Buyer 3

metrea; Tampa (FL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The Buyer III at Metrea will serve as a strategic partner within the Purchasing team, mentoring junior staff and managing key vendors. This role focuses on the MAIC Part 145 Repair Station procurement and aligns purchasing with engineering data, ERP inputs, and audit requirements.

You will lead RFQs, negotiate LTAs/MSAs, improve purchasing operations, and drive cost savings while ensuring compliance with aerospace standards and company policies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience required.

Responsibilities

• Identify material needs, vendor qualification requirements, create and manage RFQs, negotiate pricing, lead time, and other operational requirements and place and manage purchase orders
• Support the negotiation of high value, Long-Term Agreements (LTAs) and Master Service Agreements (MSAs)
• Monitor and track purchase order status and proactively expedite shipments to meet aircraft entry to service, maintenance production schedules and AOG requirements
• Perform cost analysis and market research to identify cost-saving opportunities and improve procurement strategies
• Conduct macro-economic analysis and monitor industry and geopolitical trends to anticipate fluctuations in pricing and availability of aircraft components and key raw materials
• Serve as the primary procurement voice in FILE and Operations meetings to align operations and maintenance production schedule targets with vendor capacity
• Proactively resolve discrepancies between purchase orders and invoices, handle returns for defective materials and resolve supply chain bottlenecks
• Build and maintain relationships with vendors and assess their performance
• Identify underperforming critical vendors and participate in cross-functional "Tiger Teams" (e.g., Quality, Engineering, Logistics) to improve their manufacturing processes
• Ensure all purchasing activities comply with relevant aerospace industry standards, regulations, and company policies
• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall procurement performance

Skills

Vendor management

RFQ management

LTAs & MSAs negotiation

Cost analysis

Market research

Procurement strategy

Cross-functional collaboration

ERP systems

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience

MBA (preferred)

Tools

ERP systems

MS Excel

MS Office

Purchase order systems

Job description

Company Overview

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas. These include airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refueling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the whole stack: designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that give our partners decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, with facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Group Overview

Aerospace Engineering Group (AERO) provides an integrated, end-to-end capability for the rapid modification and fielding of mission-specific aircraft. The Airborne Asset Adaptation (A3) Cell acts as the central command and coordination hub, managing requirements and external interfaces from inception to operational delivery. Specialized technical execution is delivered by the Aircraft Integration Centre (AIC), a Part 145 facility focused on airframe modification, and Aerospace Design (ASD), which provides organic design engineering and FAA-authorized certification. Collectively, these elements bridge the gap between initial requirements and the deployment of flight-certified, mission-ready assets.

Position Summary

The Buyer III is a strategic partner who mentors junior staff and manages the most critical vendors and is a subject matter expert responsible for the lifecycle management of complex products and services. This role provides leadership within the Purchasing team and partners with Strategic Sourcing to drive long-term strategies and manage vendor performance and relationships.

This role will specifically be responsible for ensuring procurement requirements of the AERO Group Part 21 efforts, with a focus on the Metrea Aircraft Integration Center (MAIC) Part 145 Repair Station. This includes improving and maintaining all aspects of our MAIC purchasing operations, IAW higher level enterprise standards and guidance. This role will be responsible for ensuring purchasing requirements that are derived from engineering data, requirements entered into the ERP, required vendor audits, developing vendor relationships and facilitating purchasing transactional relationships.

What You\'ll Do

• Identify material needs, vendor qualification requirements, create and manage RFQs, negotiate pricing, lead time, and other operational requirements and place and manage purchase orders


• Support the negotiation of high value, Long-Term Agreements (LTAs) and Master Service Agreements (MSAs)


• Monitor and track purchase order status and proactively expedite shipments to meet aircraft entry to service, maintenance production schedules and AOG requirements


• Perform cost analysis and market research to identify cost-saving opportunities and improve procurement strategies


• Conduct macro-economic analysis and monitor industry and geopolitical trends to anticipate fluctuations in pricing and availability of aircraft components and key raw materials


• Serve as the primary procurement voice in FILE and Operations meetings to align operations and maintenance production schedule targets with vendor capacity


• Proactively resolve discrepancies between purchase orders and invoices, handle returns for defective materials and resolve supply chain bottlenecks


• Build and maintain relationships with vendors and assess their performance


• Identify underperforming critical vendors and participate in cross-functional "Tiger Teams" (e.g., Quality, Engineering, Logistics) to improve their manufacturing processes


• Ensure all purchasing activities comply with relevant aerospace industry standards, regulations, and company policies


• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall procurement performance

What You Bring

Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience required, MBA or