VodafoneThree – Senior Manager – Cornerstone Partnership Full Time

Salary: Excellent basic salary plus bonus and Vodafone benefits

Working Hours: Full time 37.5 hours per week – Monday to Friday

Hybrid

We believe that through collaboration and connection with our colleagues we can achieve great things. Our hybrid working approach allows our people to work both in the office and at home, providing the flexibility and resources you need to succeed in your role. We don’t require you to be in on specific days; instead, we ask people to come into the office 2-3 days each week, for at least 8 days per month. You should work with your line manager to understand what their expectations are for you, your specific role and your team.

Who We Are

We’re here to build a network the UK can count on – one that connects people, places and potential. Because no matter where you live, what your background is, or how you get online – we think everyone deserves the same chance to stay connected, and with VodafoneThree, that future’s being built – today.

We’re creating more than the UK’s best network. We’re helping close the digital divide, empower communities and drive meaningful progress.

We believe that everyone should feel they belong. Whoever you are and whatever your story, there’s space for you here. We’re building a workplace where different perspectives are welcomed, voices are heard, and everyone feels safe to show up as themselves.

You’ll join a team that genuinely cares – about each other, about our customers, and about the future we’re building. From day one, you’ll be welcomed, valued and encouraged to bring your whole self to work.

Why VodafoneThree

Join us and you’ll be at the heart of change. That means building responsibly, investing sustainably and creating opportunities that last.

We’re not just expanding connectivity; we’re reimagining what a connected nation looks like. With £11bn invested in 5G and digital infrastructure, your work will directly power businesses, services, and communities across the country.

You’ll work on real challenges, with real impact, across every corner of the country. Wherever you join us, whatever your role, you’ll be helping to build a future that works better for everyone.

We move at pace, because what we’re building matters – and we’re learning as we go. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, but we’re just getting started.

Join our UK Networks team, where we’re continually building and enhancing our network, connecting millions of people and businesses across the country. Be part of the team that makes it all happen – simplifying, automating, and bringing better connectivity than ever before, with giga-fast speed, to our customers.

What You’ll Do

The Towers and Estates team has responsibility for the Cell Site providers and services for Vodafone Three. The site providers are a mixture of large (10,000) site providers to small Neutral host providers across the UK.

Cornerstone, having previously been part of a joint venture with VMO2, is now independent (although Vodafone retains a significant shareholding through Vantage towers). Cornerstone is now the largest Cell Site provider to VodafoneThree, providing around 14,000 cell sites.

The role will be the Lead for Cornerstone Partner engagement, working in the Towers and Estates team which has overall responsibility for the Cell Site partners.

The Cornerstone Partnership lead has overall responsibility for VodafoneThree’s partnership with Cornerstone ensuring the partnership is effective and delivers VodafoneThree’s objectives.

Overall accountability for the relationship with Cornerstone as one of the largest site providers for VodafoneThree.

• Establish, enforce, operate and continuous improvement of an effective governance model with Cornerstone across a number of agreements, both single and multiparty ensuring commercial and contractual compliance
• Establish effective contract management processes for all Cornerstone agreements within VodafoneThree, ensuring stakeholders engage with the processes and support business objectives
• Build effective ways of working with Cornerstone such that business stakeholders are able to engage with and utilise partner services to deliver
• In-Life management of contracts held with the partners, including contract change and amendment, compliance and governance
• Overview of the defined Demand Management process between VodafoneThree and Cornerstone ensuring relevant stakeholder contributions, SLA Adherence and cost provisions
• Responsibility for setting and managing the operating budget with Cornerstone, working closing with the finance business partners and Programme Office as appropriate to ensure adherence to budget
• Creation of a long-term strategy for the Cornerstone relationship and portfolio, seeking opportunities to consolidate and optimise the portfolio then converting that strategy into an annual business plan, aligned with overall company objectives
• Create a culture of innovation to drive value and change./process improvement across both parties
• Ensuring external contractual compliance requirements are met, including the management of any site transition activities in conjunction with Virgin Media 02
• Communicate information regarding the Cornerstone agreements and partnership, providing management oversight and reporting to senior stakeholders and contract expertise to the wider ND&I team in relation to the site portfolio
• Ensure frameworks are in place to provide Performance Management of our partner agreements ensuring relevant performance metrics are published and reported on a regular basis
• Identify risks associated with the partners and agreements ensuring that these are captured within the overall Risk management framework. Provide strategies for treatment of these risks, making recommendations to the leadership team
• Ensure successful interoperability with the Beacon MNSA agreement with VMO2
• Provide focal point for all Health and Safety issues between Vodafone3 and Cornerstone, with proactive management of all defined issues

