Senior Strategic Sourcing Lead — Space Systems

Vast; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 251,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

ClassPass credits

Spring Health mental health services

Onsite meals and snacks

Onsite barista

Job summary

Vast is seeking a Principal Strategic Sourcing leader in Long Beach to drive hardware sourcing strategies and high-stakes supplier negotiations for space systems. You will own spend categories, lead end-to-end sourcing events, and develop comprehensive cost models in a fast-paced NP I environment.

You will mentor team members, collaborate across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Finance, and ensure ITAR/EAR compliance while delivering cost, schedule, and risk improvements for critical

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related field.
• 7+ years in strategic sourcing, procurement, or supply chain in aerospace, space, defense, or high-complexity manufacturing.
• Proven cost, schedule, and risk reduction results on high-spend categories.
• Advanced negotiation with sole-source and strategic suppliers at the executive level.
• Strong spend analysis, TCO, and should-cost modeling.
• Experience managing long-term supplier agreements and contracts.
• Working knowledge of AS9100 and ITAR/EAR in sourcing.
• Mentoring and coaching colleagues.
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration with Eng, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, and Legal.
• Comfort operating with incomplete information and changing requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own category strategies for critical hardware, balancing cost, speed, quality, and risk.
• Lead sourcing events end to end with long-term agreements and capacity reservations.
• Build should-cost and total-cost-of-ownership models including tooling, NRE, and yield.
• Work with Engineering on make-vs-buy, design-to-cost, and manufacturability decisions.
• Find, qualify, and develop new suppliers to reduce single-source risk and add capacity.
• Keep sourcing flow-downs compliant with ITAR/EAR, AS9100 and customer requirements.
• Mentor and train sourcing staff through deal reviews and workshops.

Skills

Negotiation

Analytics

Communication

Cross-functional influence

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering

Tools

ERP systems

RFQs/RFPs

Supplier contract management

Job description

Vast is seeking a Principal Strategic Sourcing leader in Long Beach to drive hardware sourcing strategies and high-stakes supplier negotiations for space systems. You will own spend categories, lead end-to-end sourcing events, and develop comprehensive cost models in a fast-paced NP I environment.

You will mentor team members, collaborate across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Finance, and ensure ITAR/EAR compliance while delivering cost, schedule, and risk improvements for critical