Senior Optics Procurement Leader

Ayar Labs, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Ayar Labs in San Jose, CA is seeking a Senior Procurement Manager to own sourcing for TeraPHY and SuperNova BOMs, including silicon photonic ICs, laser arrays, and module components. You will drive supplier strategy, multi-source programs, and cost reduction across optical and photonic subassemblies.

You will partner with engineering, NPI, quality, and operations to transition from prototype to volume production while mitigating supply chain risks and ensuring ongoing supplier performance and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, or related field.
• 8+ years of procurement or strategic sourcing experience, including 3+ years focused on optical, photonic, or semiconductor components.
• Direct experience sourcing components for optical transceivers, pluggable modules, or silicon photonics products — e.g., lasers, photonic ICs, TOSA/ROSA, optical connectors, or DSPs.
• Demonstrated success negotiating supply agreements and driving cost reduction with semiconductor, laser, or optical component suppliers.
• Experience supporting NPI and scaling supply chains from prototype through volume production, ideally in a hardware startup or fabless semiconductor environment.
• Working knowledge of semiconductor/photonics manufacturing, packaging, and test flows.
• Proficiency with ERP/procurement systems (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Oracle) and cost-modeling tools.
• Excellent negotiation, analytical, and cross-functional communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end procurement strategy for TeraPHY and SuperNova bills of materials, including silicon photonic ICs/chiplets, laser diode arrays (DFB/EML), TECs, optical isolators, WDM multiplexers, ROSA/TOSA packages, ceramic substrates, interposers, fiber connectors (LC/MPO), and test fixtures.
• Identify, qualify, and manage suppliers of photonic components, specialty semiconductors, and optical subassemblies; establish multi-source strategies to mitigate single-source and allocation risk on critical items such as laser sources and specialty substrates.
• Negotiate pricing, terms, and long-term supply agreements; drive total-cost-of-ownership reductions through should-cost modeling, cost breakdowns, and value engineering with suppliers.
• Partner with Engineering, NPI, Quality and Operations teams to support new product introduction — leading supplier selection, tracking material cost against business-case targets, and managing the transition from prototype to volume production.
• Monitor and mitigate supply chain risk (lead times, allocation, geopolitical and export-control exposure) across the optical components ecosystem, including lasers, photonic ICs, DSPs/retimers, and connectors.
• Execute and manage purchase requisition and purchase order processing, maintenance and updates from suppliers, which provide parts, products and services to companies needs.
• Manage supplier performance through scorecards and business reviews covering quality, delivery, and cost; lead escalations and corrective actions cross-functionally.
• Support demand planning and inventory strategy in coordination with Supply Chain Planning and Operations.
• Track technology and supplier trends in the optical transceiver, pluggable module and ELFSP module market (400G/800G/1.6T, QSFP-DD, OSFP, co-packaged optics) to inform sourcing decisions and anticipate impacts on Ayar Labs' roadmap.
• Purchase engineering prototype materials, lab consumables, and rapid-turn parts to support R&D design iterations, bring-up, debug, and characterization activities.
• Source and procure optical and electrical test equipment (e.g., ATE, optical test stations, environmental chambers, probe stations) for engineering labs and production test lines, partnering with Test Engineering on specifications and vendor selection.
• Manage test and lab equipment calibration, maintenance contracts, and spare-parts sourcing to ensure engineering and production test uptime.

Skills

Procurement strategy

Supplier management

Negotiation

Cost reduction

Cross-functional collaboration

Data analysis

ERP systems

NPI support

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

NetSuite

SAP

Oracle

Job description

Ayar Labs in San Jose, CA is seeking a Senior Procurement Manager to own sourcing for TeraPHY and SuperNova BOMs, including silicon photonic ICs, laser arrays, and module components. You will drive supplier strategy, multi-source programs, and cost reduction across optical and photonic subassemblies.

You will partner with engineering, NPI, quality, and operations to transition from prototype to volume production while mitigating supply chain risks and ensuring ongoing supplier performance and