Strategic Partner Vendor Program Manager

Job Title: Strategic Partner & Vendor Program Manager

Location: Sunnyvale, CA/ Austin, TX (Onsite)

Duration: 12+ Months Contract

Job Description:
Eligible candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer-provided visa sponsorship.

Role Description:

We are seeking an experienced Strategic Partner & Vendor Program Manager to lead complex, partner-facing technology initiatives at the intersection of digital authentication, access control (e.g., smart mobility, corporate facilities, digital wallet keys), and fintech/payments.
In this role, the candidate will be the primary liaison between external strategic partners/vendors and internal cross-functional engineering, product, and compliance teams. The candidate will drive multi-year programs from partner onboarding and commercial agreement through technical integration, security compliance, and global market rollout.

1. Strategic Partner & Vendor Management
Act as the single point of contact (SPOC) for key global technology partners, hardware vendors, and service providers.
Manage vendor lifecycle end-to-end: participate in contract scoping, SLA definitions, vendor performance reviews, and financial approvals/invoicing.
Identify cost-saving opportunities and negotiate service contracts while preserving deliverable quality and delivery speed.

2. Cross-Functional Program Delivery
Lead end-to-end delivery of complex technical integrations involving hardware, firmware, mobile SDKs, digital identity, access control, and payment protocols.
Orchestrate work across globally distributed teams (Product, Engineering, QA, InfoSec, Legal, Operations, and external partner teams).
Define program roadmaps, work breakdown structures (WBS), risk registers, and critical path schedules across Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid frameworks.

3. Technical Integration & Product Expansion
Translate complex business, security, and cryptographic/authentication requirements into actionable technical milestones for partners.
Drive technical enablement and onboarding to ensure partner systems meet strict security, latency, and user experience (UX) criteria (e.g., Apple Wallet/NFC access, biometric/PKI auth, ISO/compliance standards).
Coordinate pilot testing, field validations (e.g., smart mobility/scooters, facility turnstiles, readers), and full-scale commercial launches.

4. Governance, Compliance & Reporting
Establish operational frameworks, KPI dashboards, and quality gates to monitor partner SLA adherence and integration health.
Lead steering committee reviews and executive briefings, distilling technical blockers into concise, data-backed decisions.
Ensure all partner integrations comply with industry-specific security, regulatory, and data privacy mandates.