Buyer - Full time - Supply Chain Purchasing

Employment Type : Direct Hire, Full Time

At 9 Mothers, we aren’t just "innovating"—we are building the shield.

While others build for "awareness" or "long-term research," we build for the immediate survival of those in harm’s way. We are a team of hackers, engineers, and mission-driven builders who value field-ready capability over polished slide decks. If you want to see your code or hardware in the field next month—not next year—this is your playground.

9 Mothers builds counter-UAS systems — robotic shotgun turret platforms and a proprietary belt-fed shotgun system. Everything we ship starts with parts: custom electronics, machined metal, actuators, cables, and cameras, sourced from vendors we trust. Today, engineers buy their own parts. Sourcing & Procurement (Primary)

Source and purchase the full robotics bill of materials: custom electronics and PCB assemblies, CNC-machined metal parts, actuators and motors, cable assemblies, cameras and sensors, and supporting COTS hardware

Hunt down hard-to-find and allocated electronics - NVIDIA Jetson modules, GPUs, image sensors - through authorized distribution, direct manufacturer relationships, and carefully vetted secondary-market channels, managing counterfeit risk and allocation constraints

Run the quote-to-PO cycle: solicit and compare quotes, negotiate pricing, payment terms, and lead times, place purchase orders, and track and expedite deliveries against build schedules

Own vendor selection within our trade-compliance constraints: build and maintain a non-Chinese supply base with a strong preference for US vendors, verifying country of origin down to the component level where required

Building the Purchasing Function

Define the company's purchasing processes from scratch: PO workflow and approvals, vendor onboarding and qualification, receiving and inspection handoff, and spend tracking

Select and stand up purchasing tooling - from spreadsheets that actually work today to an ERP/MRP system that supports production volumes

work with engineering on part numbering, BOM hygiene, and approved alternates

Give the company visibility: report on spend, open orders, lead-time risk, and cost trends so engineering and leadership can plan around reality

Transition the supply base from prototype and small-run buys to production purchasing: qualify vendors for volume, establish second sources for critical parts, and negotiate volume pricing, blanket orders, and scheduled releases

Plan procurement against production build schedules - long-lead items ordered early, safety stock on allocation-risk parts, and no line-down surprises

Work with engineering on BOM health for production: component lifecycle and end-of-life monitoring, alternate qualification, and cost-down opportunities as volumes grow

Compliance & Risk

Procure within ITAR constraints and maintain the documentation to prove it: country-of-origin records, vendor certifications, and traceability appropriate for defense customers

Screen the supply chain against prohibited-source requirements (e.g., NDAA Section 889 covered entities) and keep Chinese-origin content out of the product

Protect against counterfeit components - buy through authorized channels by default, and apply rigorous vetting (testing, escrow, documentation) when the secondary market is the only option

5+ years of procurement/purchasing experience for physical hardware products - robotics, defense, aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment, or similar electromechanical systems

Proven ability to source scarce and allocated electronics: you have found parts others couldn't (GPU modules, embedded compute, image sensors, or similar), and you know the authorized-distribution landscape, the broker market, and how to avoid counterfeits

Experience buying across our categories: custom PCB assemblies, machined metal parts, actuators/motors, cable assemblies, and cameras or sensors

Experience supporting a product transition from prototype/low-volume to production purchasing - vendor qualification, volume negotiation, and lead-time planning

Track record of building or substantially defining purchasing processes, not just executing within an established system

Strong negotiator with vendors of all sizes - from Fortune 500 distributors to two-person machine shops

US person (citizen or lawful permanent resident) - required for ITAR compliance

working familiarity with NDAA Section 889, country-of-origin verification, and government customer flow-downs

embedded-compute vendors, and domestic machine shops or contract manufacturers

Experience with formal supplier qualification, supplier audits, or purchasing in an AS9100/ISO 9001 environment

Early-stage startup experience - comfortable with ambiguity, thin process, and building the airplane while flying it

In the first 90 days, purchasing runs through you and nobody misses the old way: engineers hand you a part number or a drawing and parts show up on time. On an ongoing basis, builds don't slip because of parts. Long-lead and allocation-risk items are ordered before they become emergencies, costs come down as volumes go up, and the supply base is production-ready, second-sourced where it counts, and clean of prohibited vendors. When we scale, purchasing is a reason we can - not a reason we can't.

Application screening phone call (30 min)

Virtual interview with the Director of Hardware Operations (45 min via MS Teams)

This role is based on-site in Austin, TX at our shop, alongside the engineering and manufacturing team. The environment is a working R&D and manufacturing facility for weapons systems - expect an active shop floor and proximity to live-fire test activity, with strict adherence to safety protocols. Occasional travel for vendor visits, supplier audits, and industry events.

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