Manager Vendor Acquisition

Safeguard is seeking a highly strategic and data-driven Manager of Vendor Acquisition to transform and lead our independent contractor recruitment infrastructure.Unlike traditional corporate talent acquisition, this role is a high-volume network development and inside sales operation. You will treat recruiting as a marketing and sales funnel—optimizing lead generation, driving rapid conversion, enforcing recruiter accountability, and ensuring we onboard high-quality independent contractors in the precise geographic zones where capacity is needed.The ideal candidate has a proven track record of managing a disciplined, data-driven acquisition funnel, ideally within mortgage field services, national home-service networks, or high-volume logistics and staffing environments.Key ResponsibilitiesAs the Director, you will design and execute the recruiting strategy, technology stack, and performance management systems across Safeguard. Your core duties include:Funnel Optimization: Oversee the end-to-end contractor acquisition funnel, from paid lead generation through vetting, onboarding, and initial work completion.Team Leadership & Accountability: Establish rigorous daily routines and performance metrics for a team of recruiters, driving culture around speed-to-contact, persistent follow-up, and conversion.Strategic Lead Generation: Direct paid advertising spend (Indeed, Google Ads, social media) and manage specialized agencies to maximize high-quality applicant volume while lowering customer-acquisition costs.Geographic Targeting: Partner with Vendor Account Management to identify capacity gaps by zone, season, and service line, dynamically shifting recruiting resources to critical areas.Quality & Retention Assurance: Ensure recruiters vet vendors for true capability and performance metrics rather than simply adding names to a database, prioritizing 60/90-day vendor productivity.Performance Metrics & Evaluation ScorecardYour success will be measured by the output of the acquisition funnel, with an emphasis on vendor quality over raw application volume. Key performance indicators (KPIs) include:Cost per Productive Vendor: Total advertising and recruiting cost relative to vendors who successfully perform and retain work.Lead Response Time: Meeting strict internal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to contact new leads within minutes.Conversion Rates: Maximizing the transition percentage from qualified lead to activated, productive vendor.60/90-Day Productivity: Evaluating newly recruited vendor work volume, quality, timeliness, and retention.Critical Zone Coverage: Eliminating capacity gaps in targeted understaffed geographic zones.Management Routines ExpectedYou will introduce structure and discipline to the daily operations of the recruitment team:Daily: Review incoming leads, lead aging, recruiter contact attempts, onboarding bottlenecks, and individual recruiter conversion performance.Weekly: Analyze performance data by sourcing channel, geography, and recruiter. Reallocate advertising budgets to top-performing channels and conduct recruiter coaching (e.g., via call reviews).Monthly: Audit the 30/60/90-day performance of new vendors alongside the Vendor Management organization to align recruiting pipelines with real field capacity needs.Required Skills & QualificationsCandidates will be rigorously evaluated across the following six core capabilities:Recruiting Funnel Management (25%): Proven ability to improve lead-to-activated and activated-to-productive conversion metrics.Sales Management & Accountability (25%): Experience managing teams using daily activity targets, pipeline reviews, structured coaching, and performance plans.Digital Lead Generation (20%): Practical knowledge of paid channels (Indeed, Google Ads, social media) with the ability to direct ad specialists, track attribution, and manage cost-per-qualified-acquisition.Contractor Acquisition Experience (15%): Specific background recruiting independent contractors, 1099 workers, or independent service businesses across multiple regional markets.CRM, Automation, & Analytics (10%): Experience building performance dashboards and automating follow-up workflows to eliminate lead leakage.Recruiting Economics & Operations (5%): Solid understanding of geographic capacity constraints, contractor profitability, and geographic deployment.Preferred BackgroundsPriority 1: Leadership experience within Mortgage Field Services preferred (e.g., network recruiting, vendor development, or multi-state contractor network coverage).Priority 2: Leadership in National Home-Service Networks (e.g., home warranty, residential/commercial facilities maintenance, or distributed trade services).Priority 3: Operations management in High-Volume Sourcing / Inside Sales (e.g., staffing, logistics/delivery contractor networks, or franchise development).