VodafoneThree - Strategic Partnering Manager

Working hours: Full time 37.5 hours per week - Monday to Friday You'll be at the heart of a transformation that goes beyond integration—helping to build a new culture, set industry standards and leave a lasting legacy. In this role, you will lead third-party strategy, commercial governance and end-to-end cost management across Finance Operations, ensuring strong supplier performance and financial control. Working in close partnership with Procurement, VPC and operational leaders, you will drive simplification, consolidation and measurable commercial value. Your impact will be critical in optimising spend, safeguarding service delivery and underpinning long-term financial performance. This is a career-defining chance to deliver meaningful change at scale and help shape the future of the UK telecoms industry. Lead and develop strategic relationships with key third-party suppliers, ensuring outstanding performance, service quality and continuous improvement aligned to business goals. Own and shape the Third-Party Operational Business Review (OBR), driving insight, innovation opportunities and strong cross-functional alignment. Manage the full lifecycle of third-party contracts, including renewals and renegotiations, delivering optimal commercial outcomes and ongoing value. Partner closely with Procurement and VPC teams to align sourcing strategies, strengthen governance and enhance supplier lifecycle management. Define and deliver a forward-looking third-party strategy, focused on simplification, consolidation, innovation and risk management to unlock synergies across the business. Oversee robust RFI/RFP governance, ensuring clear requirements, effective evaluation and adherence to organisational standards. Drive strong financial control through ownership of cost governance, including forecasting, total cost of ownership, and accurate accounting treatment in line with audit and policy requirements. Lead Finance Operations cost management across Opex, Capex, overheads and FTEs, ensuring disciplined performance management and delivery against budget. Proven experience in Finance Operations, commercial management or supplier governance within a complex, regulated or service-driven environment. Strong expertise in third-party management, including sourcing cycles, contract negotiation and delivering commercial value. Solid financial acumen, with experience in modelling, forecasting, accounting principles and cost-to-serve frameworks. Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional governance forums, using insight to influence decision-making and senior stakeholders. Skilled in interpreting contractual, commercial and operational data to drive performance, manage risk and achieve outcomes. Track record of managing Opex, Capex or cost performance frameworks within a large, fast-paced organisation. Highly analytical with strong problem-solving and scenario modelling capabilities, combined with excellent attention to detail. Confident collaborator with experience working across Procurement, Finance, Operations and external partners to deliver shared objectives.