Indirect Buyer

Aspen Aerogels^® is a rapidly growing aerogel technology company founded in 2001 to capitalize on patented advances in aerogel manufacturing. Aspen’s extensive portfolio of proprietary aerogel products are manufactured at scale and sold worldwide in the Electric Vehicle, Energy Infrastructure, Sustainable Building Materials, and Power Generation industries. Aspen is a Tier 1/2 Automotive supplier of PyroThin^® thermal barriers, and our Pyrogel^® and Cryogel^® insulation products are used by virtually all leading petrochemical and refining company across more than 50 countries.  We’re on a mission to build a world-class organization as we continue to grow our energy infrastructure business, and expand to meet demand for PyroThin thermal barriers in the rapidly growing Electric Vehicle sector over the next decade.  We’re looking for great passionate, dynamic talent to join our team. 

The primary role of the Indirect Buyer is to develop and implement indirect material strategies in support of project management and engineering as well as operations and supply chain to ensure on-time deliveries to facilitated major and minor capital investments at Aspen.  The Indirect Buyer also negotiates with suppliers and executes procurement activities for certain services, such as engineering project consultant support, and other items in addition to physical assets.   

This role requires strong understanding of business processes and risks, strong business acumen and negotiation skills, ability to manage difficult people and situations, and dealing with ambiguity to successfully navigate across internal and external challenges that face Aspen throughout major projects.  The Indirect Buyer will identify and resolve issues with suppliers, provide strong internal customer service through timely communication, and manage and improve purchase process execution to support the success of the Aspen Supply Chain Team. 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Efficient and effective purchasing of indirect materials and services.  Development and implementation of capital purchasing plans based upon business needs including engineering project schedules, project management goals, and anticipated project schedule timing as well as incorporating changes and accounting for risks to the plans.
  • Development of capital procurement schedules with project leaders
  • Communicating internally and externally the capital procurement plans
  • Execution of plans from start to finish including PO issuance, delivery coordination, milestone tracking, and PO maintenance and closure and supporting accurate invoicing/payment based on negotiated terms and conditions (T&C’s)
• Drive cost savings through negotiation and second sourcing activities, particularly around fit, form, function requirements provided by the project and/or engineering leaders when a preferred supplier is not yet chosen.
  • Development of negotiation strategies to secure competitive pricing, payment terms, favorable contract language, etc.
  • Identification of second source options and implementation of competitive bid processes
  • Execution of purchases at competitive pricing and management of suppliers to assure fulfillment to Aspen requirements
• Leads contract review and negotiation process to ensure favorable terms and conditions for Aspen while being efficient and effective for all parties.
  • Institutes NDA’s where applicable with vendors prior to disclosure of IP sensitive Aspen requirements and assessing whether a supplier is capable of meeting the project needs
  • Reviews standard T&C’s, recommends modifications with supplier to drive the contract proposals to as close to final state as possible before submitting for legal review and then facilitates T&C’s negotiation and deal closure
  • Follows up with internal and external stakeholders to assure contract execution is in line with agreed to terms
• Actively contributes to cross functional projects as required.   
  • Support capital equipment projects with R&D, Engineering, Quality, etc. to acquire highly technical equipment (ex: SEM/EDS microscope or specialized chloride content measurement system)
  • Support service contract development and sourcing with Operations, QA, IT, HR, etc.
• Performs other related duties as assigned by management.
• Adopt and follow Aspen’s core values of Safety, Quality, Integrity, Teamwork, Customer and Innovation on both a personal and professional level. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's Degree (BA) from four-year college or university, or equivalent combination of education and experience: Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business or related field.  
• Computer skills desired Inventory Software; Microsoft Office Suite; Project Management Software
• Other skills required: 
  • Experience working in an ISO9000 environment preferred 

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. The EEO is the Law poster is available here: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf.

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please send an e-mail to abuttitta@aerogel.com or call (508) 466-3111 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. 

For Our Rhode Island Applicants:
  Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. The East Providence, RI facility of Aspen Aerogels is subject to Title 28, Chapter 29-6.2 of Rhode Island General Laws, which governs Worker’s Compensation.