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Salary: USD 110,000 - 160,000 / annual
Rocket Lab is seeking a Senior Global Supply Manager for Critical Minerals (Germanium) to serve as the domain expert and single leader for germanium sourcing and supply chain strategy. Based at Rocket Lab's headquarters in Long Beach, CA, you will own the global mandate end-to-end for this strategic critical mineral essential to the company's rocket and satellite programs.
You will lead sourcing strategies, build strong supplier partnerships, and drive supply chain resilience from early development through serial production. You'll collaborate across engineering, manufacturing, and quality teams to deliver world-class results. Your responsibilities include market intelligence, tiered supply chain mapping, supplier and government relationship management, should-cost modeling, contracting, and stockpiling strategy.
Key responsibilities:
- Own the commodity strategy for germanium with explicit focus on supply chain resilience and geopolitical risk mitigation (concentration in mining and refinement).
- Identify and mitigate risks in the supply chain, ensuring resilience and reliability.
- Maintain expert-level market intelligence and deliver regular updates on pricing, disruptions, and geopolitical signals.
- Conduct market research and stay ahead of industry trends to inform strategic decisions.
- Host cross-functional tag-ups, lead strategy reviews, and conduct executive briefings on market conditions and mitigation plans.
- Develop and execute sourcing strategies aligned with program goals for cost, quality, and delivery.
- Lead RFI/RFQ/RFP processes across miners, refiners, processors, and component suppliers.
- Lead supplier negotiations on a first-principles basis to secure best-in-class terms; perform should-cost and total cost of ownership analysis.
- Negotiate key agreements (offtake, pricing, capacity reservations, payment terms) suited to volatile, concentrated markets.
- Evaluate and recommend strategic interventions (stockpiling, prepayments, joint ventures, equity investments, vertical integration), partnering with Corporate Development and Finance.
- Build and maintain strong supplier relationships from initial RFIs through contract execution and beyond.
- Build trusted relationships with suppliers, industry associations, and U.S./allied government bodies (DoD, DPA Title III, DLA, DOE); represent Rocket Lab externally for germanium.
- Engage with Legal/Contracts to establish the right contractual framework.
- Drive continuous improvement in supplier performance through metrics, scorecards, and regular reviews.
You will travel domestically and internationally up to 50% of the time, including travel to mines, refiners, and processors.
QUALIFICATIONS (Required):
- 8+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, supplier management, or commodity management, with direct exposure to critical minerals or their downstream products (e.g., germanium, gallium, rare earth magnets, tungsten, antimony, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese).
- Bachelor's degree in supply chain, engineering, or related technical field—or equivalent years of work experience (9+ years of total work experience).
- Demonstrated experience navigating concentrated, geopolitically sensitive supply chains.
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 50% of the time.
- U.S. citizenship is required due to program requirements and ITAR regulations.
QUALIFICATIONS (Nice to Have):
- Advanced degree (Master's or Doctorate) in materials science, chemical sciences, or metallurgical/mining engineering; MBA is a big plus.
- Experience in defense, aerospace, automotive, or other disruptive manufacturing industries with deep raw material dependencies.
- Experience working with U.S. government programs supporting domestic critical mineral supply (e.g., DPA Title III, DOE Loan Programs Office, DLA National Defense Stockpile).
- Experience structuring or supporting non-traditional commercial arrangements (long-term offtake, prepayments, equity investments, joint ventures).
- Strategic thinker with a track record of building commodity roadmaps alongside engineering and finance stakeholders.
- Experience in a rapid growth environment with constantly shifting priorities.
- Exceptional organizational and problem-solving skills; excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Proven cross-functional leadership and ability to influence at all levels of an organization.
- APICS certification; experience with AS9100 and export controls.
