Manager of Strategic Sourcing, Software and Engineering

Skip to main contentThis website uses cookies to improve your web experience. By using the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Privacy PolicyDeclineAccept CookiesEnglishSign InManager of Strategic Sourcing, Software and Engineering page is loadedManager of Strategic Sourcing, Software and EngineeringApplyremote typeFully FlexiblelocationsMadison, Wisconsin, United States of AmericaRemote, California, United States of AmericaAustin, Texas, United States of AmericaSan Francisco, California, United States of Americatime typeFull timeposted onPosted Yesterdayjob requisition idR35028Job DescriptionManager of Strategic Sourcing, Software and EngineeringLocation: Hybrid role in:Austin, TXMadison, WISan Francisco, CAThe Global Strategic Sourcing team helps maximize value and minimize risk through Zendesk’s vendor relationships and ensures the organization has the goods and services needed for success.As Manager of Strategic Sourcing, you will play a key role during the sourcing strategy and execution across software and engineering categories. You’ll use your innovative thinking, analytical and negotiating skills to oversee and lead highly complex negotiations, contract review, and usage forecasting to achieve top-line growth and maximize value to the company.This role encompasses all aspects of the sourcing’s responsibilities including category assessment, vendor due diligence, RFx, contract negotiations and vendor management. Key responsibilities: Strategic Guidance & Influence: Guide and influence business and senior leadership through key strategic projects and procurement strategy, focusing on critical vendor management, integration, and informed purchase guidance aligned to Zendesk growth and partner vision. This includes developing executive-level presentations and analysis for internal partner communications/updates.Forecasting & Data Alignment: Develop, maintain, and validate accurate forecasts for usage, licenses, and capacity for key contracts (e.g., AWS, Google, MongoDB, Snowflake, and others) in collaboration with Engineering, IT, and business units to gather data and identify trends or potential risks to inform contract negotiations and prevent over-commitment or unnecessary costs.AI/LLM Sourcing & Optimization: Lead sourcing strategy, complex negotiations, and vendor diversification for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Model (LLM) providers. Analyze and optimize AI/LLM consumption, including token usage and capacity planning, to inform contract negotiations and mitigate financial risk.Sourcing Execution & Cost Management: Lead end-to-end sourcing execution, including market research, RFx strategy development, and acting as an escalation point for contract negotiations partnering with Legal, Security, and IT. Support spend management projects focused on savings, process efficiency, and risk reduction, including total cost of ownership evaluations and pricing audits.Multi-Vendor LLM Strategy: Implement and manage a multi-vendor LLM ecosystem strategy, including coordinating sourcing for frontier labs (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic), hyperscaler routes (e.g., AWS Bedrock, Gemini/Vertex), and open-weight model providers (e.g., Groq, Baseten) to ensure diversification, cost efficiency, and performance optimization.Commercial Leverage & Commitment Discipline: Drive commercial leverage by maintaining commitment discipline (targeting ~60% of forecasted spend) and pursuing flexible, shorter (6-12 month) renewal cycles with major LLM providers to mitigate market volatility and pricing shifts.AI Productivity Governance: Collaborate with Engineering and IT to manage the governance layer for internal AI productivity tooling (e.g., LibreChat, Claude Code, Gemini) to track seat vs. consumption costs and align model spend with security and legal approvals.Personal qualities:5+ years of experience sourcing for a tech or software companyStrong software and engineering strategic negotiation skillsProven team player and...