Procurement Lead

Wwshemi; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Perplexity is seeking a Procurement Lead in San Francisco to build our procurement function from the ground up. You will design workflows, policies, and the vendor framework, while managing relationships and negotiating favorable terms across software, cloud services, data, and professional services.

You will partner with Legal, Security, and Accounting to ensure governance and cost efficiencies, using AI-driven automation to streamline processes.

Qualifications

• 5-7+ years of procurement or strategic sourcing at a high-growth tech company.
• Experience negotiating multi-million dollar software, cloud, or data agreements.
• Experience building procurement processes, policies, and systems from scratch.
• Ability to manage multiple deals with incomplete information.
• Comfort using AI tools to accelerate work and improve workflows.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and commercial acumen.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-impact vendor deals across software, cloud services, data, and professional services, from alternatives through pricing and signature.
• Structure committed-spend, usage-based, and multi-year agreements that scale with usage and preserve flexibility.
• Own relationships with our most important vendors, including performance tracking and renewals.
• Design an efficient procurement workflow, policies, and approval thresholds, and implement tools and AI automation to run them.
• Use AI workflows and agents to automate procurement from intake and contract review to spend analysis and reporting.
• Build visibility into vendor spend and contracts, driving savings through consolidation and renegotiation.
• Partner with Legal, Security, and Accounting on contract terms, vendor risk reviews, and audit-ready controls.

Skills

Procurement strategy

Vendor negotiations

Strategic sourcing

Multi-million deals

AI workflows

Tools

AI tools

Job description

We're hiring a Procurement Lead to build Perplexity's procurement function. You'll design how Perplexity buys, from the workflow and policies teams follow to the agreements we sign and the vendor relationships we manage after signature. You'll be a key partner to teams across the company, helping them choose the right vendors and structure strong agreements without becoming a bottleneck, and making sure every dollar we commit to third parties earns its keep.

This is a high-impact, hands-on role for someone who thrives in fast-paced environments and wants to build the function, not inherit one, with room for your scope to grow as the company does. We value someone who can set direction, dig into the details, and follow through. This position is based in San Francisco and requires in-person attendance 2-3 days per week.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead our highest-impact vendor deals across software, cloud services, data, and professional services, from competitive alternatives through pricing, terms, and signature
• Structure committed-spend, usage-based, and multi-year agreements that scale with our usage and preserve our flexibility
• Own relationships with our most important vendors, including performance tracking, business reviews, and renewal negotiations
• Design an efficient procurement workflow, policies, and approval thresholds, and implement the tools and AI automation to run them
• Use AI workflows and agents to automate procurement, from intake and contract review to spend analysis and reporting
• Build visibility into vendor spend and contracts, and drive savings through consolidation, right-sizing, and renegotiation
• Partner with Legal, Security, and Accounting on contract terms, vendor risk reviews, and audit-ready controls

What You'll Bring

• 5-7+ years of experience in procurement or strategic sourcing at a high-growth technology company, including building or scaling the function.
• A track record of personally negotiating multi-million dollar software, cloud, or data agreements, managing those vendors and renegotiating at renewal, and delivering measurable savings
• Experience building procurement processes, policies, and systems from scratch
• Ability to run multiple deals at once with incomplete information, and sound judgment about when to move fast and when to elevate
• Comfort using AI tools to accelerate your work and improve workflows
• A low-ego, roll-up-your-sleeves approach to projects large and small and to working across the organization
• Strong communication skills, the ability to influence senior leaders, and a reputation for being commercially tough and fair