Procurement Manager
Aston CarterJob Title: Procurement Manager
Job Description
The Procurement Manager leads all purchasing activities as the organization scales from prototype builds to volume delivery of small unmanned aircraft systems. This role sets and enforces purchasing policy, structures and manages the supplier base, and owns the full procurement lifecycle for production materials and shop supplies. The Procurement Ma
...
nager works closely with engineering and production teams to turn bills of materials into reliable material plans, ensuring that components and assemblies arrive on time and at target cost. This is a high-ownership position with significant influence over how, from whom, and on what terms the company procures its materials.
Responsibilities
• Set, document, and enforce purchasing policies, including purchase order approval thresholds, spend authority, requisition-to-PO workflow, and receiving and inspection handoff, and ensure engineering and production teams adhere to these policies.
• Organize and rationalize the supplier base by consolidating vendors, qualifying and tiering suppliers, establishing approved vendor and approved manufacturer lists, and formalizing terms, non-disclosure agreements, and pricing agreements in writing.
• Own and manage the ERP purchasing module, maintaining accurate vendor records, lead times, pricing, and bill of materials data so the system serves as the single source of truth for material planning.
• Manage the full procurement lifecycle for all production materials, including electronic components, PCB assemblies, mechanical parts, motors, batteries, consumables, and general shop supplies.
• Negotiate pricing, commercial terms, and lead times with distributors, contract manufacturers, and other suppliers, and manage ongoing relationships for PCB assemblies and machined parts.
• Run BOM-driven material planning in collaboration with production and engineering, placing orders for long-lead and allocated components early enough to ensure uninterrupted production.
• Balance minimum order quantities, lead times, and carrying costs while tracking purchased cost against bill of materials cost targets to support both operational and financial objectives.
• Ensure compliance with applicable export and procurement regulations in sourcing activities, including regulatory flow-downs to suppliers, and maintain traceability and certificates of conformance for controlled parts.
• Own the supplier quality feedback loop by logging nonconformances, driving corrective actions with suppliers, and maintaining supplier scorecards that track delivery performance, quality, and pricing.
• Proactively expedite critical orders and resolve shortages, delays, and quality issues before they impact production or customer deliveries.
• Monitor and report purchasing spend, key performance indicators, and supply risk to senior leadership, providing clear visibility into procurement performance and challenges.
• Redirect out-of-process purchases into approved procurement workflows and consistently uphold purchasing discipline with engineering and production stakeholders.
Essential Skills
• At least 5 years of experience in purchasing or supply chain management for low-volume, high-mix hardware or electronics manufacturing.
• Demonstrated experience writing and enforcing purchasing policy in environments where engineers previously ordered their own parts, and successfully implementing and sustaining those policies.
• Proven track record of consolidating and formalizing a supplier base, including vendor qualification, establishment of approved vendor and manufacturer lists, and negotiation of supplier agreements.
• Hands-on daily experience using an MRP or ERP purchasing module, including ownership of master data and execution of BOM-driven material planning.
• Working knowledge of electronic component sourcing, including lifecycle and obsolescence management, allocation and lead-time risk, authorized distribution channels, and counte