Buyer

About the role

You will own the end-to-end procurement strategy for critical materials that directly enable the production of American rare-earth permanent magnets. You will act as the primary commercial and operational interface between Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Logistics to ensure uninterrupted production support. This role demands a high level of ownership in managing the procure-to-pay lifecycle while adhering to strict timelines and commercial accuracy. You will execute purchasing activities in strict alignment with production plans and evolving business priorities. You will identify and mitigate supply risks early, escalating potential late deliveries or material shortages before they impact the production schedule. You will lead the administration of RFQs and RFPs, translating technical requirements into actionable supplier responses and commercial evaluations. Through these efforts, you will secure the pricing, quantities, and delivery performance required for operational success.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Execute purchasing activities for direct materials, components, supplies, and other production requirements in support of manufacturing operations and production ramp activities.
• Create, issue, maintain, and close purchase orders with rigorous attention to pricing, quantities, delivery dates, payment terms, and commercial accuracy.
• Track open commitments proactively to guarantee on-time material arrival and to sustain production support without interruption.
• Identify potential late deliveries, material shortages, and supply disruptions early, escalating issues to the appropriate stakeholders to enable timely resolution.
• Lead and administer RFQs and RFPs, which includes preparing bid packages, soliciting supplier proposals, coordinating technical and commercial responses, and developing structured bid comparisons.
• Negotiate pricing, minimum order quantities, lead times, payment terms, and freight arrangements in alignment with established sourcing strategies and business constraints.
• Translate production requirements and MRP demand into precise purchasing actions through close collaboration with Planning and Manufacturing teams.
• Coordinate purchased materials with Engineering and Quality to ensure strict conformance with drawings, specifications, quality requirements, and approved supplier requirements.
• Resolve shipping, receiving, customs, packaging, and delivery issues in partnership with Logistics and Operations to maintain material flow.
• Address invoice discrepancies, pricing differences, receiving issues, and payment holds by working directly with Finance and Accounts Payable to clear transactions.
• Support supplier corrective actions and recovery plans when delivery or performance issues arise, driving toward timely restoration of supply.
• Identify and pursue opportunities for cost reduction, lead-time improvement, order consolidation, inventory optimization, and broader process improvement initiatives.
• Assist with supplier onboarding, documentation, compliance requirements, and the management of approved supplier information to ensure full traceability.
• Maintain organized procurement records, including quotations, purchase orders, supplier correspondence, contracts, and all sourcing documentation for audit and reference.
• Adapt to changing responsibilities and priorities based on immediate business needs and production demands.

Requirements

• Hold a Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Operations, Finance, or a related field as a preferred qualification.
• Possess a minimum of 2+ years of experience in purchasing, procurement, supply chain, materials management, or a related role, with preference for manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrate experience purchasing direct materials, components, or production-related goods and services as a hard requirement.
• Show strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel or similar analytical tools to organize, analyze, and report on purchasing and supplier data.
• Exhibit comfort with fast-paced manufacturing environments characterized by changing priorities and aggressive production ramp schedules.
• Meet U.S. Person status requirements due to the necessity of accessing U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.
• Perform all duties from the Research Triangle Park, NC location to support domestic operations.

Nice to have

• Bring prior experience working with rare-earth magnets or advanced materials, as this background is preferred for success in this role.

Practical notes

• This position operates within standard business hours and may require flexibility to support production ramp activities as needed.
• U.S. Person status is mandatory for this role due to the handling of sensitive export-controlled information and facilities access.
• The work location is fixed at Research Triangle Park, NC, and candidates must be prepared to commute or relocate to this specific area.