Location: Onsite - Austin, TX

Employment Type: Direct Hire, Full Time

Job Title: Buyer/Purchaser

Position Summary

9 Mothers builds counter-UAS systems - robotic shotgun turret platforms and a proprietary belt-fed shotgun system. Everything we ship starts with parts: custom electronics, machined metal, actuators, cables, and cameras, sourced from vendors we trust. Today, engineers buy their own parts. That stops working the moment we move from prototype and small-run quantities into production - which is exactly where we are headed over the next 12 months.

You will be our first dedicated buyer and, initially, a department of one. You will own procurement end to end: finding parts, qualifying vendors, negotiating, placing and chasing POs, and building the purchasing processes and systems this company will scale on. As we grow into production, this role grows with the company - the person who defines purchasing here has a clear path to leading the function.

Two things make this role harder than a typical buyer seat. First, we run on scarce, allocated electronics - NVIDIA Jetson modules, cameras, specialty sensors - and you need to be the person who can find them when distributors say twelve months. Second, we are a defense company: our supply base must exclude Chinese vendors, with a strong preference for US suppliers, and you own keeping it that way.

Essential Duties

Sourcing & Procurement (Primary)

• Source and purchase the full robotics bill of materials: custom electronics and PCB assemblies, CNC-machined metal parts, actuators and motors, cable assemblies, cameras and sensors, and supporting COTS hardware
• Hunt down hard-to-find and allocated electronics - NVIDIA Jetson modules, GPUs, image sensors - through authorized distribution, direct manufacturer relationships, and carefully vetted secondary-market channels, managing counterfeit risk and allocation constraints
• Run the quote-to-PO cycle: solicit and compare quotes, negotiate pricing, payment terms, and lead times, place purchase orders, and track and expedite deliveries against build schedules
• Own vendor selection within our trade-compliance constraints: build and maintain a non-Chinese supply base with a strong preference for US vendors, verifying country of origin down to the component level where required

Building the Purchasing Function

• Define the company's purchasing processes from scratch: PO workflow and approvals, vendor onboarding and qualification, receiving and inspection handoff, and spend tracking
• Select and stand up purchasing tooling - from spreadsheets that actually work today to an ERP/MRP system that supports production volumes
• Build and maintain the approved vendor list; work with engineering on part numbering, BOM hygiene, and approved alternates
• Give the company visibility: report on spend, open orders, lead-time risk, and cost trends so engineering and leadership can plan around reality

Scaling to Production

• Transition the supply base from prototype and small-run buys to production purchasing: qualify vendors for volume, establish second sources for critical parts, and negotiate volume pricing, blanket orders, and scheduled releases
• Plan procurement against production build schedules - long-lead items ordered early, safety stock on allocation-risk parts, and no line-down surprises
• Work with engineering on BOM health for production: component lifecycle and end-of-life monitoring, alternate qualification, and cost-down opportunities as volumes grow

Compliance & Risk

• Procure within ITAR constraints and maintain the documentation to prove it: country-of-origin records, vendor certifications, and traceability appropriate for defense customers
• Screen the supply chain against prohibited-source requirements (e.g., NDAA Section 889 covered entities) and keep Chinese-origin content out of the product
• Protect against counterfeit components - buy through authorized channels by default, and apply rigorous vetting (testing, escrow, documentation) when the secondary market is the only option

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of procurement/purchasing experience for physical hardware products - robotics, defense, aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment, or similar electromechanical systems
• Proven ability to source scarce and allocated electronics: you have found parts others couldn't (GPU modules, embedded compute, image sensors, or similar), and you know the authorized-distribution landscape, the broker market, and how to avoid counterfeits
• Experience buying across our categories: custom PCB assemblies, machined metal parts, actuators/motors, cable assemblies, and cameras or sensors
• Experience supporting a product transition from prototype/low-volume to production purchasing - vendor qualification, volume negotiation, and lead-time planning
• Track record of building or substantially defining purchasing processes, not just executing within an established system
• Self-sufficient as a department of one: you set your own priorities, close your own loops, and don't need a manager to unblock you
• Strong negotiator with vendors of all sizes - from Fortune 500 distributors to two-person machine shops
• US person (citizen or lawful permanent resident) - required for ITAR compliance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a defense or ITAR-regulated environment; working familiarity with NDAA Section 889, country-of-origin verification, and government customer flow-downs
• Experience selecting or implementing an ERP/MRP system at a growing hardware company
• Existing relationships with electronics distributors (Arrow, Avnet, Digi-Key, Mouser, etc.), embedded-compute vendors, and domestic machine shops or contract manufacturers
• Experience with formal supplier qualification, supplier audits, or purchasing in an AS9100/ISO 9001 environment
• Early-stage startup experience - comfortable with ambiguity, thin process, and building the airplane while flying it

What Success Looks Like

In the first 90 days, purchasing runs through you and nobody misses the old way: engineers hand you a part number or a drawing and parts show up on time. You own the vendor relationships that matter, you've found at least one "impossible" part, and a real PO process exists where none did before.

On an ongoing basis, builds don't slip because of parts. Long-lead and allocation-risk items are ordered before they become emergencies, costs come down as volumes go up, and the supply base is production-ready, second-sourced where it counts, and clean of prohibited vendors. When we scale, purchasing is a reason we can - not a reason we can't.

About the Interview

1. Application screening phone call (30 min)
2. Virtual interview with the Director of Hardware Operations (45 min via MS Teams)
3. Onsite interview + meet the team
4. Offer

Work Environment

This role is based on-site in Austin, TX at our shop, alongside the engineering and manufacturing team. The environment is a working R&D and manufacturing facility for weapons systems - expect an active shop floor and proximity to live-fire test activity, with strict adherence to safety protocols. Occasional travel for vendor visits, supplier audits, and industry events.