Director of Purchasing

About Us Infinitum is revolutionizing the future of motors with our patented Aircore technology-delivering superior performance in half the weight and size while reducing the carbon footprint compared with traditional motors. Our solutions enable smaller, lighter, and quieter machines that conserve energy and reduce waste. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Infinitum is driven by innovation and a commitment to making a positive global impact.

Learn more at  . Position:
Director of Purchasing

Location:

North Austin, Texas (Onsite)

Reports To:

Vice President of Supply Chain Travel:
Approximately 20-30% to Saltillo, contract manufacturers, and suppliers in the U.S. and internationally

The Director of Purchasing provides strategic and operational leadership for Infinitum's global purchasing organization. The role is accountable for purchasing execution, supplier performance, cost management, procurement controls, and the development of a scalable purchasing team supporting Austin, Saltillo, contract manufacturers, and new product launches. The Director leads direct and indirect material purchasing across electronics, PCBAs, stators, magnets and custom magnetics, castings, machined and molded components, metals, fan-system components, MRO, tooling, and other production requirements.

This position partners closely with Strategic Sourcing, Planning, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Logistics, Import/Export, NPI, and GTM to protect customer commitments and deliver cost, quality, and on-time performance.

• Develop and execute the purchasing operating strategy in alignment with the business plan, product roadmap, manufacturing strategy, and financial objectives.
• Lead and scale the Austin and Saltillo purchasing organization; define roles, decision rights, priorities, performance expectations, and escalation paths.
• Recruit, coach, and develop purchasing managers and buyers; establish cross-training, succession coverage, and career-development plans.
• Create a culture of accountability, urgency, ethical conduct, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

• Own the end-to-end requisition-to-purchase-order process and ensure purchase orders are accurate, properly authorized, commercially correct, and released on time.
• Direct purchasing execution for production materials, contract-manufactured products, MRO, equipment, tooling, and other operational requirements.
• Ensure buyers maintain current supplier commitments and actively manage acknowledgments, pull-ins, push-outs, expedites, cancellations, past-due orders, and recovery plans.
• Lead critical shortage and supplier-recovery efforts; provide executive visibility of material constraints, premium-freight exposure, inventory liability, and required decisions.
• Partner with Planning and the Master Scheduler to align purchasing coverage with demand, production schedules, customer orders, and product launches.
• Support continuity plans, risk buys, alternate-source execution, and inventory decisions for long-lead, constrained, or geopolitically sensitive materials.

• Establish supplier scorecards, operating reviews, corrective-action plans, and executive business reviews covering delivery, quality, cost, capacity, and responsiveness.
• Lead or support negotiations involving pricing, payment terms, lead times, MOQs, cancellation rights, NCNR exposure, warranties, capacity commitments, and supply agreements.
• Partner with the Sourcing Manager and VP of Supply Chain on category strategies, supplier selections, long-term agreements, localization, dual sourcing, and strategic negotiations.
• Own purchase-price variance, realized savings, cost avoidance, and annual cost-reduction plans; standardize savings validation with Finance.
• Challenge supplier price increases and lead structured cost-down initiatives through competition, volume leverage, should-cost analysis, value engineering, and total-cost optimization.
• Develop executive relationships with critical suppliers and serve as the escalation point for significant operational or commercial disputes.

• Establish purchasing governance for Infinitum's contract manufacturing network, including purchase orders, commercial terms, build readiness, consigned-material controls, shortages, and delivery recovery.
• Partner with the Contract Manufacturing Manager, Planning, Manufacturing, GTM,…