Senior Buyer

Job Summary

The Senior Buyer will manage procurement activities and supplier relationships to support business needs while ensuring compliance with CPSR requirements and company policies. This role will negotiate favorable terms, drive cost savings, and collaborate with suppliers and internal teams to resolve issues, minimize risk, and ensure timely delivery of quality products and services.

This is a remote position that requires periodic travel to the Leonardo DRS facility in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, as well as to supplier locations.

What You'll Do

• Manage compliant procurements: Generate and execute CPSR-compliant purchase orders for commodities and major subcontract items based on approved requisitions, requests for proposals, bids, and related purchasing documents. Maintain accurate vendor agreements and procurement records.
• Lead negotiations and manage risk: Apply knowledge of commercial contract law, guidelines, practices, and requirements to negotiate favorable terms and conditions. Resolve pricing, claims, contract disputes, and other issues associated with supplier agreements.
• Own supplier relationships and issue resolution: Serve as the primary contact between DRS personnel and assigned suppliers. Build professional relationships and manage supplier issues involving cost, quality, delivery, customer service, and accounts-payable holds.
• Keep procurement aligned with production needs: Initiate and follow through on supplier changes, including Engineering Change Notices. Understand commodity demand and spend profiles, communicate supplier performance, and conduct supplier visits as required.
• Track results and support the business: Identify, track, and report cost savings or avoidance. Collaborate across teams to support business needs.

Required Qualifications

• 5–7 years of progressive procurement experience, including hands-on purchasing in support of U.S. government contracts.
• Working knowledge of FAR and DFARS, including experience applying contract requirements and supplier flowdowns to purchase orders.
• Direct experience issuing and managing purchase orders for defense or government-funded programs, including compliant procurement-file documentation.
• Experience purchasing custom-manufactured components and engineered assemblies in aerospace, defense, or industrial manufacturing.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, bills of material, and revisions; working understanding of machining, welding, fabrication, and mechanical or electromechanical assembly processes.
• Experience with negotiations, price analysis, sole-source justifications, and fair-and-reasonable price determinations.
• Experience managing supplier delivery, production constraints, nonconforming material, quality issues, and recovery actions.
• Ability to independently manage complex procurements and competing production priorities, with strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, shipbuilding, propulsion, or aerospace programs.
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Familiarity with DCMA oversight and CPSR expectations.
• Knowledge of DPAS, DFARS specialty-metals and domestic-sourcing requirements, ITAR/EAR, CUI, and CMMC as relevant to procurement.
• Familiarity with AS9100 and AS9102 First Article Inspection requirements.
• Experience purchasing precision-machined parts, welded fabrications, specialty metals, motors, electrical components, and complex assemblies.
• Experience with Deltek Costpoint or a comparable ERP system.
• Experience managing critical-path suppliers, shortages, supplier corrective actions, and schedule recovery.