Head of Procurement & Strategic Sourcing

We're a fast-growing hardware startup in Palo Alto building physical systems that have to actually work which means the parts have to show up, on spec and on schedule. We're hiring our next strategic sourcing team member to own that.

This is a build role. You'll own the supply base and the spend, and you'll also own the shape of the team: who we hire, how we're structured, what "good" looks like, and which processes and systems we put in place before scale makes them mandatory. You'll be senior enough to set strategy and hands‑on enough to run the negotiation yourself when it matters.

You'll report directly to the CEO and partner closely with engineering, operations, and finance — in person, in Palo Alto. Hardware problems get solved faster when everyone is in the same room, and that's how we work.

• Hire, onboard, and develop a procurement and sourcing team from a small base. You'll help define the roles before you fill them.
• Set clear ownership across categories, and coach the team on negotiation, supplier management, and technical fluency.
• Establish the operating rhythm: supplier reviews, spend reporting, escalation paths, and the metrics leadership sees.

• Set sourcing strategy across compute, networking, electrical, and mechanical categories including make vs. buy, single vs. dual source, onshore vs. offshore.
• Lead high‑value negotiations personally: pricing, lead times, payment terms, capacity commitments, and long‑term supply agreements.
• Build strategic relationships with key suppliers, contract manufacturers, and ODMs, and hold them accountable through scorecards and QBRs.
• Own supply risk end to end including allocation, long‑lead components, geopolitical and tariff exposure, single points of failure.

We're a fast-growing hardware startup in Palo Alto building physical systems that have to actually work which means the parts have to show up, on spec and on schedule. We're hiring our next strategic sourcing team member to own that.

This is a build role. You'll own the supply base and the spend, and you'll also own the shape of the team: who we hire, how we're structured, what "good" looks like, and which processes and systems we put in place before scale makes them mandatory. You'll be senior enough to set strategy and hands‑on enough to run the negotiation yourself when it matters.

You'll report directly to the CEO and partner closely with engineering, operations, and finance — in person, in Palo Alto. Hardware problems get solved faster when everyone is in the same room, and that's how we work.

• Hire, onboard, and develop a procurement and sourcing team from a small base. You'll help define the roles before you fill them.
• Set clear ownership across categories, and coach the team on negotiation, supplier management, and technical fluency.
• Establish the operating rhythm: supplier reviews, spend reporting, escalation paths, and the metrics leadership sees.

• Set sourcing strategy across compute, networking, electrical, and mechanical categories including make vs. buy, single vs. dual source, onshore vs. offshore.
• Lead high‑value negotiations personally: pricing, lead times, payment terms, capacity commitments, and long‑term supply agreements.
• Build strategic relationships with key suppliers, contract manufacturers, and ODMs, and hold them accountable through scorecards and QBRs.
• Own supply risk end to end including allocation, long‑lead components, geopolitical and tariff exposure, single points of failure.

• 5+ years in procurement, strategic sourcing, purchasing, or supply chain, with meaningful time in hardware or complex sourcing.
• 2+ years leading people — you've hired, managed, and developed a team,…