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VAST Data is seeking a Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Management Lead to own end-to-end commercial strategy for storage and compute commodities, beginning with NAND/SSD and expanding into adjacent hardware categories. This role bridges engineering, finance, and supply chain, positioning you as the primary commercial voice shaping supplier relationships, pricing strategies, and technology roadmaps that directly impact infrastructure cost and resilience.
You will own the complete sourcing lifecycle for NAND/SSD commodities and extend proven playbooks to additional storage and compute categories. Key responsibilities include leading commercial negotiations on pricing, contracts, terms, and supply commitments with strategic suppliers; building and managing supplier relationships with focus on cost, quality, delivery, and technology alignment; developing supplier diversification and risk mitigation strategies; and optimizing total cost of ownership.
You'll chair cross-functional meetings with engineering, finance, and operations teams to align sourcing decisions with business objectives. A critical aspect of this role is influencing both supplier roadmaps and internal technical decisions by injecting commercial and market perspective into engineering conversations. You'll conduct industry and market analysis to identify pricing trends, capacity shifts, and technology changes; perform cost modeling and competitive benchmarking; and manage escalations related to material shortages and supply constraints.
Additional duties include tracking and reporting supplier performance metrics, savings, and risk indicators to leadership, and traveling 15–20% for supplier reviews, site visits, and industry events.
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in a technical, engineering, or business discipline (or equivalent practical experience); 8–12+ years in strategic sourcing, procurement, or supply chain management; direct experience with NAND/SSD commodity management including technology fundamentals and supplier landscape; proven track record negotiating commercial contracts and pricing agreements; strong analytical skills in cost modeling and market analysis; and demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
Preferred qualifications include an MBA or Master's degree; experience sourcing data center-scale SSD, NAND, DRAM, or compute commodities; experience managing shortage and material constraint processes; and background expanding sourcing scope across multiple commodity categories.
