Purchasing Specialist

Star Catcher; United States; On-site; USD 48,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

401(k) retirement plan

Life Insurance

Paid Parental Leave

Job summary

Star Catcher Industries, Inc. in Jacksonville, FL, seeks a Purchasing Specialist to manage our procurement workflows and source critical components for aerospace missions. You will create purchase orders, track shipments, and ensure on-time delivery within budget.

The ideal candidate has 1–2 years in purchasing or logistics, strong negotiation and math skills, and excellent communication. Experience with Google Workspace and Excel is a plus; startup-driven mindset welcome.

Qualifications

• 1–2 years of experience in purchasing, inventory management, logistics, or high-volume administrative coordination.
• Strong Negotiation & Math Skills: ability to compare complex quotes and ensure pricing aligns with budget.
• Excellent Communication: professional and assertive communication with vendors and internal teams.
• Extreme Attention to Detail: double-check part numbers, quantities, and invoices.
• Time Management: prioritize urgent orders while managing long-lead items.
• Resourcefulness: find hard-to-reach parts or alternate suppliers when needed.
• Passion for Space: contribute to aerospace company success and learn technical aspects.

Responsibilities

• Purchasing Execution: create POs, submit to vendors, and track shipments to receipt at our facility.
• Vendor Management: build relationships, negotiate terms, request quotes, and ensure on-time delivery.
• Lead Time Tracking: monitor statuses and alert teams of potential delays.
• Financial Accuracy: reconcile invoices with packing slips and POs before finance review.
• Inventory Oversight: monitor stock levels and trigger re-orders for mission-critical supplies.
• Process Improvement: refine digital filing systems and workflows as the company scales.

Skills

Purchasing

Inventory Management

Vendor Negotiation

Budget Tracking

Communication

Attention to Detail

Time Management

Startup Experience

Space Passion

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

Google Workspace

Microsoft 365

Slack

Excel

Google Sheets

Job description

Power the future of Space at Star Catcher

Star Catcher is powering the future of space by building the world’s first orbital energy grid: the Star Catcher Network. Spacecraft connect into the Star Catcher Network and receive conditioned energy via their existing solar arrays, requiring no retrofit to utilize the first true space-based infrastructure. The Star Catcher Network provides power as needed from tens of Watts to tens of thousands of Watts at concentrations from fractions of a Sun of flux to ten Suns of flux.

The Star Catcher Network enables More Uptime, More Bandwidth, and More Mission.

Join our team of experienced and passionate space innovators driven to transform and expand humanity’s utilization of space. The creation of space-based power infrastructure is as impactful for space missions in the 2020’s and 2030’s as the advent of low-cost launch services was in the 2010’s. We seek individuals who share our passion for enabling people to do more in space and are not afraid to get their hands dirty to make our vision of the future reality.

Star Catcher Industries, Inc. (Star Catcher), located in Jacksonville, FL, has an immediate opening for a Purchasing Specialist. We are seeking a proactive, sharp, and highly organized individual to manage our procurement workflows. As a Purchasing Specialist, you will be responsible for sourcing the critical components and materials required for our aerospace missions, ensuring everything arrives on time and within budget. This role is essential for maintaining our production speed and providing visibility into our spending.

Responsibilities:

• Purchasing Execution: Handle the daily lifecycle of an order by creating Purchase Orders (POs), submitting them to vendors, and tracking every shipment until it is physically received and verified at our facility.
• Vendor Management: Build and maintain professional relationships with suppliers; negotiate basic terms, request formal quotes, and hold vendors accountable to delivery dates.
• Lead Time Tracking: Proactively monitor order statuses and alert engineering and leadership of any potential delays that could impact project timelines.
• Financial Accuracy: Reconcile invoices with packing slips and POs to ensure we are billed correctly before passing documentation to the finance team.
• Inventory Oversight: Work closely with the operations team to monitor stock levels and trigger re-orders for mission-critical supplies before they run out.
• Process Improvement: Develop and refine digital filing systems and workflows to make the purchasing process more efficient as the company scales.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 1–2 years of experience in a role involving purchasing, inventory management, logistics, or high-volume administrative coordination..
• Strong Negotiation & Math Skills: Ability to compare complex quotes and ensure unit pricing and shipping costs align with our budget.
• Excellent Communication: Professional and assertive communication style for navigating vendor delays and internal team requests.
• Extreme Attention to Detail: A “double-check everything” mindset, particularly when dealing with technical part numbers and quantities.
• Time Management: Ability to prioritize urgent “hot” orders while maintaining steady progress on long‑lead‑time items.
• Resourcefulness: A knack for finding hard‑to‑reach parts or alternative suppliers when a standard vendor is out of stock.
• Passion for Space: A desire to contribute to the success of an aerospace company and learn the technical side of the industry.

Ideal Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field
• File & Calendar Management: Proficiency in Google Workspace (Drive, Docs, Sheets) or Microsoft 365 for tracking orders, managing contracts, and setting follow‑up reminders.
• Communication Tools: Experience using Slack or similar platforms for real‑time internal coordination and status reporting.
• Spreadsheet Proficiency: Ability to use Excel or Google Sheets to create trackers, compare vendor pricing, and run basic spend reports.
• Startup Experience: Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to build processes from scratch rather than just following a manual.
• Logistics Knowledge: Basic understanding of shipping terms (e.g., freight, lead times, and customs) is a significant plus.

Help us deploy and scale space infrastructure that will drive our utilization of space forward! We offer a highly competitive benefits package including access to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, and paid parental leave, in addition to other benefits.

Star Catcher is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Star Catcher is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

All offers of employment at Star Catcher are contingent upon results of a thorough background check and your ability to provide proof of eligibility to work in the US.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.