Supply Chain and Procurement Manager

About Commonlands

Commonlands designs and supplies imaging lenses for robotics, machine vision, factory automation and many other industries. We have >500 SKUs in stock in San Diego. We also have domestic lens design/assembly in our soon to be ~7000sqft of cleanroom space.

About the Role

We are hiring a Supply Chain & Procurement Manager to own purchasing, materials planning, inbound logistics, and supplier execution — from demand signal through production availability. You will personally drive supplier follow-up, purchase order execution, shortage resolution, inventory planning, and import logistics. You are not managing a team of buyers — you are the buyer, planner, and logistics coordinator, with direct authority over vendor relationships, PO commitments, and inventory targets.

This role has high visibility and direct impact on customer delivery, production throughput, and working capital. You will work closely with production, engineering, quality, and leadership on a daily basis.

This is an on-site salary position. Communication with overseas suppliers will require working for 1-2 hours in the evenings, which can be done from home.

What You Will Own

• Supplier Management & Sourcing — Own all vendor relationships, primarily with manufacturers in China. This requires communication at night-time which can be from home. Negotiate pricing, lead times, MOQs, and quality terms. Drive supplier on-time delivery performance. Qualify new suppliers and maintain backup sources for critical components. Manage supplier communication across time zones, including early morning or evening calls as needed.
• Purchase Order Execution — Issue and track all purchase orders in our ERP system Acumatica. Manage order confirmations, proactively expedite at-risk shipments, and resolve discrepancies on quantity, pricing, and delivery dates. Maintain clean PO data in ERP at all times.
• International Logistics & Trade Compliance — Coordinate with forwarders and brokers. Manage customs clearance, HTS classification, duty payments, and trade compliance documentation. Oversee bonded inventory moves, Temporary Importation under Bond (TIB) programs, and duty drawback filings. Track tariff exposure including IEEPA and Section 301 duties.
• Demand Planning & Materials Requirements — Build and maintain rolling demand forecasts by SKU/product family. Translate sales forecasts, open customer orders, and production schedules into materials requirements and replenishment plans. Manage reorder points, safety stock targets, and MOQ constraints across 700 active SKUs.
• Inventory Management & ERP Data Integrity — Maintain accurate inventory levels in Acumatica across multiple warehouse locations. Monitor days of supply, excess and obsolete exposure, and slow-moving inventory. Run cycle counts and reconcile physical vs. system discrepancies. Ensure ERP is the single source of truth for all inventory and procurement data.
• Production Coordination — Partner with the production team on material availability, kit readiness, shortage resolution, and schedule alignment. Ensure materials are staged and available before production commitments.
• Supplier Quality Interface — Work with quality on incoming inspection results, supplier corrective actions (SCAR), and material disposition through MRB/DMR processes. Hold suppliers accountable to quality commitments.
• Cost Management — Track landed costs by SKU. Identify cost reduction opportunities through supplier negotiation, freight optimization, order consolidation, and alternative sourcing. Support make-vs-buy analysis.

How Success Is Measured

• Material availability for production and customer orders
• ERP data accuracy: lead times, vendor assignments, open PO status, costs
• Reduction in stockouts and shortages
• Supplier on-time delivery and order confirmation reliability
• Landed cost visibility and cost reduction progress
• Reduce unit costs through negotiation

In the First 90 Days, You Will

• Learn our product families, key suppliers, demand patterns, and current pain points
• Build a reliable view of open POs, inbound shipments, shortages, and inventory risk
• Clean up critical ERP planning inputs: lead times, MOQs, vendor assignments, and reorder points
• Establish a weekly planning cadence between sales, production, and purchasing
• Identify the highest-risk supply constraints and implement mitigation plans
• Take full ownership of supplier follow-up and PO execution

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, industrial engineering, business, or a related field. Equivalent experience will be considered.Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Direct experience managing Chinese suppliers, including communication across time zones, negotiation in Chinese manufacturing context, and practical understanding of production lead times, tooling, and quality practices at Chinese factories.
• 3-5 years of hands-on experience in supply chain, procurement, or materials management in a manufacturing environment.
• Ownership-level fluency of purchasing, inventory, and order management in an ERP system. You should be comfortable living in ERP and spreadsheets daily — not delegating data entry.
• Working knowledge of international logistics and customs, including import documentation, HTS classification, duty calculation, freight coordination, and customs broker management.
• Strong analytical and forecasting skills — comfortable working with demand data, lead time variability, safety stock models, and inventory analysis.

Nice to have

— Experience in industrial B2B procurement. A further plus is knowledge of optics, electro-mechanical assemblies, precision components, or electronics

— Exposure to high volume production orders with complex bills of material.

— Previous exposure to bonded logistics (drawbacks, TIBs, bonded warehouses and/or FTZs)

Benefits & perks

• Medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Paid holidays, vacation, and sick time.
• 401(k) with up to 4% company match.
• On‑site perks: New 2,500 sq ft gym (2025) with brand‑new equipment and free access to a golf simulator.

Location & schedule

• On‑site every day at our Kearny Mesa, San Diego facility and work from home in the evenings (China day-time).
• 40hrs/wk minimum. Exact hours to be determined based on supplier schedules.

Our hiring process

• Apply with your resume.
• Phone interview.
• On‑site interview.
• 2–5 reference checks.
• Offer.