Job Description

What You'll Do:

We’re seeking a dynamic Director, Vendor Governance to lead the oversight and management of key third-party supplier relationships within our Retirement & Income Solutions (RIS) Individual Solutions business. This is a newly created position designed to centralize vendor management across a rapidly scaling business — ensuring our strategic partners deliver exceptional value, performance, and innovation.

You’ll serve as the day-to-day business contact for strategic suppliers, driving performance against contracts and service level agreements, managing risk, and ensuring that vendor partnerships align with Individual Solutions goals and growth objectives. This is a pivotal opportunity to shape the future of our vendor governance infrastructure and play a key role in building scalable systems, influencing vendor roadmaps, and enabling business expansion .

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Strategic Supplier Oversight:
  Coordinate and manage major third-party relationships in alignment with enterprise policies and Individual Solutions objectives.
  Ensure suppliers meet service levels, performance standards, and cost targets.
• Develop Vendor Governance Infrastructure:
  Build the frameworks, tools, and practices to monitor, evaluate, and optimize vendor performance and risk.
  Conduct due diligence, audits, and ongoing risk assessments across security, data privacy, and financial health.
• Drive Performance & Value:
  Oversee SLAs, KPIs, and quarterly business reviews. Lead remediation and root-cause analyses for performance issues.
  Identify cost efficiencies and value realization opportunities across vendor spend.
• Partner Across the Enterprise:
  Collaborate with Sourcing, Procurement, and Legal on new engagements, contract renewals, and negotiation strategies.
  Establish clear communication channels between Individual Solutions and suppliers, ensuring alignment and accountability.
• Mentor & Lead Vendor Engagement Managers:
  Guide and train vendor engagement managers to strengthen compliance and governance processes across non-strategic suppliers.
• Enable Growth:
  Establish relationships with new vendors , enhance partnerships with existing ones, and build an ongoing engagement structure to support exponential business growth.

Who You Are:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of vendor management, procurement, or third-party governance experience.
• Demonstrated ability to manage large expense budgets, SLAs, and vendor scorecards.
• Experience developing first-line business risk and control practices related to supplier governance.
• Strong analytical, financial, and negotiation skills.
• Exceptional communication and executive presentation abilities; able to influence across complex, matrixed organizations.
• A strategic, relationship-driven leader who can balance operational rigor with business partnership.

  Highly Preferred Experience

• Proven experience building or scaling vendor governance frameworks or third-party management programs.
• Background in the financial services or retirement industry , ideally with retail or independent solution capabilities (e.g., account aggregation vendors like Plaid).
• Expertise influencing vendor roadmaps and driving continuous improvement in performance, value, and innovation.
• Strong partnership skills across procurement, risk, and product teams to unify vendor strategy and execution.

Why This Role Matters

This is a new and strategic leadership opportunity within a business poised for significant growth. You’ll have the chance to:

• Build and own the vendor governance infrastructure from the ground up for our Individual Solutions business.
• Shape how Individual Solutions partners with critical vendors to deliver on its growth strategy.
• Directly impact scalability, cost efficiency, and vendor innovation.

If you’re excited by the idea of owning vendor excellence , building governance frameworks , and driving tangible business outcomes , we’d love to hear from you.

Salary Range Information: Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer. Salary Range: $137000 - $185000 / year Time Off Program: Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided. Pension Eligible: Yes Additional Information:

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.

Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants

Investment Code of Ethics

For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.

Experience Principal

At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.

Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Posting Window: We will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline. Date First Posted (TTF): 10/28/2025 Latest Post Date: Careers - US: 10/28/2025

LinkedIn Remote Hashtag

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LinkedIn Hashtag

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Job Tags

Permanent employment, Full time, Contract work, Temporary work, Work experience placement, H1b, Work at office, Remote work, Flexible hours,

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