5-7 years of experience in procurement or vendor management within a high-growth tech environment.
Strong systems thinking and process design skills.
Ability to prioritize speed and simplicity in procurement processes.
Comfortable with ambiguity and capable of building processes independently.
Strong negotiation skills with a focus on maintaining vendor relationships.
Principled approach to vendor evaluation and contract structuring.
Responsibilities
Design and implement a streamlined procurement process from scratch.
Create a comprehensive overview of company-wide vendor spending.
Manage and optimize the existing procurement tool while evaluating alternatives.
Lead negotiations and contract structuring for complex vendor relationships.
Empower business leaders with tools to manage vendor relationships effectively.
Collaborate with IT, Legal, Security, and Finance to establish and refine escalation processes.
Benefits
Competitive salary and equity.
10-year exercise window for stock options, allowing flexibility in purchasing.
Unlimited PTO with a recommendation of four weeks per year.
Twelve weeks of fully paid family leave in the US, with plans for expansion.
Generous budget for equipment, software, and office furniture.
$100/month education budget, with additional funding for conferences upon approval.
Comprehensive health insurance for employees and dependents, with all premiums covered.
Full Job Description
Your initial responsibilities will include:
Designing, implementing, and administering Ashby's procurement process from the ground up: fast and frictionless by default, with intelligent escalation pathways that pull in IT, Legal, Security, Finance, and Founder review when the vendor, contract, or spend calls for it.
Creating a clear, consolidated view of company-wide vendor spend.
Tuning and administering our existing procurement tool, and evaluating replacement options as it comes up for renewal.
Leading negotiation and contract structuring on our largest and most complex vendor relationships, either directly or in close partnership with the business leader who owns the relationship.
Equipping business leaders with the tools and guardrails to own the vendor relationships that make sense for them to own directly.
Partnering with IT, Legal, Security, and Finance to design the escalation process and ensure it's working as intended.
You should apply if:
You have significant experience, primarily in procurement or vendor management with a high-growth tech environment. You've done this before, not just procurement, but procurement at a company that was really moving quickly.
You think in systems. You're as excited about designing a fast and efficient procurement process as you are about negotiating a critical contract.
You have a bias towards speed and simplicity. You're allergic to processes that slow everyone down to guard against a small number of edge cases.
You're comfortable with ambiguity and building the playbooks on your own. While we have a process and some structure in place, there is a lot of greenfield and you'll need the confidence and perspective to build for the future.
You take pride in getting the economics right on a deal but not at the risk of ruining an important vendor relationship.
You have strong opinions on what good looks like. Whether it's a review-routing framework or a vendor evaluation methodology, your views are rooted in principled thinking.
Why you shouldn't apply:
You expect a mature, established process to step into. What exists today needs real tuning and reshaping, not just light maintenance. If you'd rather inherit a finished system than rebuild one, this won't be the right fit.
You treat negotiation as a win-at-all-costs game. Getting good economics matters, but not by squeezing a vendor so hard that the relationship is soured. Being on the other side of this isn't pleasant and it's important you are aligned with this. If your instinct is to optimize for the deal over the relationship, you'll create problems that we're trying to prevent.
You want to be the approver for every purchase. If your instinct is to insert yourself into every buying decision rather than equip the company to move fast within the right guardrails, you'll be fighting the design of this role.
You need close oversight to know what to prioritize. You'll be expected to identify which vendor relationships, contract negotiations, and process gaps deserve more attention.
Your default is to treat every buying decision with the same level of scrutiny. If you can't tell the difference between a contract that deserves a thorough review and one that should be automatic, you'll either slow the business down or miss the risks that matter.
You need a team to feel effective. This is an IC role for now and likely for a long time.
Interview Plan:
30 min with Recruiting
45 min Hiring Manager Interview with Shane
Take-home Assignment
45 min Take-Home Debrief with Shane
Final Round (2.5 hours)
Benefits
Competitive salary and equity.
10-year exercise window for stock options. You shouldn't feel pressure to purchase stock options if you leave Ashby- do it when you feel financially comfortable.
Unlimited PTO with four weeks recommended per year. Expect "Vacation?" in our one-on-one agenda until you start taking it .
Twelve weeks of fully paid family leave in the US. We plan to expand this to employees in other countries as situations arise.
Generous equipment, software, and office furniture budget. Get what you need to be happy and productive!
$100/month education budget with more expensive items (like conferences) covered with manager approval.
If you're in the US, top-notch health insurance for you and your dependents with all premiums covered by us.
