Senior Buyer & Team Lead

Job Summary

The Senior Buyer & Team Lead provides senior-level procurement support for LASP spaceflight instruments and spacecraft, as well as the engineering non-flight activities that support them. The position plans, processes, coordinates, expedites, and closes procurements for components, printed wiring boards (PWBs), lab supplies, equipment, and other materials required to assemble and test instruments. The role works across engineering, project teams, suppliers, and university procurement organization to ensure procurement requirements are complete, compliant, accurately documented, and delivered in support of program schedules. Success requires sound procurement judgement, strong follow-through, accurate records, effective communication, and the ability to anticipate and resolve procurement issues before they affect program schedules.

In addition to your procurement responsibilities, this position provides guidance, training, work direction, evaluation, and support to buyers on the team. The Senior Buyer & Team Lead promotes consistent procurement practices, data integrity, timely communication, and effective cross-functional coordination across the team and supported programs.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

• Manage procurement activities for LASP space-flight programs, from request initiation through purchase order completion, delivery, issue resolution, and closeout.
• Prepare and obtain required approvals for purchase orders while ensuring compliance with applicable Federal, State of Colorado, and University of Colorado policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Monitor and report procurement status, identify schedule risks, and proactively expedite orders to support engineering and manufacturing deadlines.
• Apply University of Colorado and State of Colorado pricing agreements.
• Team Leadership, Training & Customer Support
• Ensure work is distributed across the team such that procurement objectives can be met.
• Assist, train and support buyers in the department; and maintain consistent practices and expectations across the procurement group.
• Train engineers on the information and documentation needed to submit effective procurement requests, including required purchase order information.
• Serve as a knowledgeable procurement resource for engineers, program managers, schedulers, business analysts, and other organizational customers.
• Communicate clearly and professionally with internal and external customers, balancing procurement requirements with program needs and schedules.
• Provide timely status updates and escalate significant procurement issues to the appropriate program stakeholders.
• Supplier Management & Issue Resolution
• Build and maintain productive supplier relationships and work with Quality Assurance (QA) and engineering personnel to establish new suppliers when needed.
• Evaluate supplier performance, including delivery, responsiveness, quality, and other factors relevant to program requirements.
• Resolve shipment discrepancies, invoice errors, and other supplier issues in a timely manner and coordinate corrective action as needed.
• Work with end users and suppliers to facilitate the return of non-compliant material or equipment and support appropriate replacement or resolution activities.
• Program Records, Parts & Data Integrity
• Create and review flight and non-flight kit lists and maintain procurement information needed to support program execution.
• Ensure parts are transferred between programs appropriately and maintain approvals and records of those transactions.
• Maintain procurement and program information in department and University software systems, with a focus on completeness, accuracy, traceability, and data integrity.
• Maintain procurement, receipt, and usage data for flight-build PWBA components to ensure accurate final "As-Built" documentation for program closeout.
• Process Improvement & Cross-Functional Coordination
• Coordinate procurement activities with the University of Colorado's Procurement Service Center, Office of Contracts and Grants, Program Managers, Cognizant Engineers, Schedulers, Business Analysts, suppliers, and other stakeholders as required.
• Assist with documenting, maintaining, and updating procurement policies, procedures, and working practices.
• Use multiple department and University software systems to perform procurement and program-support responsibilities effectively.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of Engineering Services and LASP program needs.

What We Can Offer

Annual Salary: $99,000 - $135,000.

Benefits

At the University of Colorado Boulder , we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County's largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world-class outdoor recreation. In fact, CU Boulder has been named one of Forbes' America's Best Large Employers , ranking #4 among large employers in Colorado and #28 among universities nationwide. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.

Be Statements

Be ambitious. Be groundbreaking. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• Bachelor's degree and 9-13 years of purchasing experience; or Master's degree and 7-11 years; or PhD and 4-8 years.
• Team leadership & working with other departments effectively.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Demonstrated experience with fundamental purchasing processes.
• Knowledgeable in purchasing and production software systems.
• Exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to data and documentation accuracy.
• Excellent customer service, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with a wide range of internal and external customers.
• Strong self-motivation, initiative, and ability to work independently while maintaining accountability for assigned responsibilities.
• Ability to organize and manage multiple priorities and competing procurement activities throughout the workday.
• Curiosity and willingness to ask questions and develop a strong understanding of the working environment, particularly procurement practices and data and inventory integrity.
• Due to requirements to access export-controlled data and information, only U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), or other protected individuals (i.e., persons designated as an asylee, refugee, or temporary resident under amnesty provisions) may apply.

What You Will Need

• Exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to data and documentation accuracy.
• Excellent customer service, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with a wide range of internal and external customers.
• Strong self-motivation, initiative, and ability to work independently while maintaining accountability for assigned responsibilities.
• Ability to organize and manage multiple priorities and competing procurement activities throughout the workday.
• Curiosity and willingness to ask questions and develop a strong understanding of the working environment, particularly procurement practices and data and inventory integrity.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. Resume or CV.
2. Cover Letter.

(Optional) Transcripts/Proof of Degree: If you are selected as the finalist, your degree will be verified by the CU Boulder Campus Human Resources Department using an approved online vendor. However, if your degree was obtained outside of the United States, please submit an English-translated version as an Optional document.

Please apply by 11/25/2026 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.