Senior Buyer / Global Supply Chain Manager

Foundry Robotics • Emeryville, CA

9d • Onsite

About The Position

Foundry Robotics is an AI-native robotics manufacturing company developing advanced robotic assembly and production capabilities for robotics companies and national-security-critical hardware. The company aims to rebuild American manufacturing with AI-first, assembly-focused contract manufacturing. This senior manufacturing-team role is 100% in-person at the Emeryville, California office and is one of the company’s first supply-chain hires, working directly with production, quality, program management, and customers’ engineering teams.

The role owns procurement end to end: executing day-to-day purchasing for active customer programs while building the sourcing strategies, supplier network, and processes needed to scale. The position turns customer bills of materials into on-time, conforming material for high-mix, low-volume electromechanical builds, including new products that may launch in weeks. It also develops a domestic-first, defense-ready supplier base, negotiates agreements, and manages supplier risk, cost, and AS9100 supplier controls.

The position covers purchasing execution, strategic sourcing and supplier management, quality and regulatory compliance, and development of the procurement function. Responsibilities include maintaining the Approved Supplier List, preventing counterfeit parts, managing supplier performance and corrective actions, supporting factory build-out procurement, and helping select and configure procurement systems and processes. The successful candidate is expected to take ownership, move quickly through ambiguity, and build processes and capabilities as the company grows.

The role requires at least seven years of procurement, purchasing, or supply-management experience with electromechanical hardware, including at least three years in a senior buyer, commodity manager, or supply manager role. Experience in a contract manufacturer or high-mix, low-volume production environment is required. U.S. person status is required for ITAR work. The stated base salary range is $150,000–$220,000, with eligible compensation packages including equity and benefits. Benefits include comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage and generous PTO.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of procurement, purchasing, or supply-management experience for electromechanical hardware, including at least 3 years in a senior buyer, commodity manager, or supply manager role.
• Experience in a contract manufacturer (EMS/CM) or high-mix, low-volume production environment.
• Hands-on buying experience across multiple commodities, including electronic components, PCBAs, cable/harness, and machined and sheet-metal parts.
• Working knowledge of AS9100 or ISO 9001 purchasing requirements, including supplier approval, flow-downs, FAI, traceability, and counterfeit-parts prevention.
• Familiarity with ITAR/EAR and DFARS requirements, and willingness to work on export-controlled programs.
• U.S. person status required for ITAR work.
• Demonstrated negotiation results on price, lead time, and terms, and experience building supplier relationships from scratch.
• Strong ERP/MRP skills, such as NetSuite, Odoo, Epicor, or similar, and advanced spreadsheet skills.
• Ability to read engineering drawings and BOMs and discuss specifications with engineers.
• Bias for action, comfort with ambiguity, ownership of outcomes, and ability to move quickly without compromising quality.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, medical device, or autonomy hardware.
• Background building a supply-chain function at an early-stage startup or new factory.
• Established network of domestic machine shops, harness houses, PCBA suppliers, and authorized distributors.
• Experience sourcing robotics and automation components, such as servos, actuators, cameras, grippers, and industrial PCs, or capital equipment.
• Knowledge of DFARS 252.225 specialty metals, DFARS 252.246-7007/7008 counterfeit-part rules, NIST 800-171/CMMC flow-downs, and Buy American/TAA.
• Component obsolescence and lifecycle-management experience, such as SiliconExpert or Z2Data.
• Certifications such as CPSM, CSCP, or APICS CPIM.
• Interest in using software and AI to automate procurement workflows, such as quote parsing, BOM scrubbing, and supplier scoring.
• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, or engineering, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Own purchasing for high-mix, low-volume electromechanical builds, including electronics, cable and harness, machined and sheet-metal parts, fasteners, motors, sensors, and consumables.
• Convert customer BOMs and quotes into purchase orders with complete requirements and flow-downs, including quality clauses, DFARS/ITAR requirements, certificates, FAI, and special processes.
• Manage expedites, shortages, and allocation calls to keep NPI and production builds on schedule.
• Manage customer-furnished material and customer-directed suppliers alongside company purchases.
• Maintain accurate purchasing data in the ERP, including lead times, pricing, approved sources, and open PO status.
• Build and maintain the Approved Supplier List, and evaluate, qualify, and onboard suppliers under the AS9100 Purchasing procedure.
• Develop a domestic and allied-nation supply base that supports defense customers and onshoring goals.
• Negotiate pricing, LTAs, blanket orders, consignment, and VMI programs to support speed and cost objectives.
• Track and report supplier performance, including on-time delivery, quality, and responsiveness, at Management Review; drive SCARs with Quality.
• Identify single-source, obsolescence, and geopolitical risks and establish alternate sources.
• Prevent counterfeit parts by purchasing through authorized channels and enforcing traceability and C of C requirements.
• Partner with the Head of Quality on supplier audits, source inspection, and nonconformance disposition.
• Ensure compliance with ITAR/EAR, DFARS specialty-metals and cybersecurity flow-downs, and country-of-origin rules.
• Help select and configure procurement tools, MRP logic, and supplier portals as the company grows.
• Provide cost and lead-time data for DFM and quoting, and flag long-lead or hard-to-source parts during quote review.
• Support supply planning for the new factory build-out, including robotic cell components and capital equipment.
• Write procurement playbooks and mentor future buyers and planners.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health coverage.
• Dental coverage.
• Vision coverage.
• Generous PTO.
• Equity-based compensation for eligible roles, subject to Board of Director approval.

What This Job Offers

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