Senior Software Licensing Specialist

The Global Experian IT Services SAM team are responsible for ensuring licensing compliance for large strategic suppliers together with understanding the centralized deployment - software usage to inform contract anniversary dates and renewals. As such, the team works closely with our external SAM provider, the global procurement team, the Global technology demand team as well as both Global and Regional technical teams. By working closely with other teams the Software License Specialist role is expected to take responsibility for specific vendors-software titles and bring the relevant teams together as and when required.

The Software License Specialist role reports into the Global Experian IT Services SAM Manager and it is expected that the successful candidate will adopt a continuous improvement mindset looking to implement process improvements, automation where relevant and consider the use of emerging AI technologies to gain productivity improvements as Experian adopts these technologies across the wider workforce

Principle responsibilities

• Manage one of the primary vendor license estates (IBM, Oracle or Microsoft) through coordination of information with external supplier, maintain accurate deployment and drawdown records and coordinate closely with procurement and demand teams on contract renewals and anniversary dates
• Be a subject matter expert for licensing in general and specifically for one of the primary vendors
• Support the contract execution and renewals processes by providing accurate information related to license allocation-usage, and maintain open dialog regarding license footprint across a portfolio of software titles
• Support vendor audits and report on entitlement and usage as necessary
• Liaise and support finance teams on budgeting and forecasting software related pricing activities
• Raise purchase requisitions, review and approve invoicing and liaise with Accounts Payable where relevant
• Identify areas of continuous improvement including increased automation for asset management process efficiencies
• Administer supplier portals for user access, license keys and entitlement information
• Proactively identify and drive opportunities across desktop, server & cloud to successful outcomes through rationalizing and standardizing software renewal contracts together with rationalizing software titles for overlapping product sets to reduce costs
• Be an ambassador and evangelist for good SAM practices within the Global organization

Requirements

• Advanced English proficiency
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of IT asset management experience, preferably software asset management
• Experience with software usage metrics and contractual terms on at least one of Microsoft, Oracle or IBM.
• Experience with Citrix or VMware architecture, and-or public cloud processes-concepts
• Experience of managing Software Contracts & dealing with Software Vendors-Publishers and Resellers is critical
• Prior experience of Oracle financials is desirable.
• Experienced navigating ServiceNow to extract SAM related data is highly preferred
• Familiarity with software inventory & discovery tools would be an advantage
• Experience dealing with license implications on OS platforms such as Windows, MAC, Linux & Solaris would be preferred
• Strong quantitative, analytical, problem-solving skills, including the ability to accumulate, organize, and assimilate large amounts of information
• Excellent teamwork and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate and collaborate with employees and management at all levels
• Self-starter and able to work proactively of a truly Global team in a matrixed organization
• Flexible working to accommodate other time zones would be preferred but not critical
• Globally recognized SAM accreditations such as IAITAM Certification, CSAM and CITAM is desirable
• Agile & Lean Certifications are desirable