Strategic Partner & Vendor Program Manager

Job Title: Strategic Partner & Vendor Program Manager
Location: Austin, TX / Sunnyvale, CA -Onsite
Rate: $65/hr.
Job type: Contract
Duration: 12 Months.

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