Director of Vendor Partnerships

HOATalent is hiring on behalf of The CAM Collective

• Role: Director of Vendor Partnerships
• Location: Chicago preferred
• Compensation: $140,000 to $160,000 base + 10-20% bonus

About Us

The CAM Collective (TCC) is a national network of best-in-class, independently operated community management companies. We partner with strong local firms to help them grow, modernize, and scale while preserving the people, culture, and community-first values that make each company unique. Our team is high-growth and small-but-mighty, built for people who are proactive, collaborative, and deeply committed to quality. We move with intention, think strategically, and take ownership of our work, creating an environment where smart ideas are valued, and individuals have real impact.

The Role

The Director of Vendor Partnerships is responsible for building and leading The CAM Collective’s national vendor partnership strategy across our portfolio of property management companies.

This role is about building a high-performing bench of trusted service providers — not technology infrastructure. You will create the structure, standards, and relationships that ensure our communities have access to reliable, fairly priced, high-quality vendors across trades such as HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, landscaping, restoration, and general maintenance.

You will serve as the strategic liaison between TCC and the vendors who support our member companies’ communities. The goal: strengthen service quality; improve cost discipline; reduce risk; and create portfolio-wide buying power while preserving the local relationships that matter in property management.

This is a foundational leadership role for someone who understands field services, contractor management, and the operational realities of maintaining residential communities at scale.

1. Build the Vendor Partnership Foundation

• Design and launch a centralized vendor partnership framework that supports multiple independent property management companies.
• Establish clear standards for vendor qualification, onboarding, performance expectations, and ongoing accountability.
• Create practical operating guidelines for how vendor partnerships are selected, evaluated, and maintained.
• Develop a cross-functional review group (Operations, Finance, Legal, Local Leadership) to guide major vendor partnership decisions.
• Conduct make-versus-buy evaluations to determine which services should remain local and which benefit from portfolio-level coordination.

2. Recruit & Develop a High-Quality Vendor Bench

• Identify, recruit, and vet regional and national vendor partners across core property management trades (HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, landscaping, restoration, etc.).
• Build a tiered partnership model (e.g., National Partners; Preferred Regional Vendors; Local Providers) based on performance, scale, and strategic value.
• Develop onboarding processes that ensure vendor partners understand expectations related to communication, response times, documentation, and resident experience.
• Create a phased rollout plan that aligns vendor coverage with geographic density and portfolio growth.

3. Drive Financial Value & Strategic Partnerships

• Negotiate pricing structures, rebate programs, and preferred partnership agreements that create measurable savings for member companies.
• Develop national or multi-region vendor partnerships where scale creates leverage — without sacrificing service quality.
• Identify appropriate ancillary revenue opportunities tied to vendor partnerships, aligned with client interests and transparency standards.
• Track and report cost savings, rebate performance, and overall financial impact of the vendor partnership strategy.

4. Set Performance Standards & Accountability

• Define clear service expectations, including response times, work quality standards, documentation requirements, and customer satisfaction benchmarks.
• Develop regional pricing benchmarks for labor and materials to promote fairness and budget discipline.
• Establish consistent scorecards and review processes to evaluate vendor partner performance.
• Support member companies in addressing underperformance and, when necessary, transitioning away from vendor partners who do not meet expectations.

5. Strengthen Risk Management & Compliance

• Partner with Legal to standardize Master Service Agreements and scopes of work appropriate for property management environments.
• Define insurance, licensing, and safety requirements appropriate to each trade category.
• Implement clear processes to track COIs, W-9s, licenses, and renewal dates to protect communities and reduce liability exposure.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Real Estate, or a related field; professional certifications (e.g., CPSM) are a plus.
• Experience: 5+ years in procurement or vendor management, with demonstrated experience building a program from scratch.
• Technical fluency: Experience with property management platforms (Vantaca, Buildium, CINC) and leading software implementations.
• Negotiation strength: Proven ability to negotiate complex Master Service Agreements and manage multi-party issues.
• Builder mindset: Comfort operating in ambiguity and transforming manual processes into scalable, automated systems.

What we have to offer:

• Competitive pay
• Excellent benefits package - Health, Dental, Vision, 401(k) match
• Unlimited PTO