Associate Buyer/Planner

Company Overview

Mainspring Energy is revolutionizing power generation with the world's most flexible and adaptable local power generation technology, the Mainspring Linear Generator. Commercial, industrial, and utility leaders are choosing Mainspring over traditional options like engines, turbines, and fuel cells to quickly and reliably deliver local power for EV charging, commercial facilities, data centers, and grid-scale operations.


The Mainspring Linear Generator is fuel flexible, ramps up and down to meet demand, and utilizes a flameless reaction with near-zero NOx emissions. Backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, American Electric Power, Lightrock, and General Catalyst Mainspring designs, manufactures and delivers its products to customers across the U.S. today, and we're quickly scaling for international expansion.

Inspired by our vision of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid, Mainspring is rapidly expanding within the $816B global electricity equipment market, and we're hiring the best talent to meet growing customer demand around the globe. We welcome a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and talents to bring fresh perspectives and ongoing innovation to our customers.

We are looking to build relationships with people who share our values:

Pragmatic Optimism. Building a new category of world-class power generation requires the optimism of ambition and creativity, balanced with practicality to solve problems efficiently. The challenges that arise are opportunities for growth.

Excellence without Ego. We bring expertise and commitment to creating the best customer experience, from sales to deployment and service, just as we apply deep technical rigor to building and delivering world-class products. We strive for excellence and behave as leaders with the humility to acknowledge our challenges, both collectively and as individual contributors.

Proactive Collaboration. The integration and cross-disciplinary nature of Mainspring's business requires intentionally seeking out others who bring different skills, perspectives, and priorities. Our culture of inclusion and respect extends beyond our team to interactions with our partners and customers.

More information can be found at

Job Overview

The Buyer/Planner will be managing various commodities and suppliers from "quote to pay" to ensure continuity of supply and reduce the cost of the assigned portfolio. The candidate will be organized, communicative, hands-on and will have regular shop floor engagement and constant cross-functional engagement with production, NPI, engineering, logistics, material handling, and suppliers. The role balances tactical buying excellence with advanced planning, supplier coordination, and cost control, ensuring uninterrupted supply while supporting business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Manage purchase orders, releases, and schedules to meet production and service requirements
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• Translate demand forecasts and MRP signals into executable supply plans that align with demand
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• Monitor inventory levels, lead times, MOQ compliance and capacity constraints
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• Ensure material availability while optimizing inventory and working capital
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• Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned suppliers
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• Communicate forecasts, schedule changes, and priorities clearly and proactively
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• Monitor supplier performance (OTD, quality, responsiveness)
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• Resolve supply disruptions and expedite when required
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Qualifications

• At least 2 years of experience in production control, material demand planning, or supply chain management environment
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• Independent, excellent communicator, and collaborator with Engineering, Quality, Program Management, and Manufacturing
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• Detail-oriented with thorough analytical capabilities including the ability to solve problems with minimal supervision
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• Proficient with Google Sheets and Google Workspace tools. Experience with ERP packages
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• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Business, Economics, Supply Chain Management or similar discipline
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• Cultural fit: Pragmatic Optimism (creative, practical, problem solver), Excellence without Ego (expertise, rigorous, data-driven, service-oriented, leadership ability, humble), Proactive Collaboration (seeking others, inclusive, respectful)
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• Smart, cognitively agile, high-horsepower, dependable person
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• Clear, concise, to the point communication and presentation skills, ability to work with teams
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• Data-driven and analytical
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Minimum Requirements

• Deep knowledge of material planning, forecasting factoring in demand, supply, lead times, inventory, and business inputs regarding risks and use-of-capital
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• Deep understanding of planning systems and parameters to optimize inventory levels
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• Ability to provide data-driven status updates to manage exceptions
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• Experience administering competitive RFQs and driving supplier negotiations and supporting cost reduction activities
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• Ability to build and manage effective supplier relationships and act as the primary interface with suppliers on delivery status, issues, and problem resolution
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• Ability to communicate proactively with Production, Material Handling, and Engineers about order status and schedule challenges, and manage change orders, rush-requests, and returns, as necessary
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Preferred Requirements

• Experience managing the transition of new products into volume production with manufacturing partners
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• Partner with IT and other business stakeholders on planning processes and system improvements
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• Experienced with cross-functional business process improvements to improve the supply chain efficiency
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$68,000 - $77,000 a year

This position is onsite at our Menlo Park HQ . The salary will be adjusted to reflect local market conditions based on employee location as well as the experience of the employee. Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre-IPO stock options + benefits.

Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don't meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we'd still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.

In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.