Linklaters
Linklaters is a global law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices.
Linklaters is a people business. Being best in class in the eyes of our clients means that our people must be exceptional.
We look not only for brilliant minds, but for people who will thrive in our environment: people who love working collaboratively and demonstrate the innovative, efficient, agile, entrepreneurial, and responsible mind-set we aim to bring to every interaction.
Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere.
We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.
This role is based in our London office, with a hybrid working model available.
Your role
Vendor Governance and Operational Support
- Plan, coordinate and support operational, quarterly and strategic vendor governance meetings, including agendas, meeting packs, actions, decisions and follow-up.
- Review supplier reports before governance forums, challenge gaps or inconsistencies and ensure corrective actions are clearly owned, tracked and closed.
- Provide structured operational support to the Technology Vendor Manager, including planning, reporting, meeting coordination and monitoring of governance commitments.
Performance Management and Service Assurance
- Support the Technology Service Owners in establishing and maintaining performance baselines, service levels, KPIs and consistent reporting methods.
- Collaborates with the Technology Service Owners in the tracking of performance against contractual commitments, milestones, deliverables, SLAs and KPIs; identify adverse trends and provide concise updates to stakeholders.
- Support supplier benchmarking and relevant market or industry analysis to help assess competitiveness and identify opportunities for improvement.
Contract management and compliance
- Maintain contract management frameworks, obligations registers, deliverables trackers, risk and issue registers, reporting calendars and supporting operational documentation.
- Monitor adherence to contract terms, service schedules, obligations and performance regimes, ensuring evidence is retained to support transparency, assurance and audit readiness.
- Support administration of contract changes, renewals and exits, with Strategic Sourcing leading contractual amendments, due diligence and formal commercial activity.
- Ensure critical contract terms, service expectations, contacts, reporting structures and escalation routes are understood and documented.
- Support the Vendor Manager in maintaining effective working relationships across internal stakeholders and designated third-party providers, acting as a primary operational point of contact for routine vendor management matters.
- Contribute to supplier transition and exit planning, including the maintenance of practical and current exit plans.
Financial control and analysis
- Support the review, reconciliation and analysis of supplier invoices, purchase orders and spend, checking alignment with contractual commitments and identifying potential inaccuracies or overcharging.
- Identify cost optimisation
Risk, Issue, Dispute and Change Management
- Identify, assess and track risks and issues relating to service continuity, supplier performance, data compliance, billing, spend and contractual delivery.
- Coordinate mitigations, monitor progress and escalate significant risks, issues or unresolved actions to the Technology Vendor Manager and relevant governance forum.
- Support the Vendor Manager in addressing routine disputes and performance concerns, facilitate fact-based resolution between internal stakeholders and suppliers, and escalate formal commercial or contractual matters to Strategic Sourcing.
Continuous improvement and supplier collaboration
- Work with Strategic Sourcing, service delivery teams and suppliers to improve vendor management processes, controls, reporting and ways of working.
- Encourage innovation, service improvement, knowledge sharing, lessons learned and joint improvement initiatives while maintaining appropriate commercial discipline.
- Use data, governance insights and stakeholder feedback to recommend practical improvements to supplier performance and the TVMO operating model.
About you
- Practical experience, typically three to six years, in vendor management, PMO, IT service management, or a related role within a governed or outsourced environment. Experience in a large, complex organization is preferred.
- Experience working with managed service providers for outsourced IT Services (in particular those based nearshore and offshore). Experience in legal or professional services is advantageous.
- Working knowledge of ITIL.
- Demonstrable ability to establish and maintain vendor management tools, trackers, reporting packs, governance routines and evidence repositories.
- Ability to interpret and apply detailed commercial contracts, service schedules, obligations, SLAs, KPIs and performance regimes.
- Sound understanding of financial controls, purchase orders, invoicing, payment processes, spend analysis and cost optimisation within supplier relationships.
- Strong documentation, assurance, reporting and analytical skills, with high attention to detail and a clear, succinct communication style.
- Effective stakeholder and supplier relationship management skills, including the confidence to challenge constructively, coordinate across teams and support conflict resolution.
- Ability to balance business outcomes, contractual constraints and operational practicality.
- Strong Microsoft 365 capability, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and SharePoint, with an interest in using AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot to improve productivity and insight.
Our benefits
Health & Wellbeing
- Private Medical Insurance
- Free in-house fitness centre and subsidised health club memberships
- Free onsite GP service and periodic health assessments
Finance
- Pension and flexible savings options
- Income protection and life assurance
- Mortgage advice and will-writing services
Family & Lifestyle
- Electric car and cycle to work schemes
- Emergency family care
- Additional holiday/birthday leave
- Maternity/paternity/shared parental leave
- Travel insurance and season ticket loan
- Option to join sports and social clubs, as well as our employee networks groups (such as our Gender Equality Network, With Pride, or Social Mobility Networks)
Technical Skills
This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive. It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.
