Materials Team Lead

Fluidstack•Austin, TX

8d•$208,000 - $263,000•Onsite

About The Position

The MEP & Structural Procurement team gets the physical equipment for gigawatt-scale AI data centers, electrical, cooling, power, and structural, delivered to site on schedule. Examples of key problems the team is working on: Expediting capital equipment orders where a slipped delivery pushes a construction milestone, and renegotiating vendor commitments to recover the schedule. Managing supplier, CM, and ODM capacity across multiple concurrent project sites so lead times and allocations don't collide. Reconciling purchase orders against engineering drawings and specs to catch scope discrepancies before equipment ships wrong. Running root-cause analysis on delivery misses and reporting supply status to PMs and leadership with enough rigor to drive decisions. Role Scope: Lead the materials management team: set priorities and workload across the materials managers and coach their expediting practice until every open order has an owner and a recovery plan. Work the hardest vendor recoveries yourself, expediting capital equipment orders with direct schedule consequences and renegotiating delivery commitments the site schedule can actually absorb. Own the consolidated root-cause and reporting rhythm to PMs and leadership, so every delivery miss has a documented cause, a corrective action, and a credible new date. Manage 4-5+ suppliers, CMs, and ODMs across concurrent project sites, keeping capacity, lead times, and allocations from colliding between projects. Read engineering drawings and specs against orders yourself and catch scope discrepancies before they become field problems. Travel to vendor sites to verify production status and push recoveries in person when the situation demands it.

Requirements

7-10+ years in global sourcing or supply chain for capital equipment or data center infrastructure
You've led a team of buyers or materials managers, or been its clear senior anchor, setting priorities and coaching how they expedite
You've personally expedited capital equipment orders where the slip had direct schedule consequences, and renegotiated the vendor's delivery commitment yourself, not through a subordinate
You've managed 4-5+ suppliers, CMs, or ODMs across concurrent project sites
You can read engineering drawings and specs well enough to catch a scope discrepancy the vendor missed
You're comfortable traveling to vendor sites, and you know when a problem needs you on the floor rather than on a call
You're a player-coach: you run the team's rhythm and still take the hardest recoveries yourself

Nice To Haves

Background in owner-furnished equipment
Background in cooling and power components for AI data centers
Background in GPU platform procurement at a hyperscaler

Responsibilities

Lead the materials management team: set priorities and workload across the materials managers and coach their expediting practice until every open order has an owner and a recovery plan
Work the hardest vendor recoveries yourself, expediting capital equipment orders with direct schedule consequences and renegotiating delivery commitments the site schedule can actually absorb
Own the consolidated root-cause and reporting rhythm to PMs and leadership, so every delivery miss has a documented cause, a corrective action, and a credible new date
Manage 4-5+ suppliers, CMs, and ODMs across concurrent project sites, keeping capacity, lead times, and allocations from colliding between projects
Read engineering drawings and specs against orders yourself and catch scope discrepancies before they become field problems
Travel to vendor sites to verify production status and push recoveries in person when the situation demands it