Associate, Vendor Management
Sparkfund
Remote
Posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2023
About Sparkfund
Sparkfund is an energy technology platform company based in Washington, D.C. built to enable leading brands to deliver new offers to their customers across resilience, decarbonization & electrification. Our partners use our platform to capture new growth in the energy services market, differentiate their existing end-customer offerings, increase the lifetime value of customer relationships, and more efficiently manage capital structuring, risk appetite, and ongoing servicing. We deliver solutions through a flexible range of commercial structures, from fully managed subscriptions, where we handle everything from installation to ongoing maintenance and repairs, to simple installations for customers who prefer to manage systems themselves, to the monitoring of existing equipment for fault detection and replacement recommendations.
We enable our customers to focus on their core businesses. Sparkfund’s mission is to combat climate change through healthier buildings and transportation. We strive to create positive change by deploying solutions that are good for business and good for the planet. We’re building a diverse and collaborative culture to help us achieve all of that.
Responsibilities
Vendor Management
- Source or receive input from the organization (specifically Engineering and Revenue teams) to identify, pursue, and develop new vendor relationships.
- Research, meet with, and evaluate suitable vendors to assess their products and services. Subsequently support negotiations. Combination of (occasional) cold calling and inbound call triage, plus warm lead introductions.
- Prepare and process credit applications.
- Manage a subset of ongoing vendor relationships – receive and provide data-driven feedback on vendor performance and pricing.
Procurement
- Prepare and send purchase orders matching scopes of work prepared by engineering team.
- Maintain a database of key suppliers and pricing trends for their inventories.
- Obtain ad hoc pricing quotes at the request of engineering for large or specialty projects.
- Report on Sparkfund’s purchasing activities, summarizing percentage spend with key vendors, on an at least quarterly basis.
Data Collection & Analysis
- Maintain and keep current internal mapping and documentation of vendors’ (i) coverage and capabilities, (ii) status of partnership (iii) internally defined performance metrics such that the Engineering and Delivery team can utilize that resource.
- Manage all vendor-related data including background company information, proposal and project data, and all compliance certificates and documentation.
- Prepare, deliver, and analyze vendor surveys and vendor pricing data; present results internally and devise action plans where necessary.
Required Skills & Qualifications
- Interest in the building performance and/or cleantech industries.
- A customer-oriented approach to communication.
- Willingness to regularly pick up the phone and talk to someone new.
- Strong organizational skills.
- Comfortable juggling a high volume of competing priorities.
- Self-starter with a strong motivation to work cross-functionally.
Preferred Skills & Qualifications
- 0-4 years of experience with vendor management and/or procurement, though candidates with less experience will be considered.
- Trade experience or an academic degree in mechanical or electrical engineering.
- Experience in the energy or commercial construction industry.
- Experience with project management, implementation, audit, and/or commissioning of buildings.
- Broad knowledge of behind-the-meter building technologies such as lighting, HVAC, solar, EVSE a plus.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation and stock option plans - we believe in shared ownership.
- Comprehensive benefits package including medical, vision, and dental insurance; pre-tax commuter benefits; disability and life insurance.
- Flexible vacation policy that encourages ~4 weeks of paid time off.
- We honor all of the federal holiday, and believe in a long weekend. Sparkfund is closed every Friday before a Monday holiday as well.
- 8 weeks gender-neutral paid leave for caregivers when they have a new addition to their families and an additional 4 weeks of paid leave for birthing parents.
- A one-time, work-from-home stipend to help cover any equipment, hardware, etc. you need to set up your remote office.
We Want You To Know
You can be a great candidate even if you don't fit everything we've described above. You can also have important skills we haven't thought of. If that's you, don't hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We are dedicated to environmental stewardship, and recognize we need diverse perspectives to successfully tackle this massive challenge. To change the world, we must first change ourselves, which is why Sparkfund has created a space that sources viewpoints from people who look and think differently.
We are committed to diversity and building an equitable and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and experiences, and we're taking steps to meet that commitment.
We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, veterans, and people with disabilities.
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