Senior Sourcing Specialist

About Varda
Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. Varda’s W-Series vehicles are built, designed, and operated by Varda in-house, including the pharmaceutical processing payloads, the capsules, the C-PICA heat shields, and the satellite buses.
From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.
Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital.
Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
Join Varda, and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.
About this Role
As a Senior Sourcing Specialist, you will play a critical role in ensuring the seamless procurement of high-quality, precision-machined components for our cutting-edge space systems. In this fast-paced, dynamic environment, you'll work closely with engineering, production, and quality teams to source, evaluate, and manage suppliers of machined parts used in spacecraft assembly, propulsion systems, and other space hardware.
You will be responsible for managing the end-to-end procurement process—from identifying potential suppliers and negotiating contracts to monitoring delivery timelines and ensuring parts meet rigorous quality standards. As Varda continues to innovate and expand, your ability to source parts that adhere to strict performance and reliability criteria will directly contribute to the success of our mission to bring space-based manufacturing into the next era.
This is a full-time, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.
Responsibilities
Own purchasing for machined components and similar commodities from quote stage to delivery
Send RFQs, place POs, run open order report meetings with key suppliers.
Develop understanding of supplier capacity, lead times, and cost trends
Work closely with supply chain engineering to develop a preferred supplier network to minimize cost and lead time
Work closely with design engineering teams to understand upcoming design releases and part changes
Build strong relationships with suppliers and negotiate pricing and lead times to meet mission milestones
Identify part supply constraints that may impact production schedule and create mitigation plans
Maintain part and planning master data to accurately reflect lead-times and stock levels
Support purchasing of various commodities and inventory operations as needed
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in the field of Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or Finance
Minimum 2 years of relevant experience, ideally within space, aerospace, precision medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech/life sciences or similar
Willingness and ability to travel up to 50% of the time
Strategic sourcing of machined components or propulsion components
Experience translating engineering designs into demand and supply plans
Extensive experience using MES/ERP software
Highly adept relationship building and influencing skills, and the ability to interact and work effectively with many levels of personnel and suppliers
Detail-oriented and able to respond quickly to a fast-moving and ever-changing environment
Preferred Skills and Experience
Technical knowledge and skills in coding and computer applications, (e.g. MS Office Suite, VBA, Smartsheet, SQL, Confluence, JIRA, Power BI, ION etc.)
Proactive, quick learner, and ability to prioritize efforts to meet customer and company goals
Ability to develop and maintain strong internal and external supplier relationships in a fast-moving and ever-changing environment
Exceptional analytical and organizational skills