Senior Manager, Production Technology Strategic Sourcing

Job Description

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The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Senior Manager for Production Technology Procurement (Strategic Sourcing) supports category strategy development and associated initiatives for all Production Technology subcategories for the company. Production Technology represents ~$50M in third party spend across WBD's 30+ brands and is a key contributor to business success and revenue growth. The role will collaborate with various internal clients to lead enterprise-level sourcing strategies, manage complex negotiations, and support category management across production technology spend areas. This role will partner closely with WBD technology organizations that support production and post production teams to ensure sourcing initiatives are aligned with business priorities. Example projects this role would lead sourcing support for may include software for production finance / accounting activities, production and post production software and/or hardware for production asset lifecycle management, workflow tools, content collaboration tools, editing tools, etc.
The Senior Manager also serves as a trusted advisor to executives and business leaders, driving innovation, supplier performance, and transformation across procurement initiatives. The role will contribute to cross-functional initiatives, support executive-level reporting, and champion procurement best practices.
This role reports to the VP, Production & Content Supply Chain Procurement and will also work closely with the leads of Production Procurement and Post Production & Content Supply Chain Procurement.
Your Role Accountabilities...
Negotiations, Contract Creation & Management: Sr Manager will lead business and technical negotiations for highly complex technology deals, including:
• Develops enterprise contract strategies by gathering global stakeholder requirements.
• Interprets and communicating contract terms; identifying risks and drafting custom protections for current and future negotiations.
• Collaborates with Legal to resolve contractual challenges and with Finance to align on budgets and commercial objectives.
• Negotiates pricing, SOWs, SLAs, and other operational terms while aligning with WBD's broader strategic relationships.
• Identifies cross-business opportunities by assessing supplier footprint across WBD and crafting strategic concessions and fallbacks.
• Leads negotiations end-to-end, including alignment with senior leadership (SVP/EVP+) on strategy, positioning, and risk mitigation.
• Understands both vendor solutions and WBD's workflow / architecture to optimize negotiations using competition, benchmarked terms, and collective buying power.
• Drives deals to closure with strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills, and by fostering collaboration across multifunctional teams.
Sourcing & Partnership Strategy: Sr Manager will lead development and execution of sourcing and vendor management strategies to support WBD's evolving production technology landscape by:
• Acts as a strategic advisor and liaison across Legal, Finance, Security, Global Content Operations, and Technology stakeholders, including SVP, EVP, and C-level leadership, ensuring alignment on priorities and timely issue resolution.
• Develops and evolves procurement frameworks, negotiation playbooks, and supplier engagement models to drive consistency, efficiency, and value.
• Maintains deep expertise in sourcing, contract negotiation, and vendor management best practices; brings thought leadership on market trends, emerging technologies, and supplier innovations.
• Identifies strategic opportunities for supplier rationalization, cost optimization, and adoption of innovative technologies.
• Partners with key stakeholders to align sourcing strategies with long-range business and technology planning initiatives.
Relationship Management: Sr Manager will cultivate and manage strategic relationships with both vendors and internal stakeholders, ensuring alignment, performance, and value by:
• Manages enterprise-level vendor relationships, addressing business issues, resolving escalations, and maintaining strong partnerships with key production technology providers.
• Leads the planning and execution of vendor business reviews, including performance evaluations and strategic assessments.
• Prepares supplier debriefs to address performance gaps and identify opportunities for relationship and service improvements.
• Delivers clear, executive-level reporting and insights on vendor performance, engagement status, and risk to senior stakeholders.
• Advises business partners on market trends, emerging technologies, and vendor capabilities to inform sourcing decisions.
• Builds and nurtures trusted relationships across the WBD organization, from operational teams to senior executives.
• Ensures accuracy of vendor records, contracts, and transaction data to support compliance and informed decision-making.
Process & Operations: Sr Manager will provide strategic oversight and high-level support to sourcing operations and vendor engagement processes by:
• Leads end-to-end RFX and competitive bidding processes for production technology vendor selection, ensuring alignment with WBD's enterprise objectives.
• Evaluates vendor solutions through a strategic lens, considering long-term fit with WBD's production technology roadmap and impact to production operations.
• Ensures compliance with WBD's sourcing and procurement policies, while promoting operational discipline and risk mitigation.
• Identifies opportunities for process optimization and partners cross-functionally to implement improvements that drive efficiency, cost savings, stronger vendor relationships, and business value.

Qualifications & Experience…
• 7-9+ years strategy, operations and sourcing experience in a sophisticated sourcing environment with demonstrated people management experience
• Solid experience and highly developed subject matter expertise in production technology
• Bachelor's Degree in related field; advanced degree JD/MBA a plus
• Experience in the Media & Entertainment industry with exposure to production technology
• Professional accreditation in sourcing / procurement preferred
• Proven expertise in high-stakes negotiations and deal structuring, with a strong command of complex commercial and technical considerations.
• Develops sophisticated financial models to inform business cases and vendor strategy.
• Applies strategic judgment in evaluating supplier proposals and selecting optimal sourcing approaches.
• Identifies cross-functional value opportunities by understanding enterprise-wide vendor impact.
• Leverages market intelligence and industry trends to inform negotiation strategy and maximize value.
• Highly adaptable in fast-paced, evolving environments; excels under pressure and shifting priorities.
• Drives deal execution through strong cross-functional leadership, stakeholder alignment, and solution-oriented thinking.
• Strategic, self-directed collaborator with a bias for action and the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Demonstrated strength in analytical thinking, issue resolution, and risk-informed decision-making.
• Exceptional communicator with the ability to influence at all levels; skilled in distilling complex information into clear, actionable insights.
• Excellent written, oral and presentation skills and an ability to synthesize complex and technical information into concise and clear recommendation.
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Jobcode: Reference SBJ-4kk94v-216-73-216-118-42 in your application.