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Salary: USD 92,820 - 125,580 / annual
Varda Space Industries is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reentry capsules. The company designs, builds, and operates its W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, CA, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
As a Senior Sourcing Specialist, you will own the end-to-end procurement of high-quality, precision-machined components for spacecraft assembly, propulsion systems, and other space hardware. You'll work in a fast-paced environment alongside engineering, production, and quality teams to identify suppliers, negotiate contracts, monitor delivery timelines, and ensure parts meet rigorous aerospace quality standards.
Key Responsibilities:
- Own purchasing for machined components and similar commodities from quote stage through delivery
- Send RFQs, place purchase orders, and run open order report meetings with key suppliers
- Develop understanding of supplier capacity, lead times, and cost trends
- Work with supply chain engineering to build a preferred supplier network that minimizes cost and lead time
- Collaborate with design engineering teams to understand upcoming design releases and part changes
- Build strong supplier relationships and negotiate pricing and lead times to meet mission milestones
- Identify part supply constraints that may impact production schedules and create mitigation plans
- Maintain part and planning master data to accurately reflect lead times and stock levels
- Support purchasing of various commodities and inventory operations as needed
This is a full-time, exempt position located on-site in El Segundo, CA. Up to 50% travel required.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or Finance
- Minimum 2 years of relevant experience, ideally within space, aerospace, precision medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech/life sciences, or similar industries
- Willingness and ability to travel up to 50% of the time
- Strategic sourcing experience with machined components or propulsion components
- Experience translating engineering designs into demand and supply plans
- Extensive experience using MES/ERP software
- Highly adept relationship-building and influencing skills; ability to interact effectively with multiple levels of personnel and suppliers
- Detail-oriented with ability to respond quickly to a fast-moving, ever-changing environment
Preferred Skills:
- Technical knowledge in coding and computer applications (MS Office Suite, VBA, Smartsheet, SQL, Confluence, JIRA, Power BI, ION, etc.)
- Proactive, quick learner with ability to prioritize efforts to meet customer and company goals
- Ability to develop and maintain strong internal and external supplier relationships in dynamic environments
- Previous experience as a machinist (nice to have) plus understanding of manufacturing and material flow processes
Note: ITAR compliance required. Varda only hires "US persons" (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or individuals admitted as refugees/granted asylum) due to access to export-controlled technology.
