Vendor Manager (Remote, US)

International Vendor Manager

Are you a relationship builder who finds satisfaction in win-win solutions? Do you take pride in turning expectations into results, through clear communication, consistency, and collaboration? If you thrive in an environment where long-term partnerships matter as much as performance, keep reading. Apex is looking for an experienced, steady, and proactive International Vendor Manager to strengthen the foundation of our global manufacturing relationships.

Apex is a leading provider of high-performance automotive wheels and wheel accessories, catering to the motorsport and performance car enthusiast community. We have a strong vision for the future, a powerful narrative about our brand, and an enthusiastic team to execute our plans. We've been in business since 2007, and our team of 40+ staff are spread out remotely across the USA.

The Vendor Manager at Apex is responsible for the health of relationships with our long-term contract manufacturing partners. Success in this role is measured by how well our vendors perform with respect to quality, timeliness, and cost, while maintaining long-term healthy partnerships that scale with us. The Vendor Manager will own communications with our vendors, ensuring alignment and accountability. This role would free our team up to focus on their core areas, allow our CEO to focus his talents on higher-level strategic initiatives, and make us less dependent on our negotiating consultants.

At Apex, the International Vendor Manager will play a pivotal role in leading and nurturing key existing relationships with a small group of Southeast Asian contract manufacturers, and with time, adding a few more. The core of this position is about building long-term, strategic partnerships where trust, cultural understanding, and consistent execution are essential. Our ideal candidate will bring a proven track record in long-term vendor relationship management - not just in title, but through direct, hands-on ownership of vendor performance and accountability. This position is not suited to candidates whose prior experience has been limited to large teams with distributed responsibilities or to managing high volumes of interchangeable, low-complexity vendors. You'll work with a small number of key manufacturing partners producing custom, highly technical products where relationship quality directly impacts success.

To make those strategic partnerships successful, day-to-day discipline matters just as much as vision. Keeping our vendors aligned on timelines, product quality, and communication standards will require diligence, strong organization, and consistent follow-through. You must be the kind of person who sets regular check-ins and follows up even when it's inconvenient. A reactive approach will not suffice, and if you are not proactively managing deliverables, checking status without being prompted, and holding both internal and external stakeholders accountable, things will quickly fall apart.

While tactical follow-through keeps us on track, lasting success depends on how we manage and evolve our vendor relationships. Because we will not simply walk away from our vendor relationships, success in this role requires a nuanced, relationship-first approach. You'll need to understand what motivates our manufacturing partners, gain their buy-in on shared success, and maintain open, respectful, and proactive communication. We are looking for someone who can help us take these relationships to the next level by formalizing expectations and accountability through thoughtfully structured vendor contracts and constantly improving terms and practices that are mutually agreed upon. You will need to quickly establish trust with both Apex's leadership and our vendors so that you can move Apex's priorities forward with our vendors. You must have direct experience drafting, implementing, and upholding vendor agreements, ideally in collaboration with internal leadership and legal counsel. These contracts will serve as a framework to protect our interests, minimize risk, and define clear standards around lead times, quality, communication, and corrective actions.

While our international vendors generally communicate in English, it is typically not their first language, which is why Mandarin verbal fluency is strongly preferred. If you do not speak Mandarin, you will need to utilize creative translation tools. Your communication will help reduce problems to a few short calls instead of weeks of back-and-forth emails. You will play a significant role in key negotiations that will include our executives and the leadership of our vendor. Your knowledge of Southeast Asian business culture, gained through travel or extended stays in the region, will enable you to overcome the challenges of our different business customs.

Building a great relationship can't happen over email or WeChat alone. At a minimum, you will be expected to visit our vendors annually, though more frequent trips may be necessary to build trust, resolve issues, and provide boots-on-the-ground visibility during new system setup. Travel to trade shows would also be needed. We envision having a local support presence in the future, but we don't have one today. While you will work remotely from your home within the contiguous United States, you will need to be available for early morning or late evening calls to accommodate time zone differences. You'll also be expected to participate in occasional in-person team-building events, either at our headquarters in Pleasanton, California or at another US-based location.

Strong relationships abroad only work when they're matched by alignment at home. This position reports directly to our CFO. You will work closely with our Inventory & Demand Manager, Engineering Manager, and leadership to ensure that our manufacturing partners are aligned and capable of meeting our needs. This role might evolve to include people management as we grow, but we'll expect you to create efficiencies, maybe even the use of AI tools, before we seriously consider adding to our headcount.

Even with the right structure in place, challenges will arise. Our contract manufacturers are not accustomed to our level of scrutiny, and your role will be to install the safeguards that prevent recurring problems, while also addressing issues with tact, firmness, and clarity. You'll need to anticipate risks, create and enforce contract-based expectations, and negotiate fair resolutions that protect Apex from unnecessary cost or disruption. Success in this role means being respected by both our vendors and internal teams for your accountability, cultural fluency, problem-solving, and execution. In many ways, you are our key problem solver, helping others overcome their issues where the vendor is the core problem.

Communication is your superpower. You can clearly articulate expectations and ensure understanding, even across language barriers. You embrace conflict as a tool to build relationships.

You see the value in long-term partnerships and know what it takes to build and maintain them.

You have demonstrated success in managing high-value relationships, fostering partnerships, and delivering mutually beneficial results.

Your motivation to work isn't dependent on being in an office around others. You can concentrate and avoid distractions when working from home.

You balance kindness and curiosity and are not afraid to ask questions, stick your nose in, or stick your neck out.

You naturally want to use tools to keep projects well organized, and it won't take pressure from a manager to do so. Improving the efficiency of a process or automating it together puts a huge smile on your face.

Proactive and adaptable, you anticipate problems before they arise and implement solutions to keep operations running smoothly.

You'd rather move slowly and deliberately than suffer poor quality or outcomes.

You have demonstrated the ability to successfully promote a vision that results in vendor investments and concessions on the company's behalf.