Buyer 3

Metrea•Tampa, FL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas. These include airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refuelling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the whole stack: designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that give our partners decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats. Our operating model is built around three interlocking pillars. The Support Groups provide a global shared-service – spanning people, finance, platform, operations, legal, and engagement. This frees up our Core Groups, who develop and own mission capabilities end-to-end, to focus entirely on delivery. The Market Groups apply a regional lens, ensuring that our agile and adaptable capabilities remain aligned to the wicked problems that matter most to our partners across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. At the heart of our model is a simple but powerful idea: be a true partner with skin in the game. Our partners need effects, not just equipment. By owning the full stack – from the lab to the field – we are able to drive a continuous cycle of innovation that keeps our partners ahead. It's a fast-moving, intellectually demanding environment where talented people are given real responsibility, work on problems that matter, and contribute to an enterprise that is growing quickly and deliberately. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific. Group Overview Aerospace Engineering Group (AERO) provides an integrated, end-to-end capability for the rapid modification and fielding of mission-specific aircraft. The Airborne Asset Adaptation (A3) Cell acts as the central command and coordination hub, managing requirements and external interfaces from inception to operational delivery. Specialized technical execution is delivered by the Aircraft Integration Centre (AIC), a Part 145 facility focused on airframe modification, and Aerospace Design (ASD), which provides organic design engineering and FAA-authorized certification. Collectively, these elements bridge the gap between initial requirements and the deployment of flight-certified, mission-ready assets. The Buyer 3 is a strategic partner who mentors junior staff and manages the most critical vendors and is a subject matter expert responsible for the lifecycle management of complex products and services. This role provides leadership within the Purchasing team and partners with Strategic Sourcing to drive long-term strategies and manage vendor performance and relationships. This role will specifically be responsible for ensuring procurement requirements of the AERO Group Part 21 efforts, with a focus on the Metrea Aircraft Integration Center (MAIC) Part 145 Repair Station. This includes improving and maintaining all aspects of our MAIC purchasing operations, IAW higher level enterprise standards and guidance. This role will be responsible for ensuring purchasing requirements that are derived from engineering data, requirements entered into the ERP, required vendor audits, developing vendor relationships and facilitating purchasing transactional relationships.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience required, MBA or specialized Master's preferred
5–10+ years’ experience developing and managing purchasing requirements for aviation MRO activities, with preference for a Part 21/Modification focused background
Demonstrated experience negotiating high value contracts and strategic sourcing
Demonstrated mitigation of global supply chain risks
Technical background in aerospace manufacturing processes and/or aircraft systems
Knowledge and understanding of Aviation Part Numbers/Alternate Part Numbers and National Stock Numbers
Demonstrated proficiency in understanding the documentation required for a part to be "airworthy." (e.g., FAA Form 8130-3)
Extensive and demonstrated utility with typical Business Software applications (Excel, Power-Bi, Teams, etc.)
Seasoned commercial awareness
Experience interacting with and counselling senior business leaders
Demonstrated ERP/MRP Proficiency through managing assigned parts, item masters, vendor records, and running reports to evaluate and forecast requirements to drive material availability to the highest levels while optimizing cost and inventory levels
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

MBA or specialized Master's preferred

Responsibilities

Design and implement long-range procurement plans for critical aircraft systems to ensure alignment with business OKRs and internal customer requirements
Conduct macro-economic analysis and monitor geopolitical trends to anticipate fluctuations in raw material pricing. (e.g., titanium, aerospace-grade aluminum)
Serve as the primary procurement voice in SIOP meetings to align executive-level production targets with vendor capacity
Partner with our experienced and talented Supply Chain and Global Logistics team alongside various Metrea Capability Areas and will need to learn the various work streams and requirements for the entire global enterprise
Lead the preparation and issuance of RFIs and RFPs, evaluate supplier bid responses for commercial and technical compliance, and develop and execute negotiation strategies to secure optimal commercial value
Participate in "Make vs. Buy" teams
Identify underperforming critical vendors and participate in cross-functional "Tiger Teams" (e.g., Quality, Engineering, Logistics) to improve their manufacturing processes
Manage the total cost, including price, cost of quality, freight/duty, and inventory carrying costs
Partner with the Center of Excellence to define and standardize Purchasing workflows, ERP configurations, and data governance policies
Develop and present executive-level dashboards on Purchasing health, cost, quality, and performance KPIs and the impact to overall material availability
Function as a lead for Buyer I and II roles, providing guidance on complex FAR/DFARS compliance issues and advanced negotiation tactics
Lead Lean Six Sigma or Kaizen events that transcend the procurement department to optimize the entire end-to-end value stream
Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, IPC diagrams, and blueprints for the purpose of identifying purchasing and sourcing requirements
Ability to derive purchasing requirements from proprietary data sets and construct purchasing plans/updates to show procurement progress based off MDL and BOM scopes assigned for procurement
Facilitate the transfer of technical data packages to suppliers and collaborate with Engineering and Quality to clarify drawing questions, part applicability, revision levels, and technical requirement prior to purchase
Procure specialized components for avionics integration, structural mods, mission equipment installs, antenna/radome integration, and wiring harness fabrication
Support material readiness for First Article Inspections, ground tests, fit‑checks, and aircraft integration validation events as applicable
Assist in identifying and problem-solving long lead or critical path materials that impact aircraft integration schedules