Senior Buyer/Planner

Pyka Inc.; Alameda (CA); Hybrid; USD 96,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

FSA with employer matching

401(k)

Paid holidays

PTO (paid time off)

Disability and life insurance

Free catered lunches

Job summary

Pyka Inc. is seeking a Supply Planner/Buyer in Alameda, CA to ensure parts, assemblies, and tools are available for production, flight operations, and software teams.

You will manage procurement, vendor relationships, and ERP data (Odoo), while coordinating with Engineering and Finance to optimize costs and delivery schedules. Experience in aviation is a plus; you’ll help strengthen Pyka's autonomous electric aircraft supply chain.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years in Manufacturing/Production, Inventory or Supply Chain, focused on Procurement.
• Experience with vendor selection and optimization.
• Familiarity with ERP systems, especially Odoo.
• Understanding of engineering BOMs and product structures.
• Experience in aviation is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage full procurement lifecycle for internal teams, from orders to delivery.
• Serve as primary contact for vendors and resolve supply chain issues.
• Maintain ERP master data including costs, shipments, POs and invoices.
• Coordinate component phase-in/phase-out with production schedules.
• Conduct RFQs and negotiate favorable terms.
• Provide regular status updates to Production, Engineering, and Finance.
• Align material availability with MRP signals and safety stock.

Skills

Procurement

Vendor management

ERP systems (Odoo)

Inventory management

Aviation

Tools

Odoo

Job description

About Pyka

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation.

To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems.

We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes.

Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in their respective industries.

What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day.

About Role

Pyka is seeking a talented Supply Planner/Buyer to join our team as we revolutionize autonomous electric aircraft. Your expertise will play a critical role in ensuring that all of Pyka’s teams, from Production through Flight Operations, have the parts, assemblies, and tools that they need in order to build, test, and iterate. You will play a critical role in improving the agility and sustainability of Pyka’s Supply Chain, Logistics, and Manufacturing processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage the full procurement lifecycle, from timely order placement and payment to ensuring the delivery of critical parts, assemblies, and supplies for all internal teams (R&D, Flight Operations, Manufacturing, Facilities, and Software) using established payment accounts.
• Act as the primary point of contact for external vendors, fostering strong working relationships and proactively communicating to resolve complex supply chain issues, delivery discrepancies, and quality concerns in partnership with internal stakeholders.
• Maintain the integrity and accuracy of the ERP systems and master data by ensuring all critical data, including part costs, shipment details, confirmed arrival/delivery dates, quotes, POs, invoices, vendor contacts, certifications, and performance metrics are consistently linked and up-to-date.
• Manage supply chain impact for engineering changes, minimizing scrap/rework costs and aligning component phase-in/phase-out dates across the shop floor.
• Conduct strategic market research and execute Request for Quotations (RFQs) to secure competitive pricing and favorable terms for all critical and high-value components and equipment.
• Proactively provide clear and regular communication to internal stakeholders (including Production, Engineering, and Finance) on the status of high-priority orders, potential supply chain risks, and cost changes to facilitate effective departmental planning.
• Own the alignment between production schedules and material availability by regularly analyzing MRP signals, establishing safety stock parameters, reorder points, and economic order quantities
• Identify single-source supply vulnerabilities across critical components and establish robust dual-sourcing and stocking strategies to eliminate single points of failure.

Preferred Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in Manufacturing/Production, Inventory, or Supply Chain, ideally with a focus on Procurement
• Experience with vendor selection and optimization
• Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, especially Odoo
• Understanding of engineering BOMs and product structures
• Experience in aviation
• Extremely high attention to detail, strong multitasking and organizational skills
• Ability to prioritize multiple competing tasks
• Customer oriented with strong presentation skills
• Impeccable communication skills, including speed of responsiveness and ability to clarify and condense complex information

Compensation & Benefits

• $96,000–$120,000 per year base salary + equity. Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change.
• Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance
• FSA with employer matching
• 401(k)
• Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off
• Voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks

Export Control Requirements

This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls. Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items.

Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.

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