Buyer

Responsibilities

• Own the full procurement cycle by sourcing, requesting quotes, negotiating, and issuing purchase orders for hardware, raw materials, fabricated parts, and consumables.
• Manage open orders end-to-end by tracking deliveries, updating lead times, and expediting parts that are at risk of impacting the build schedule.
• Resolve purchase order discrepancies by working with receiving, suppliers, and engineering, and drive issues through to complete closure.
• Maintain accurate ERP/MRP data, including open purchase orders, lead times, pricing, vendor records, and part status information.
• Identify and implement cost and lead time improvement opportunities across the supply base.
• Work from bills of materials (BOMs), work orders, and engineering requirements to plan material needs for active and upcoming builds.
• Track parts through their full lifecycle, from purchase order issuance through receiving, inspection, kitting, and build completion.
• Maintain clear visibility into build status and material readiness, and proactively surface shortages and schedule risks.
• Cook up and coordinate closely with engineering, production, and receiving teams to keep part flow aligned with build priorities.
• Support traveler and documentation accuracy to ensure traceability throughout the build process.
• Identify and onboard new suppliers across machining, injection molding, PCBAs, electronics, testing, assembly, and other processes as needed.
• Conduct supplier vetting by evaluating capabilities, quality systems, capacity, and certifications.
• Make occasional supplier visits to assess facilities first-hand and build strong supplier relationships.
• Maintain and grow a reliable, high-performance vendor base that can scale with manufacturing operations.

Essential Skills

• 1–5 years of experience in purchasing, procurement, or materials planning in a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated ownership of purchase order management and open order tracking in an ERP or MRP system.
• Ability to work from bills of materials and engineering drawings to translate requirements into procurement actions.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage a large and constantly shifting queue of open orders and build priorities.
• Direct and proactive communication style when working with suppliers, engineers, and technicians.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for supplier visits.
• Ability to thrive in a fast, ambiguous environment where plans change frequently and ownership is expected.
• Experience with purchasing, procurement, supply chain, ERP systems, and buying and planning in a manufacturing context.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Background in aerospace, defense, or precision manufacturing.
• Familiarity with supplier qualification processes and quality documentation such as Certificates of Conformance (C of C), material certifications, and AS9100-related requirements.
• Experience sourcing across a broad range of processes, including machining, PCBAs, electronics, testing, coatings, and non-destructive testing (NDT).
• Experience working in a startup or high-growth manufacturing environment.