Responsibilities as VP, Procurement and Vendor Risk
As Vice President of Procurement and Vendor Risk, my role centers on balancing two critical objectives: enabling business growth through strategic sourcing while safeguarding the organization against third-party risks. I oversee end-toend procurement operations, vendor governance and risk management frameworks that ensure compliance, resilience and value creation.
My key responsibilities include negotiating contracts, implementing risk-based vendor segmentation and aligning procurement strategies with enterprise risk tolerance. My focus extends beyond cost optimization. I prioritize building collaborative frameworks that integrate risk awareness into every stage of the vendor lifecycle. Implementation of this strategy is intentional and includes working closely with legal, compliance, information security and business units to ensure that procurement decisions support both operational efficiency and regulatory obligations.
Risks Encountered in Third-Party Networks
Traditional frameworks often emphasize financial stability and regulatory compliance, but in today’s environment, hidden risks also exist in areas such as fourth-party and Nth party dependencies, sharing data and operational resilience gaps.
For example, a vendor may appear robust, but if they rely on a niche subcontractor for critical services, that dependency becomes vulnerability. Similarly, data privacy risks often arise from unclear data-sharing practices across extended networks. Another non-obvious risk is culturally misaligned vendors whose governance or ethical standards differ significantly from the institutions that can create reputational exposure. These risks require deeper due diligence and continuous monitoring beyond the initial onboarding phase.
Digital Transformation and Reassessing Risks
Traditional periodic assessments are no longer sufficient; institutions are moving toward continuous risk monitoring and dynamic risk rating models. Digital transformation introduces new attack surfaces, cybersecurity, data sovereignty and regulatory compliance across multiple dimensions of risk areas. The focus has shifted from static questionnaires to ongoing performance and resilience metrics, ensuring that vendors can withstand disruptions and maintain compliance in a fast-evolving regulatory landscape.
“In an era of rapid innovation and heightened regulatory scrutiny, breaking silos between procurement, vendor risk oversight and stakeholders is no longer optional, it is strategic and imperative.”
However, one needs to be cautious: automation can create blind spots if governance frameworks do not keep pace. Over-reliance on digital tools without human oversight can lead to misinterpretation of risk signals or compliance gaps. The focus must remain on balanced integration of technology and judgment.
Predictive Technology for Vendor Risk Assessment
Tools that track and monitor areas such as financial health indicators, cyber threat intelligence and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) offer powerful insights, while machine learning (ML) algorithms can detect anomalies in vendor behavior, such as sudden changes in payment patterns or negative sentiment in public data sources. Natural language processing (NLP) is increasingly used to scan regulatory filings and news feeds for early warning signs and graph analytics helps map complex vendor ecosystems to reveal hidden dependencies and concentration risks.
However, these technologies carry risks. Yet these technologies carry risks. Over-reliance on AI can introduce bias and create false confidence if outputs are not validated. Regulators require transparency, model validation and human oversight. Large datasets used by AI, ML and NLP can inadvertently expose proprietary or sensitive information, raising privacy and compliance concerns. Institutions must enforce strict data handling, encryption and governance to prevent leaks. Clear contract language around data usage, confidentiality and AI-driven processes is essential to mitigate these risks and ensure accountability. When applied responsibly, these tools enable proactive risk management without compromising security or ethics.
Advice for Managing Vendor Oversight
My advice is simple, embed risk thinking into procurement decisions from the start, not as an afterthought. Creating shared accountability between procurement, risk teams and the stakeholders through integrated governance models and aligned KPIs.
Start with small, actionable steps such as joint vendor onboarding checklists or regular risk-procurement review meetings. These practices foster collaboration, reduce friction and ensure that strategic sourcing decisions are informed by a holistic view of risk. Ultimately, vendor oversight should not be perceived as a compliance exercise, but as an effective strategy for resilience, competitive advantage and partnership.
In an era of rapid innovation and heightened regulatory scrutiny, breaking silos between procurement, vendor risk oversight and stakeholders is no longer optional, it is strategic and imperative. By leveraging emerging technologies, predictive analytics and collaborative frameworks, financial institutions can transform their stance from a defensive posture into a proactive driver of business value.
