Foundational Industries · 2 days ago
Head of Manufacturing Procurement and Purchasing
El Segundo
Full-time
Hybrid
Director/Executive
8+ years expFoundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories for modern contract manufacturing. The Head of Manufacturing Procurement and Purchasing will build and lead the procurement strategy across materials, components, and external manufacturing services, ensuring sourcing decisions support production readiness and cost targets.
Consumer Goods
Responsibilities
Define and lead Foundational’s manufacturing procurement strategy, aligned with autonomous factory deployment, capacity growth, and customer requirements
Build and manage a strategic supplier ecosystem across raw materials, components, assemblies, and specialized manufacturing services
Lead supplier selection, qualification, contracting, and performance management, with a focus on quality, reliability, and continuity of supply
Own commercial negotiations, cost structures, and long-term agreements to support competitive unit economics and scalable production and implement regular purchasing
Partner with engineering and factory operations on design-for-supply, make/buy decisions, and supplier readiness for new product introductions
Establish procurement operating rhythms: forecasting, capacity planning, inventory strategy, risk management, and contingency planning
Work closely with quality teams to ensure suppliers meet regulatory, compliance, and customer-specific quality standards
Build procurement processes and systems that scale across a network of factories while maintaining speed and accountability
Qualification
Required
8+ years of experience in manufacturing procurement, supply chain leadership, or sourcing roles within contract manufacturing, industrial, aerospace/defense, energy, robotics, or other high-reliability environments
Proven experience building and managing complex supplier networks at scale, including cost negotiation, long-term agreements, daily purchasing, and risk mitigation
Strong understanding of manufacturing economics, lead times, capacity constraints, and quality systems
Demonstrated ability to operate cross-functionally with engineering, operations, quality, and finance to support production execution
Sound judgment under pressure, with experience managing supply disruptions, escalations, and tradeoffs in live production environments
A builder mindset: comfortable operating in ambiguity, creating structure, and driving outcomes in a fast-moving environment
Benefits
Compensation and equity are structured to reflect responsibility, impact, and results, with meaningful upside for those who help build and scale the business.
Company
Foundational Industries
Foundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories to reshore critical supply chains — so companies can produce high‑quality products domestically, quickly, and at competitive cost.
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase