Principal Associate, Project Management (Vendor Management)

Principal Associate, Project Management (Vendor Management)

Principal Associate, Project Management

At Capital One, we’re building a leading information-based technology company. Still founder-led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to banking. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit. We’re succeeding because they’re succeeding.                                               

Guided by our shared values, we thrive in an environment where collaboration and openness are valued. We believe that innovation is powered by perspective and that teamwork and respect for each other lead to superior results. We elevate each other and obsess about doing the right thing. Our associates serve with humility and a deep respect for their responsibility in helping our customers achieve their goals and realize their dreams. Together, we’re on a quest to change banking for good.

We’re currently seeking a Project Manager to join our Experience Design, Research & Design Operations team. As a Principal Associate Project Manager at Capital One, you can achieve results you never thought possible by leading critical and strategic business projects. 

If you are eager to work with smart, creative, talented people who will challenge you to excel, this might be the role for you! 

Role Expectations 

As a Project Manager on Capital One’s Research & Design Operations team, you’ll be part of an operations team supporting the governance and oversight of our critical business process for conducting human-centered research. Our team’s mission is to optimize the value of XD Research through scalable, efficient, and well-managed Operations.  In this exciting role, your skills and attention to detail are needed to support the management of 3rd party vendors in order to enable Experience Design’s research and design practice. 

You will use your expertise to create, manage and execute vendor management plans to ensure delivery. You will leverage your problem-solving skills to implement and improve contractual controls and governance processes in order to ensure accuracy and vendor compliance.

You are a true collaborator with one’s own team as well as across the organization and cross-functional partners and stakeholders.

General Responsibilities:

• Manage vendor relationships and licenses, implementing improved vendor management processes for the Research Operations and XD Tools team

• Conduct contract renewals, with usage and budget review/monitoring

• Establish, monitor, and present Third-Party Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other relevant reporting to ensure business needs are met.

• Monitor vendor product roadmaps, coordinating closely with XD Tool team for updates and feature rollouts

• Partner on RFP/RFI engagements for onboarding new vendors for participant recruiting, research, and other capabilities

• Collaborate/partner cross-functionally with Enterprise Supplier Management, Technology, business stakeholders, and others to provide strategic and tactical support. 

• Identify ways to improve and streamline business process

• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, internal partners and vendors to ensure expectation understanding and alignment.

• Ensure controls and governance processes are properly documented and maintained.

• Support monthly reporting and analysis presentations (e.g. MBR) and other ad-hoc requests

• Participate and contribute to larger organization meetings, summits, etc.  

• Ad-hoc requests and special projects.

Here are some of the expected competencies for this role:

Project Management Expertise: Foundational knowledge and proficiency in executing all phases of the project management life cycle.  

Problem-Solving: Deals with ambiguous situations and can provide a sense of clarity to drive toward a solution. Identifies gaps and seeks to solve them with subject matter experts. 

Judgment & Results Focus: Owns & effectively manages their team priorities or objectives end to end with limited guidance and appropriate usage of escalation, prioritization & autonomy.  Proactively adapts performance and delivery according to needed trade-offs or