Procurement Associate
$155,000–$185,000 year
On-siteSan Francisco, California, United States
Job Summary
Root out demand signals across engineering, prototyping, testing, propulsion, and manufacturing teams to identify purchase needs before they become blockers. Take parts and materials from early engineering conversations through vendor prospecting, quoting, negotiation, order placement, supplier follow-up, delivery tracking, and receipt. Source piece parts, machined components, fabricated parts, hardware, tooling, test equipment, and lab supplies needed to support fast-moving technical teams. Drive supplier schedule execution by maintaining regular check-ins, confirming lead times, escalating risks, and pushing vendors to deliver on time. Create and maintain detailed procurement trackers covering open requests, RFQs, quotes, POs, supplier commitments, delivery dates, risks, and status updates. Partner closely with engineering and manufacturing to clarify requirements, drawings, specifications, quantities, revisions, acceptable substitutes, and delivery priorities. Build and manage relationships with critical suppliers, manufacturers, and service providers to ensure reliability and quality. Build our vendor network by vetting and qualifying new and existing vendors. Anticipate risks in the supply chain and design contingency plans to mitigate disruptions. This hands-on tactical role supports the development, testing, and buildout of complex aerospace and industrial systems for a vertically integrated aerospace company building supersonic travel.
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years of experience in procurement, purchasing, supply chain, operations, production control, manufacturing, or vendor coordination in a hardware environment
- Strong bias toward action; you move quickly, follow up relentlessly, and know how to unblock teams under schedule pressure
- Exceptional organization skills, with the ability to track many parts, suppliers, quotes, purchase orders, delivery dates, and open issues at once
- Experience working with technical teams and the ability to quickly understand engineering requirements, drawings, specifications, and part descriptions
- Strong supplier communication skills; comfortable calling vendors, requesting quotes, negotiating basic terms, confirming schedules, and escalating when needed
- Detail-oriented and process-minded, with the ability to create clean trackers, maintain accurate records, and build lightweight systems where none exist
- Comfortable operating in an ambiguous startup environment where priorities shift quickly and many processes are still being built
- Exposure to aerospace, export-controlled environments, AS9100 suppliers, or regulated hardware
- In-office work five days a week
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