confirmed during the hiring process.

Hiring process

Interested? Great! Get started by submitting your cover letter and CV through our application portal. AVEVA is committed to recruiting and retaining people with disabilities. Please let us know in advance if you need reasonable support during your application process.

Find out more: aveva.com/en/about/careers/hiring-process