Who You Are

• Leadership and managerial experience at a senior level demonstrating strong stakeholder relationship management. Demonstrates the ability to bring thought leadership to their area, decompose problems, collaborate, deliver sound decision making and communicate effectively
• Proven ability to develop, coach and motivate people, recognise gaps and build plans to develop capability. Experience in building empowered, trusted teams.
• Has clear experience of their domain with knowledge of technologies, frameworks and standards and how to successfully apply these, through improvement roadmaps, to drive incremental maturity improvements and outcomes
• Understanding of marketing led / consumer brands and the importance of customer experience. Able to demonstrate working in a service orientated environment and the importance of this in product development
• Will understand the end to end workings of our business and the impact of key trading and operational decisions
• Able to advise on and support the creation of strategies and visions with a proven record of translating these into operational plans that maintain a people and customer experience focus. Can demonstrate ability to adapt plans to changing needs
• Will have a background on using insight and tracking performance to enable quality decision making, and will be able to articulate the benefits or drawbacks of such decisions
• Proven record of working in an ambiguous, fast paced delivery environment showing an ability to handle ambiguity and differing speeds of change. Can show being comfortable problem solving without knowing all the answers. Will be able to show experience of working across multi domains to take a more enterprise-wide view
• Will have clear experience of working in a role managing complex operations and changes whilst being accountable for their budgets and value realisation. Will have solid financial acumen
• Background of working in a heavily partnered environment where delivery success is highly reliant on the capabilities of our partners and our ability to support and deliver those outcomes together
• 5+ years of managing major site provider services and or partnerships
• 5+ years in a leadership role within a network operator
• 5+ years of experience managing contracts in excess of £50m pa

Worried that you don’t meet all the desired criteria exactly?

We know that everyone is unique, with multiple aspects to their identity and different experiences behind them. We are passionate about Inclusion for All and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, whatever their personal or professional background. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align exactly with every part of the job description, we encourage you to apply as you may be the right candidate for this role or another role, and our recruitment team can help you see how your skills fit in.

What We Offer

We care about our people’s success by offering great pay, bonuses, up to 28 days off plus bank holidays, and paid time for charity work. You can personalise our benefits for you and your family, like discounts, vouchers, a pension plan and loads more. We help with your career through our amazing learning tools and top-notch parental leave policies.

Need to Know

We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and all offers of employment for this role are subject to background checks, including criminal (DBS) and financial checks to meet the regulators standards.

If you require any reasonable adjustments or have an accessibility request as part of your recruitment journey, for example, extended time or breaks in between online assessments, a sign language interpreter, or assistive technology, please refer to the Accessibility section of our Careers website (https://careers.vodafone.com/uk/reasonable-adjustments/) for guidance.

We use AI in different parts of our business to boost innovation, improve efficiency, and create new opportunities. We know many candidates use AI to fine-tune their CVs or prepare for interviews, but what we really care about is your unique experiences and achievements.

During the interview, we want you to rely on your own knowledge and skills to show us who you really are—your personality, creativity, and abilities. Above all, we’re looking for authenticity and can’t wait to get to know the real you.

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