Procurement Lead

Baseten • San Francisco, CA

2d • $190,000 - $240,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Baseten is seeking a Procurement Lead to establish and build the company's procurement function from the ground up. This is a foundational role with high ownership, focused on defining procurement processes, systems, and policies for a rapidly scaling AI company. The goal is to make procurement a source of leverage, not friction, by building scalable processes, managing vendors, and freeing up business owners' time. This role requires close partnership with Finance, Legal, Security, Compliance, IT, and business owners across the company, with success measured by team support and unblocking, not by slowing down processes.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive procurement experience, including experience building or significantly maturing a procurement function at a high-growth technology company.
• Proven experience designing procurement processes, policies, and systems from the ground up.
• Experience running RFPs and vendor selection processes on behalf of business stakeholders.
• Experience with strategic sourcing and vendor contract negotiation across multiple spend categories.
• Experience partnering with Security, Compliance, and Legal on vendor risk assessments.
• Comfortable operating with significant ambiguity and building structure where none exists today.
• Strong cross-functional partnership skills, able to work with Finance, Legal, Security, Compliance, IT, and business owners as a partner, not a source of friction.
• Based in San Francisco or New York, with the ability to work in-person 3+ days per week.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with modern procurement and spend management platforms with AI-enabled functionalities.
• Experience operating in a high-growth business.
• Familiarity with SOX controls and audit requirements as they relate to procurement.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement Baseten's first company-wide procurement process, approval routing, and other workflows.
• Establish procurement policies (spend thresholds, approval authority, competitive bidding requirements) tailored to a high-growth business.
• Design processes that scale with the business without adding friction or slowing down how teams buy.
• Define procurement's operating model and roadmap as the function and team scale.
• Build out procurement workflows within our existing P2P platform, including requisition, approval, and purchase order processes.
• Build reporting and visibility into company-wide spend by category, vendor, and department.
• Own vendor onboarding, due diligence, and risk assessment across the company's vendor base, partnering with Security, Compliance, and Legal on vendor risk reviews.
• Lead or support strategic sourcing, RFPs, and contract negotiations on behalf of business owners, freeing up their time and capacity.
• Build a vendor management framework covering performance, risk, and renewals.
• Partner with Legal, Security, Compliance, IT, and business owners across the company to understand purchasing needs and build workflows that fit how each team actually operates.
• Act as a trusted advisor and extension of business teams on sourcing strategy, RFPs, and vendor selection, not a gatekeeper that slows deals down.
• Establish procurement controls that support audit readiness, SOX compliance, and security and data privacy requirements as the company matures, in partnership with Legal, Security, and Compliance.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, including meaningful equity.
• 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents.
• Flexible PTO policy including company wide Winter Break (our offices are closed from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day!).
• Paid parental leave.
• Fertility and family-building stipend through Carrot.
• Company-facilitated 401(k).
• Exposure to a variety of ML startups, offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed