Team Manager, Vendor Management
(Sofia, Bulgaria)translate plus, an award-winning Top 10 international Language Services Provider, including, Top 3 in the EU and Top 2 in the UK, is a Publicis Groupe company, one of the most well-established advertising corporations globally. translate plus sits within the network’s cross-media production platform, Publicis Production. This brings together production specialists who are experts in video, digital media, and print, to produce award-winning content for leading global brands.
Recent recognition awards for translate plus include an award for “Great Employers”, and an award for “Women in Business”, more details can be found on our website regarding these two great achievements. translate plus also promotes numerous employee well-being policies across all our offices, which align with Publicis Groupe guidelines. We offer WFH flexibility to all employees as well as relevant programmes to help promote mental and physical well-being.
translate plus is an equal opportunities employer that welcomes applications from all sections of society and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age citizenship, marital, domestic, or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
The Manager of the Vendor Management Team has full responsibility for external resources planning and ensuring sufficient linguistic capabilities to meet daily needs. The Manager of Vendor Management will also have full responsibility for managing a team of Vendor Management Specialists.
Key responsibilities include:
Vendor management
- Take the lead and/or supervise essential and/or complex sourcing tasks and negotiations.
- Proactively provide solutions on sourcing tasks, negotiations, and vendor-related matters.
- Handle vendor-related documentation and administration.
- Track margins weekly and take relevant actions, e.g. liaise with Operations Team Managers, launch sourcing tasks and/or negotiation initiatives, liaise with the Sales and Enquiries teams on pricing and quoting, etc.
- Work in conjunction with Sales and Operations on rate cards preparation and vendor cost analysis.
- Implement vendor-related company procedures within the team and monitor compliance.
- Create, run, or analyse various operational reports for management.
- Represent the company with professional bodies such as associations of linguists and similar.
- Arrange and participate in or lead vendor training and workshops, as required.
- Support with ISO certifications when required.
Clients
- Participate in client meetings, where necessary, to demonstrate escalation and offer reassurance on our resources.
- Prepare vendor-related processes and documents, e.g., presentations, share plus articles, vendor instructions, and strategies, as needed.
- Report non-conformity to vendor processes and/or project specifications and where necessary escalate to management.
- Keep excellent knowledge of the company’s main clients and provide expertise as needed.
People
- Take full responsibility for the team, including interviewing and onboarding, performance management, mentoring and coaching, time scheduling, etc.
- Be accountable for workload distribution within the team and work with other managers to distribute workload in the department when needed.
- Supervise and assist team members in all aspects of their daily work.
- Guide team members towards effective and positive internal communication.
- Provide leadership and expertise within the team.
- Be an escalation point for all team or vendor-related matters.
Process Improvement
- Know, follow, and advocate translate plus internal procedures, including time tracking.
- Actively seek to share knowledge within the team, mentor junior colleagues and participate in induction trainings.
- Challenge existing processes, suggest improvements, and where appropriate share findings with peers, other teams, management, etc.
- Participate in process improvement initiatives.
- Share knowledge (best practice, lessons learned) with peers and other teams.
- Proactively look for improvement opportunities in sourcing and vendor-specific processes and provide alternative solutions in conjunction with other departments.
Job Requirements and Qualifications
- 2+ years’ experience in directly managing a team in a client-driven company
- Strong background in the selection of and dealing with vendors, freelancers, etc. as part of a Language Service Provider/ Audio-Visual provider (production and studios) Company
- Previous experience in procurement is a plus
- Business development and negotiation skills
- Strong ability to communicate effectively with vendors, clients, senior management, and peers
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
- Ability to prioritize tasks and work under pressure
- Proactive behavior
- Ability to manage and review team performance
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- Strong oral and written English skills – C1 or above
- Strong understanding of MS Office applications, especially Word, Excel, and Outlook
What we offer:
- Career development and progression possibilities
- High-quality trainings (via in-house and external trainers) and access to thousands of on-line/e-learning courses to develop essential, functional, and industry skills (via Publicis Marcel, LinkedIn Learning, etc.)
- Access to worldwide job/gigs opportunities within the Publicis Groupe
- Work your world – As part of the Publicis Groupe policy, up to 6 weeks of working from a different country
- Café Marcel- Networking opportunities with fellow colleagues in the Publicis Groupe all around the world
- Paid leave days increase every year
- Food vouchers
- Additional health insurance
We also offer an extensive Employee Benefits Scheme, which includes:
- Team building events
- Working from home
- Flexible hours
- Office equipment allowance
- Family-friendly policies (extended maternity/paternity leaves etc)
- Breakfast, fruits, tea, coffee, cereal
- Team lunches
- Easter hamper
- Pizza day (in the office)
- Flu vaccine
- Eye test
- Friday drinks
- Summer Gathering
- Christmas Gathering
- Christmas gifts/vouchers
In addition to the general benefits scheme we also offer a Service Recognition Plan, which means that every year at translate plus there are additional rewards for employees such as extra holidays, dental insurance, bonus payments, treats & vouchers, etc.
If you cannot wait to become the next member of our successful team, please contact us now!
Please note that we normally receive a very large number of applications. We aim to get back to you as soon as possible should you be invited for an interview. If you are not invited for an interview at this stage, your application will be saved for future consideration – with your explicit permission and as per our GDPR-policy and/or related official regulations.
