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Baseten is building the infrastructure platform that powers mission-critical AI inference for leading AI companies like Cursor, Notion, and Abridge. The company recently raised $1.5B in Series F funding and is scaling rapidly across engineering, GTM, and corporate functions.
You will build Baseten's procurement function from the ground up—a foundational, high-ownership role to define how the company runs procurement at scale. This is a critical-moment hire where you'll establish leading-practice processes, systems, and policies that the company operates on as it grows.
Key responsibilities include:
**Procurement Strategy & Process**: Design and implement the company's first company-wide procurement process, approval routing, and workflows. Establish procurement policies (spend thresholds, approval authority, competitive bidding requirements) tailored to a high-growth business. Build processes that scale without adding friction.
**Systems & Tooling**: Build out procurement workflows within the existing P2P platform, including requisition, approval, and purchase order processes. Create reporting and visibility into company-wide spend by category, vendor, and department.
**Vendor Management & Sourcing**: Own vendor onboarding, due diligence, and risk assessment across the vendor base, partnering with Security, Compliance, and Legal. Lead strategic sourcing, RFPs, and contract negotiations. Build a vendor management framework covering performance, risk, and renewals.
**Cross-Functional Partnership**: Partner with Legal, Security, Compliance, IT, and business owners to understand purchasing needs and build workflows that fit how teams operate. Act as a trusted advisor on sourcing strategy and vendor selection.
**Compliance & Controls**: Establish procurement controls supporting audit readiness, SOX compliance, and security/data privacy requirements in partnership with Legal, Security, and Compliance.
You'll be judged on whether teams feel supported and unblocked, not slowed down. The goal is to make procurement a source of leverage for the business, not friction.
Requirements: 8+ years of progressive procurement experience, including building or significantly maturing a procurement function at a high-growth technology company. Proven experience designing procurement processes, policies, and systems from the ground up. Experience running RFPs and vendor selection processes. Strategic sourcing and vendor contract negotiation across multiple spend categories. Experience partnering with Security, Compliance, and Legal on vendor risk assessments. Comfortable operating with ambiguity and building structure where none exists. Strong cross-functional partnership skills. Based in San Francisco or New York with ability to work in-person 3+ days per week.
