Senior Buyer

Senior Buyer – Strategic Sourcing (Extrusions, Motors & Controls)

Austin, TX (Onsite)

This is not a transactional purchasing role.

This is an opportunity to step into a growing manufacturing environment where procurement is still evolving, and help build structure, strategy, and supplier alignment across two of the most critical areas of the business.

Today, much of the work is execution driven. Orders are placed. Parts are followed up on.

What’s missing is ownership, cost strategy, and a clear understanding of supplier markets.

That’s where this role comes in.

The Role

You will take ownership of key spend categories including aluminum extrusions, motors, controls, and related components.

These are core to the business and directly impact cost, scalability, and product performance.

This role is about moving the organization from reactive purchasing to proactive procurement by building sourcing strategies, strengthening supplier relationships, and creating visibility into cost drivers.

You will work cross-functionally with engineering, operations, and leadership to bring discipline and long-term thinking into how materials and components are sourced.

Key Responsibilities

• Own procurement across extrusions, motors, controls, and related components
• Develop sourcing strategies tied to raw material markets and supplier capabilities
• Build visibility into cost drivers and implement should-cost thinking
• Lead supplier negotiations across pricing, agreements, and long-term value
• Establish stronger supplier relationships, performance expectations, and accountability
• Identify cost reduction opportunities and drive value engineering initiatives
• Support new product development through supplier selection and sourcing input
• Implement more structured procurement processes in an evolving environment

What Matters Most

• You are a procurement professional first, not transitioning from engineering or operations
• Experience sourcing either aluminum extrusions or electromechanical/hardware components
• Ability to understand how products are built and how components fit together, without needing to design them
• Strong negotiation and communication skills. This is a key gap the team is looking to strengthen
• Ability to manage suppliers strategically, not just execute purchase orders
• Comfortable working in a smaller or mid-sized manufacturing company environment
• 3–5 years of experience with the ability to grow alongside the business
• Bachelor's degree

Where You May Be Stronger

We recognize most candidates will lean one way:

• Extrusions / Metals Focus
• Experience with aluminum extrusions, raw material markets, and cost modeling

or

• Motors / Controls / Electronics Focus
• Experience with motors, PCBs, controls, or contract manufacturing environments

Exposure to both is a plus but not required.

Environment

This is a hands-on, build-oriented role.

You will not inherit a mature procurement function. You will help shape it.

The right person is someone who:

• Takes ownership and drives outcomes
• Can operate without heavy structure
• Communicates effectively and builds relationships with suppliers and internal teams
• Wants to grow with a business rather than step into a fully built system

What Will Not Work

• Buyers focused only on purchase orders and expediting
• Engineers or operations professionals trying to move into procurement
• Candidates without experience in either relevant commodity area
• Individuals who require a highly structured, large-company environment

What Success Looks Like in Year One

You have established clear sourcing strategies across your categories, improved supplier alignment, and created visibility into cost drivers and risks.

Most importantly, you have helped shift the function from reactive purchasing to proactive, strategic procurement.