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Ashby is seeking a Head of Procurement to design and build the company's procurement function from the ground up. This is an ownership role operating with significant autonomy to shape how procurement works across the organization.
You will be responsible for designing and implementing Ashby's procurement process with a philosophy of being fast and frictionless by default, with intelligent escalation pathways that engage IT, Legal, Security, Finance, and Founder review when vendor, contract, or spend complexity warrants it. Key responsibilities include:
- Designing, implementing, and administering the procurement process end-to-end, balancing speed with appropriate risk management and oversight
- Creating a consolidated, company-wide view of vendor spend
- Tuning and administering the existing procurement tool, and evaluating replacement options as needed
- Leading negotiation and contract structuring on the largest and most complex vendor relationships, either directly or in partnership with business leaders
- Equipping business leaders with tools and guardrails to own vendor relationships appropriate to their domain
- Partnering with IT, Legal, Security, and Finance to design and refine escalation processes
The role emphasizes systems thinking and process design as much as individual deal negotiation. You'll need to distinguish between purchases that deserve thorough review and those that should be automatic, and design frameworks that enable the business to move quickly while capturing necessary oversight on high-risk or complex decisions.
This is currently an individual contributor role. You will be expected to identify priorities independently, work comfortably with ambiguity, and build playbooks and processes with minimal external direction.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Significant experience in procurement or vendor management, specifically in high-growth tech environments where speed and agility are critical
- Demonstrated ability to think in systems; excitement about designing efficient processes as much as negotiating individual contracts
- Bias toward speed and simplicity; discomfort with processes that create friction to guard against edge cases
- Comfort with ambiguity and building processes from scratch; confidence to make principled decisions about what good looks like
- Strong negotiation skills balanced with relationship management; ability to get good economics without sacrificing vendor relationships
- Strong opinions rooted in principled thinking about procurement frameworks, vendor evaluation, and contract structures
- NOT a fit if you expect to inherit a mature, finished process; if you treat negotiation as win-at-all-costs; if you want to be the approver for every purchase; if you need close oversight to prioritize; if you treat all decisions with equal scrutiny; or if you need a team to feel effective
