Senior Procurement Specialist, US

Verda•Palo Alto, CA

2d•$120,000 - $160,000•Onsite

About The Position

Verda is building a fully featured European AI cloud, covering everything needed to train, experiment with, and deploy AI models at scale. They are a full-stack AI infrastructure company, designing, operating, and optimizing the compute powering modern AI workloads. Their infrastructure runs on 100% renewable energy, contributing to a more sustainable AI ecosystem. This role is for someone who wants to join while the company is still being built. The company has a data center in the US and a hardware supply chain spanning Taiwan, Japan, the US, and Europe. The US is a top-priority market, and the Senior Procurement Specialist will own it independently, responsible for sourcing hardware, managing suppliers, coordinating logistics, and handling commercial agreements.

Requirements

5+ years in procurement, supply chain, or vendor management in a hardware, technology infrastructure, or data center environment
Proven ability to run end-to-end procurement independently, from receiving a purchase request through to delivery confirmation and invoice reconciliation
Strong negotiation skills: experience negotiating hardware supply agreements, volume pricing, and delivery terms with evidence of outcomes
Comfortable with logistics coordination and international shipping, customs clearance, Incoterms, freight forwarding, and the practical reality of moving hardware across borders
Able to review and manage commercial contracts without routing everything through Legal first
Comfortable with full-time office presence five days a week, given the operational nature of the role (on-site coordination, logistics, and hands-on procurement work)
Proficiency in both Mandarin and English

Nice To Haves

Experience procuring GPU servers, AI accelerators, or data center infrastructure hardware
Familiarity with server ODMs and the supply dynamics of this market
Understanding of Asian supply chains, ODM and OEM procurement from Taiwan, Japan, or mainland China, including lead time and allocation dynamics
Experience in a scaling startup or high-growth environment where structure was still being built while work was being executed
Additional languages relevant to our supply chain: Japanese, or a major European language

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end procurement for US operations: sourcing components and servers, issuing RFQs, evaluating quotations, negotiating pricing, placing orders, and tracking delivery through to invoice reconciliation
Define and execute sourcing strategies for key hardware categories, identifying the right vendors, developing new supplier relationships, and building the supply options that give Verda flexibility and competitive pricing
Manage supplier relationships day-to-day: performance tracking, lead time management, issue escalation, and RMA coordination
Coordinate inbound and outbound logistics for the US data center, customs clearance, shipment tracking, and resolving delivery issues before they become operational problems
Support CAPEX planning and procurement forecasting in close coordination with the Finland-based procurement team and Finance
Review and manage procurement contracts and supply agreements, covering delivery terms, SLAs, liability, and price escalation, coordinating with Legal when escalation is needed
Maintain accurate procurement documentation: purchase orders, invoices, contracts, and supplier records
Develop new vendors and maintain a market view on hardware pricing, availability, and supply trends relevant to Verda's hardware categories