Lead Vendor Manager

# Lead Vendor Manager

## Job Overview

We are looking for a strong, organized, and highly assertive **Lead Vendor Manager** to manage and grow our network of lead vendors. This person will be responsible for finding new vendors, onboarding them into our system, making sure they understand our rules, managing day-to-day vendor communication, handling disputes, tracking performance, and coordinating vendor payments.

This role is not for someone passive. We need someone who can build relationships but also hold vendors accountable, enforce standards, and protect the company from bad traffic, poor-quality leads, compliance issues, and unnecessary payment disputes.

The ideal candidate is confident, direct, detail-oriented, and comfortable dealing with high-volume vendor communication.

## Key Responsibilities

### Vendor Recruiting & Relationship Building

* Actively search for and solicit new lead vendors.
* Build relationships with vendors who can generate qualified insurance leads or transferred calls.
* Explain our program, qualification standards, payment structure, and compliance rules.
* Maintain a pipeline of potential vendors and follow up consistently.
* Help evaluate whether new vendors are a good fit before they are approved.

### Vendor Onboarding

* Guide new vendors through the onboarding process.
* Make sure vendors are set up correctly in our vendor system.
* Train vendors on call requirements, lead qualifications, transfer expectations, hours of operation, and compliance rules.
* Confirm that vendors understand what is billable and non-billable before they begin sending traffic.
* Work with internal tea ---------- mbers to make sure vendor setup, tracking, and reporting are accurate.

### Vendor Performance Management

* Monitor vendor lead/call quality.
* Track vendor volume, conversion quality, disputes, rejected leads, and payment trends.
* Identify vendors who are sending low-quality traffic or failing to follow instructions.
* Communicate clearly with vendors when performance needs to improve.
* Recommend pausing, reducing, or terminating vendor relationships when needed.

### Dispute Management

* Handle vendor disputes professionally and firmly.
* Review disputed calls/leads against company rules and qualification standards.
* Communicate payment decisions clearly to vendors.
* Keep organized records of disputes, approvals, rejections, and final outcomes.
* Protect the company from paying for unqualified or non-compliant leads.

### Vendor Payments

* Prepare and review vendor payment reports.
* Confirm billable leads/calls before payment is issued.
* Coordinate weekly vendor payouts.
* Track payment history and resolve payment-related questions.
* Make sure vendors are paid accurately and on time when they meet requirements.

### Compliance & Quality Control

* Ensure vendors follow company guidelines, including DNC requirements, transfer rules, scripting expectations, and call quality standards.
* Watch for red flags such as misrepresentation, poor-quality transfers, recycled leads, non-qualified prospects, or compliance violations.
* Escalate serious vendor issues quickly.
* Maintain clean documentation around vendor rules, disputes, and performance.

## Ideal Candidate

The ideal person for this role is:

* Assertive and confident
* Comfortable having difficult conversations
* Not easily pushed around by vendors
* Organized and detail-oriented
* Strong at follow-up
* Able to balance relationship-building with accountability
* Comfortable enforcing rules and saying “no”
* Fast-moving and proactive
* Good with systems, spreadsheets, CRM tools, and reporting
* Able to manage multiple vendors at once without losing track of details

## Required Skills & Experience

* Experience managing vendors, lead providers, affiliates, call centers, or marketing partners preferred
* Experience in insurance, pay-per-call, lead generation, sales, or performance marketing is a strong plus
* Strong written and verbal communication skills
* Strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills
* Ability to review data, reports, calls, and dispute records
* High attention to detail
* Comfortable working in a fast-paced sales environment
* Ability to enforce rules without damaging productive relationships
* Reliable, accountable, and self-managed

## Personality Fit

This role requires someone with a strong personality. You must be able to push back when vendors are wrong, challenge questionable traffic, and enforce standards without needing constant direction.

We want someone who is professional and respectful, but also firm, direct, and not afraid of confrontation when necessary.

## Success in This Role Looks Like

* New vendors are consistently being recruited and onboarded.
* Vendors clearly understand our expectations before sending traffic.
* Disputes are handled quickly and fairly.
* Payments are accurate and organized.
* Bad vendors are identified and addressed quickly.
* Good vendors are supported and encouraged to scale.
* Internal teams have fewer vendor-related issues.
* Lead/call quality improves over time.

## Compensation

Compensation will depend on experience and role structure. This may include a base salary or hourly pay, with potential performance bonuses based on vendor growth, quality, and volume.

## How to Apply

Please apply with your resume and a short note explaining your experience managing vendors, affiliates, lead sources, call centers, or similar relationships.

Bonus points if you have experience in insurance, lead generation, pay-per-call, or performance marketing.