Procurement Lead

VESSL AI•San Francisco, CA

2d•$180,000 - $210,000•Onsite

About The Position

VESSL is hiring a Procurement Lead to remove supply constraints as it builds a specialized AI cloud for frontier labs, physical AI companies, and research institutions. The role leads all US procurement, determining where capacity comes from, how it is financed, which vendors to work with, and when capacity comes online. As the first hire on the US Supply team, the Procurement Lead will personally run deals end to end, from sourcing partners and negotiating agreements through delivery, acceptance, and ongoing contract management. As the business grows, this person will build the team to scale procurement. The role is part of the global Supply function, reports to the Chief Strategy Officer, and is based in VESSL's US office in San Francisco. It works closely with the global supply team and US Sales, Product, Infrastructure, and Finance.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience, including at least 2 years in investment banking or consulting, and hands-on experience in the data center or cloud space.
A track record leading data center, colocation, hardware, or financing agreements involving significant financial commitments.
Ability to translate technical requirements into commercial terms and contract language.
Hands-on experience with billing, settlement, and SLA management after signing.
Working knowledge of the data center value chain, from power and operations to OEMs and capital providers, and the judgment to assess partner reliability and risk.
Strong diligence instincts, including verifying claims, underwriting counterparties, and building processes that identify problems before contracts are signed.
Experience hiring and leading a team, or readiness to build a team from scratch.
Ability to work on site in San Francisco.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience negotiating MSAs, SLAs, and DPAs.
Hands-on experience in data center operations, deployment, or colocation, including power, cooling, rack density, and GPU networking.
Understanding of NVIDIA GPU systems such as HGX and GB200 NVL72, their configurations, and build lead times.
Experience designing benchmark and acceptance test criteria.
An existing network across the compute and data center ecosystem.
Fluency in infrastructure finance, including how capital flows into infrastructure assets, how it is underwritten, and how financing terms shape unit economics.
AI-native use of tools such as Claude to increase output, model scenarios, and conduct diligence faster.

Responsibilities

Map the US data center value chain, including energy and power, data center developers and operators, OEMs and hardware partners, and capital backers.
Source new capacity and onboard supply partners; verify capacity and delivery timelines before entering negotiations.
Build relationships that provide early access to capacity and manage capacity milestones for GPU type, site, and delivery timeline.
Design and conduct vendor due diligence covering financial health, ownership and capital structure, hardware provenance, operational track record, and contract risk.
Coordinate technical due diligence with Engineering, including cluster specifications, networking, and storage.
Set and enforce reliability qualification standards for data center partners, starting at Tier III standards for power, cooling, redundancy, and network.
Set proof-of-concept scope and acceptance criteria before making commitments, and develop a repeatable procurement playbook.
Structure funding for capacity commitments, model unit economics, work with financial partners and the Chief Strategy Officer on financing terms, and partner with Finance on deployable compute plans.
Define deal requirements, issue RFIs, compare quotes, and select partners.
Negotiate commercial terms, including pricing, contract term, payment structure, and risk allocation.
Negotiate and execute MSAs, SLAs, and order forms, and handle KYC with HQ Legal and Finance.
Agree on delivery schedules and milestones with partners.
Track delivery progress and manage cutover and acceptance testing.
Verify monthly invoices, settle payments, monitor SLAs, and claim credits when partners fall short.
Negotiate renewals and expansions.
Maintain a single view of the US capital and compute pipelines, tracking opportunities from sourcing through diligence, negotiation, financing, contracting, and live capacity.
Partner with US Sales to match supply and demand and translate demand signals into sourcing priorities.
Report US capacity, pipeline, and capital status to HQ and leadership weekly and monthly, surfacing risks early.
Align with the global supply team on shared standards, supplier coverage, and capacity planning.
Build and lead the US Supply team as procurement volume grows.