Procurement Manager (m/f/d) - Defense Tech

Autonomous Teaming; München; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Autonomous Teaming is seeking a hands-on Head of Procurement to build our function from scratch in Munich or Berlin. You will design unified structures, standards, tools and processes to implement strategic purchasing and report directly to the COO.

You will lead supplier management, negotiate prices and contracts, establish second-source strategies, and work closely with Engineering and Product Management to qualify partners.

Qualifications

• Degree in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain Management or comparable.
• 5+ years in strategic and operational procurement, ideally in a tech scale-up with complex products.
• Strong in contract negotiations and building solid supplier relationships.
• Experience building or restructuring procurement processes and organizations.
• Proficient with ERP systems; Business Central experience is a plus.
• Ownership mindset, entrepreneurial, data-driven and a strong communicator.
• Business-fluent German and English.
• Willingness to travel; office in Munich or Berlin.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a structured supplier portfolio for hardware, electronics, mechanical parts and services.
• Lead price, contract, and framework agreement negotiations with strategic partners and suppliers.
• Develop a supplier evaluation system (quality, delivery reliability, pricing, security of supply) and conduct reviews.
• Establish second-source strategies and risk management for critical components.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Product Management on supplier qualification.

Skills

Ownership mindset

Negotiation

Data-driven

Communication

Travel willing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration / Industrial Engineering / Supply Chain

Tools

Business Central

Job description

Full-time

What we offer

In this new role, you get the chance to own our procurement function in full responsibility from scratch based on your experiences and ideas. By leaving your footprint, you will centralize our international buying activities in an efficient and cost-saving way. As we continue to grow, this will lead to interesting career opportunities and a leadership perspective.

Your mission

You will build our procurement function from scratch by establishing unified structures, standards, tools, and processes to implement purchasing as a strategic function. This is a role with a high degree of ownership, reporting directly to our COO.

• Build and maintain a structured supplier portfolio mainly for all components needed for product development and production (hardware, electronics, mechanical parts, camera, sensors, services, etc.).
• Lead price, contract, and framework agreement negotiations with strategic partners and suppliers
• Develop a supplier evaluation system (quality, delivery reliability, pricing, security of supply) and conduct regular reviews.
• Establish second-source strategies and risk management for critical components, including handling long lead times and obsolescence.
• Work closely with Engineering and Product Management on the selection and qualification of new suppliers and partner products.

You will build our procurement function from scratch by establishing unified structures, standards, tools, and processes to implement purchasing as a strategic function. This is a role with a high degree of ownership, reporting directly to our COO.

Supplier Management & Negotiation

• Build and maintain a structured supplier portfolio mainly for all components needed for product development and production (hardware, electronics, mechanical parts, camera, sensors, services, etc.).
• Lead price, contract, and framework agreement negotiations with strategic partners and suppliers
• Develop a supplier evaluation system (quality, delivery reliability, pricing, security of supply) and conduct regular reviews.
• Establish second-source strategies and risk management for critical components, including handling long lead times and obsolescence.
• Work closely with Engineering and Product Management on the selection and qualification of new suppliers and partner products.

Processes, Standards & Tools

• Design and implement a unified purchase-to-pay process in close collaboration with our Finance department.
• Define procurement policies, approval thresholds, standard contract templates (incl. NDAs, quality assurance agreements), and purchasing terms.
• Select or expand suitable tools (Business Central, e-procurement) together with Finance and IT.
• Establish procurement KPIs and valuable management reporting.

Operational Procurement & Material Availability

• Handle day-to-day purchase order processing, including delivery tracking and escalation in case of supply shortages.
• Ensure material availability at any time.
• Resolve claims and deviations together with Quality Management and suppliers.

Compliance & Export Control

• Ensure export control requirements are addressed in procurement (incl. dual-use goods).
• Implement supply chain due diligence obligations and compliance requirements.
• Support requirements arising from security clearance regulations and customer audits.

Your profile

• Degree in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a comparable qualification.
• 5+ years of experience in strategic and operational procurement, ideally in a tech scale-up with complex products (hardware, software, integration).
• Strong in contract negotiations and building solid supplier relationships.
• Experience in building or restructuring procurement processes and organizations (greenfield mindset).
• Confident use and implementation of ERP systems (f.e. Business Central).
• Ownership mentality, entrepreneurial mindset, number-driven and strong communicator.
• Passion for technical solutions and products.
• Business-fluent German and English.
• Willingness to travel and to work from the office in Munich or Berlin.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of export control regulations.
• Experience with procurement in regulated industries.
• Experience working with international suppliers.

What else

• Citizenship of a NATO member country or close ally.
• Office first company.

Why us?

• Interesting complex product environment with latest technologies (autonomy, AI, robotics).
• Strong international and agile culture.
• An environment for personal and professional growth.

About us

The world is changing. Exponential technologies are enabling new types of security threats. ATS is committed to staying ahead by building nimble, scalable, and cost-effective defences. We are looking for passionate team members who are eager to create exceptional products, safeguard our freedom, and strengthen the resilience of democracies.

Who we are:Autonomous Teaming is a defence-tech start-up specializing in machine vision solutions. Driven by cutting-edge innovation, our team works on next-generation technologies designed to meet rapidly evolving security challenges.

What we do: We develop systems that enable computers and sensors to operate as coordinated teams, collaborating in real time to counter AI-powered asymmetric threats at scale — including drone swarms and other UXVs. Our mission is to build resilient, intelligent defence capabilities that perform reliably in the most demanding environments.

How we work: We value close, in-person collaboration as the foundation for building complex, high-impact technology, while maintaining flexibility aligned to role and team needs. Our culture is built on ownership, responsibility, and trust — with a shared commitment to growing and building together.

Where we are: Based in Munich, Berlin, and Toulouse, we are expanding rapidly across Europe with plans to open additional office hubs.