Key Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end purchasing and material-planning execution for engineering-related materials, parts, equipment, and custom hardware, from demand identification and sourcing through delivery, receiving, and inventory updates.
• Partner closely with engineering teams to understand technical requirements, specifications, quantities, schedules, and upcoming program needs.
• Source, evaluate, and obtain competitive supplier quotations, considering cost, quality, technical capability, lead time, delivery reliability, and supplier capacity.
• Manage the purchasing process from requisition through purchase order placement, ensuring required approvals, documentation, and commercial terms are complete and accurate.
• Handle non-standard procurement needs, including custom components, fabricated hardware, specialized materials, and equipment that cannot be acquired through standard purchasing channels.
• Track purchase orders, supplier commitments, shipments, and deliveries; proactively identify and resolve schedule delays, quality concerns, quantity discrepancies, and logistics issues.
• Coordinate shipping and receiving activities to ensure materials arrive on time, in acceptable condition, and with appropriate supporting documentation.
• Maintain accurate procurement, delivery, inventory, and supplier records to support engineering execution, cost tracking, reporting, and audit readiness.
• Develop and maintain material forecasts in partnership with engineering teams, identifying future procurement requirements early enough to protect program schedules and avoid material shortages.
• Support inventory planning by helping maintain appropriate stock levels for commonly used engineering materials, parts, and supplies while minimizing excess inventory and obsolescence risk.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with suppliers and vendors, negotiating favorable pricing, lead times, payment terms, and delivery commitments.
• Monitor and evaluate supplier performance across quality, responsiveness, cost, delivery, and service; drive corrective actions or alternative sourcing when performance does not meet program needs.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings, lead-time reduction, supplier consolidation, process improvement, and improved material availability.
• Ensure purchases comply with company procurement policies, applicable industry regulations, safety requirements, and documentation standards.
• Coordinate priorities across engineering, operations, receiving, finance, and suppliers when schedules are aggressive and requirements are evolving.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Operations, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience will also be considered.
• Typically 4+ years of experience as a Buyer/Planner, Supply Chain Coordinator, Procurement Specialist, or in a similar purchasing and planning role.
• Experience supporting engineering, manufacturing, technical operations, or other hardware-focused environments.
• Strong understanding of procurement processes, purchase order management, vendor sourcing, logistics, inventory control, and material planning.
• Demonstrated experience obtaining and evaluating supplier quotes, placing orders, tracking deliveries, and resolving supplier or shipment issues.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent purchasing priorities while maintaining strong attention to detail, documentation accuracy, and schedule discipline.
• Ability to interpret engineering-driven procurement needs, including material specifications, part requirements, quantities, technical documentation, and delivery dates.
• Experience with vendor management, supplier communication, cost negotiation, and commercial terms.
• Strong organizational, analytical, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with engineers, vendors, operations personnel, and company leadership.
• Proficiency with procurement, inventory-management, enterprise resource planning, or material requirements planning software.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, particularly Excel for tracking, analysis, reporting, and forecasting.
• Comfortable taking ownership in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities, limited resources, and significant individual responsibility.
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience supporting aerospace, aviation, defense, robotics, automotive, industrial equipment, or other complex hardware-development industries.
• Experience purchasing custom-machined parts, fabricated hardware, specialized materials, electronics, test equipment, or long-lead engineering components.
• Experience working in a startup, rapid-growth company, or highly accountable engineering organization.
• Experience supporting prototype development, engineering builds, hardware integration, test campaigns, or transitions into recurring production.
• Experience with forecasting tools, demand-planning systems, inventory optimization, or material requirements planning processes.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze purchasing, supplier, lead-time, inventory, and cost data to improve procurement strategies and execution.
• Experience developing alternate sources, mitigating supply-chain risks, and protecting engineering schedules from supplier or material disruptions.

Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.