Company description:
Scandinavian Airlines System SAS
Job description: Challenges you will work on:
At SAS, strong partnerships are essential to delivering reliable and secure technology services. As Operational Vendor Manager, you will ensure that our strategic IT suppliers not only meet contractual commitments but consistently deliver the service quality our business depends on. This role focuses on what happens after an agreement is in place. Working closely with suppliers, Service Owners, and internal stakeholders, you will drive service performance, operational accountability, continuous improvement, and effective governance across the vendor landscape. You will combine relationship management, operational oversight, and data-driven decision-making to ensure suppliers consistently deliver against agreed service commitments while supporting SAS' ambitions for operational excellence.
Your responsibilities include:
- Own the operational relationship with assigned strategic IT vendors and act as the primary Service Management of contact for service delivery performance.
- Translate SLAs, service commitments, and operational obligations into effective day-to-day governance and measurable outcomes.
- Lead regular service reviews covering performance, incidents, risks, resilience, capacity, and improvement initiatives.
- Monitor vendor KPIs, SLA performance, service credits, and improvement plan to drive accountability and service quality.
- Challenge underperformance and ensure recovery plans, actions, and improvements are delivered and followed through.
- Ensure vendors actively participate in Incident, Problem, Change, and Continuity Management processes.
- Drive follow-up of Root Cause Analysis activities and recurring service issues to support long-term service stability.
- Identify operational risks, dependencies, and capability gaps across the vendor landscape, escalating where appropriate.
- Support Service Owners with performance insights, operational improvements, and decision-making material.
- Partner with Procurement and Contract Owners by providing operational performance data to support sourcing, renewals, and commercial discussions.
- Support onboarding new suppliers into SAS processes, governance frameworks, and ways of working.
- Develop vendor performance reporting and dashboards using ServiceNow and other relevant data sources.
- Drive continuous improvement by encouraging suppliers to contribute automation, resilience, efficiency, and service quality enhancements.
The Team
You will be part of the Service Management organization and work closely with Service Owners, IT Service Management leadership, and teams across Infrastructure, Cloud, Networks, Workplace Services, Cybersecurity, and Applications. The role also involves close collaboration with Procurement, Contract Owners, Finance, and strategic technology suppliers, creating strong partnerships that support both operational performance and long-term service quality. As SAS continues to strengthen its digital and operational capabilities, effective vendor management plays an increasingly important role in ensuring reliable, secure, and business-focused IT services.
To be successful we believe you have
- Experience in IT Service Delivery, Supplier Management, or Operational Vendor Management within a complex enterprise environment.
- Proven ability to manage supplier performance through KPIs, SLAs, governance forums, improvement plans, and stakeholder engagement.
- Solid understanding of ITIL practices and how suppliers contribute to Incident, Problem, Change, and Service Level Management.
- Commercial awareness and the ability to interpret contracts and service commitments while maintaining a focus on operational outcomes.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate service data into meaningful insights and actions.
- Strong communication, influencing, stakeholder management, and relationship-building skills.
- Experience working with ServiceNow and multi-vendor or outsourced IT environments.
- Experience from aviation, transportation, or other 24/7 mission-critical environments are considered an advantage.
- A collaborative and proactive mindset, with a passion for continuous improvement and service excellence.
- The ability to build trust, create alignment, and drive positive outcomes across internal teams, suppliers, and partners.
Additional information
- Apply by: 16/09/2026. We review applications continuously, so please send us your CV as soon as you can. The role may be filled before the deadline.
- Start and scope: Full-time role, starting with a 6-month probation period.
- Location: This position is based in Stockholm or Copenhagen. This is mainly an onsite role, with some flexibility for remote work depending on the agreement with your manager.
- Security: As this role is security classified, a background check will be part of the final stage of the recruitment process.
If you have any questions about the role, please contact Jarno Putta, Head of Service Management, at jarno.putta@sas.se. Please note that, due to GDPR, we can’t accept applications by email.
