About the role
Making the metals powering the world
Solcoa is building the next generation of American metalmaking, starting with rare earths — the metals of power and motion. We've developed a new chemistry that converts rare earth oxides into high-purity metals — the materials inside every EV, fighter jet, wind turbine, and data center — cleaner, cheaper, and faster than any conventional process. Now we're scaling it to thousands of tonnes of annual production.
The role
The Procurement Manager will own the purchasing that keeps Solcoa’s development, equipment builds and plant operations moving. You’ll work closely with engineering, research and operations to get the right equipment, materials and services delivered on time, to specification and at the right cost. This is a hands-on role for someone who can solve urgent sourcing problems while building the supplier relationships and purchasing systems we need as we scale.
What you’ll do
- Own purchasing from request through delivery for process equipment, custom fabricated parts, raw materials, consumables, spare parts and outside services.
- Partner with engineering, research and operations to turn drawings, bills of materials and production plans into clear sourcing requirements and purchasing schedules.
- Find, qualify and develop suppliers. Run RFQs, compare technical and commercial proposals, and negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times and warranties.
- Stay on top of open orders and long-lead items. Follow up directly with suppliers, resolve delays and coordinate freight and receiving to keep builds and production moving.
- Build reliable sources for critical materials and components, including alternate suppliers where single-source dependencies threaten cost, quality or delivery.
- Work with technical teams to resolve supplier quality issues, substitutions and nonconforming deliveries; maintain specifications, certificates and purchasing records.
- Establish practical purchasing processes, approval workflows and supplier records. Keep purchase orders, delivery dates, inventory needs and spend visible to the team.
- Track supplier performance and total landed cost, identify savings and standardization opportunities.
What you bring
Required
- 2+ years of procurement, purchasing or supply chain experience in manufacturing, industrial equipment, chemicals, metals or a related technical environment.
- Experience sourcing both custom parts or capital equipment and the materials and consumables needed to keep a facility running.
- Ability to work with engineering drawings, bills of materials and technical specifications, and clarify requirements with engineers and suppliers.
- Strong commercial judgment and a track record of negotiating favorable terms while protecting quality and delivery.
- Highly organized, with the follow-through to manage multiple orders, changing priorities and urgent sourcing needs.
- Hands-on experience with purchasing or ERP systems and spreadsheets; comfortable building processes in a fast-paced startup.
Preferred
- Experience supporting a pilot plant, new facility buildout or manufacturing scale-up.
- Familiarity with high-temperature equipment, vacuum systems, refractory materials, specialty metals or chemical feedstocks.
- Experience with domestic and international sourcing, freight coordination and import documentation.
- Experience establishing a procurement function or improving purchasing and inventory systems at an early-stage company.
Location
This is a full-time, on-site position in Alameda, California.
Compensation & benefits
- Competitive base salary.
- Generous stock options.
- Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance.
- Company-provided lunch daily.
- Visa sponsorship available if needed.