Sr SAM License Analyst at Mattel in Hyderabad

Job description

Job Summary:  We are seeking an experienced Sr Software Asset Management (SAM) License Analyst who serves as the organization’s subject matter expert in managing and responding to external and internal software license audits. This role is central to ensuring audit readiness, supporting vendor audits, and interpreting complex licensing models and entitlements. The ideal candidate brings deep understanding of the software audit landscape, risk exposure analysis, and vendor compliance enforcement. This position will partner closely with procurement, legal, IT, and finance teams to maintain audit controls and support enterprise compliance with license agreements. The candidate must be willing to work on site 4 days a week in Hyderabad, during US EST time zone. Key Responsibilities: Audit Response & Management: Serve as the primary point of contact for software and vendor license audits initiated by third-party vendors or auditors. Coordinate cross-functional teams (IT, procurement, legal, finance) to gather required data, documents, and evidence for audits. Interpret requests from auditors and ensure timely, complete, and accurate responses while protecting the organization’s interests. Manage audit timelines and ensure audit activities are conducted efficiently and within legal and contractual boundaries. Audit Landscape & Risk Profiling: Maintain a current audit landscape profile of high-risk vendors (e.g., Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Adobe) and their audit practices. Develop and maintain an audit risk matrix based on vendor contract terms, license models, and past audit history. Identify vendors with potential audit exposure and proactively engage stakeholders to mitigate risk. Licensing Compliance Analysis: Analyze software entitlements, deployment data, and actual usage across environments (on-premise, cloud, hybrid). Compare usage vs. entitlement to identify under-licensing, over-licensing, or misaligned deployments . Provide licensing expertise and interpretations of complex licensing models (SaaS, perpetual, subscription, consumption-based). Documentation & Controls: Maintain audit documentation libraries including vendor correspondence, contract terms, deployment evidence, and audit reports. Develop and improve audit response templates, checklists, and workflows to ensure consistent and defensible audit responses. Support the creation and maintenance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for audit handling and software license control. Stakeholder Engagement & Reporting: Partner with internal stakeholders to explain audit findings, recommend corrective actions, and support remediation. Deliver periodic reports and dashboards on audit status, exposure, and trends to executive leadership and compliance committees. Provide advisory support during contract renewals or renegotiations to address past audit issues and future compliance planning. Audit Preparedness & Education: Lead internal mock audits or dry runs to evaluate readiness for upcoming vendor audits. Conduct awareness sessions and training for IT and procurement stakeholders on license audit risks and mitigation strategies. Recommend tools, practices, and governance frameworks to support ongoing license compliance.   Qualifications: Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Accounting, or a related field. 4–7 years of experience in software license compliance, audit management, or software asset management (SAM) . Proven experience handling third-party software audits from vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Adobe, etc. Experience in a Vendor Management Office or working with procurement/legal/IT on licensing matters is highly desirable. Skills & Knowledge: Strong understanding of software licensing models (perpetual, SaaS, subscription, user/device-based, cloud usage). Familiarity with contract language related to licensing and audit rights . Working knowledge of audit processes, risk management, and compliance fram