Sourcing Manager, Cloud

About the role

The individual in this position serves as the primary architect for the procurement strategy that underpins fal's infrastructure ambitions. You will own the end-to-end sourcing lifecycle specifically for GPU capacity and the long-lead hardware components that enable large-scale AI inference. This role operates at the intersection of market dynamics and strategic supply chain management, ensuring that fal maintains a reliable and cost-optimized foundation for its partners. You will act as the central point of control for negotiating and managing relationships with critical cloud and infrastructure providers. Your analysis will directly translate complex market conditions into resilient sourcing strategies that de-risk production schedules. You will establish the commercial frameworks that allow engineering teams to deploy AI models without being constrained by hardware limitations. Ultimately, this position ensures that the platform remains performant, observable, and available for the development community.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Drive the strategic sourcing initiatives for GPU capacity and associated long-lead infrastructure components that form the backbone of the fal platform.
• Negotiate and execute multi-million dollar commercial agreements with key infrastructure providers such as Digital Ocean, CoreWeave, Lambda, and Nebius to secure favorable terms.
• Develop and manage pricing structures, committed capacity levels, service level objectives, and expansion clauses within contracts to ensure future flexibility.
• Implement strategic allocation strategies and manage buffer inventory to guarantee production roadmaps proceed without interruption due to hardware scarcity.
• Collaborate closely with capacity planning teams to build accurate demand forecasts that inform procurement decisions and vendor selection.
• Build and maintain executive-level relationships with infrastructure vendors to manage ongoing commercial performance reviews and strategic alignment.
• Analyze provider performance metrics including availability, latency characteristics, and total ownership costs to objectively compare vendors and inform procurement choices.
• Translate complex capacity data and technical constraints into clear, actionable procurement guidance for cross-functional stakeholders.
• Orchestrate the intake and evaluation process for new providers, ensuring alignment with forecasted demand and technical requirements.
• Review contract language to verify that SLA targets, compliance clauses, and expansion options are precisely defined and legally sound.
• Define necessary procurement steps and processes in environments where standard operating procedures are not yet established.
• Partner with technical teams to ensure that infrastructure capabilities match the evolving needs of AI workload deployment and scaling.
• Monitor market conditions and vendor landscapes to proactively identify risks and opportunities in the supply chain.
• Serve as the primary liaison between fal's infrastructure leadership and the broader procurement ecosystem to ensure cohesive strategy execution.

Requirements

• Bring 7 to 10 or more years of focused experience in strategic sourcing for cloud infrastructure or hardware components.
• Possess a proven track record of managing million-scale agreements for compute, cloud, or networking services.
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of GPU economics, pricing models, and capacity planning principles essential for infrastructure procurement.
• Show experience working alongside senior infrastructure leaders to monitor and manage vendor performance and contractual compliance.
• Comfort with ambiguity is essential, as you will build procurement processes rather than inherit fully formed ones within a growing organization.
• Thrive when operating in high-growth, fast-moving conditions where priorities evolve rapidly and decisively.
• Expertise in managing allocation during tight markets to ensure engineering projects remain on schedule and meet their deadlines.
• Direct experience navigating industry-wide GPU shortages will be recognized as a significant advantage in understanding supply chain vulnerabilities.
• Proficiency with the specific infrastructure platforms is necessary, including Digital Ocean, CoreWeave, Lambda, and Nebius for effective vendor management.
• Strong analytical skills to assess performance metrics, total cost of ownership, and risk factors associated with multiple vendors.
• Excellent negotiation and contract management abilities to secure terms that balance cost, performance, and scalability.
• Exceptional communication skills to convey complex technical and financial concepts to both technical and executive audiences.
• Detail-oriented mindset to review contract language, SLA targets, compliance clauses, and expansion options with precision.
• Strategic thinking capacity to align procurement activities with the long-term vision and operational needs of the company.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a distributed team structure that values ownership and results.

Nice to have

Only items explicitly stated in SOURCE are considered preferred qualifications. The candidate may have direct experience navigating industry-wide GPU shortages, which is recognized as a significant advantage.

Practical notes

The role is based in San Francisco and is designated as a full-time engagement. The compensation package offers a range from 180,000 to 260,000 USD on a yearly basis. You will confirm final details regarding the position on the official application page.