Principal Strategic Sourcing

Long Beach · USD 177,120-251,424 · 7+ years experience · Full-time · Onsite · Posted Oct 12, 2026

At a glance

The Principal Strategic Sourcing Manager will serve as a senior individual contributor and subject matter expert within the Supply Chain team at Vast.
This role involves owning high-impact sourcing strategies, solving complex supplier challenges, and influencing cross-functional decisions across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Program teams.
The position supports the development and production of human-rated space systems in a fast-paced NPI environment.

Own category strategies for critical hardware, balancing cost, speed, quality, and risk.
Lead high-stakes sourcing events end to end, including negotiating long-term agreements, capacity reservations, and rate-ramp commitments.
Build should-cost and total-cost-of-ownership models that capture tooling, NRE, qualification, and yield.
Work with Engineering early on make-vs-buy, design-to-cost, and design-for-manufacturability decisions.
Find, qualify, and develop new suppliers, including non-traditional and commercial suppliers.
Keep sourcing and contract flow-downs compliant with ITAR/EAR, AS9100, and customer requirements.
Mentor and train sourcing managers, buyers, and analysts through deal reviews, coaching, and workshops.
Help build the playbooks and tools used for organizational scaling.

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field.
7+ years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, or supply chain in aerospace, space, defense, or high-complexity manufacturing.
Proven record of delivering significant cost, schedule, and risk-reduction results on complex, high-spend categories.
Advanced negotiation skills, including with sole-source and strategic suppliers at the executive level.
Strong analytical skills, including spend analysis, TCO, and should-cost modeling.
Experience negotiating and managing long-term agreements, commercial terms, and supplier contracts.
Working knowledge of AS9100 and ITAR/EAR as they apply to sourcing and supplier management.
Demonstrated experience mentoring, coaching, or training colleagues.
Strong communication and cross-functional influence skills.
Comfort operating quickly with incomplete information and changing requirements.

Experience sourcing prototype, development, and production machined hardware in an NPI environment.
Experience with value engineering, should-cost analysis, supplier development, and supply base optimization.
Experience influencing engineering, manufacturing, and executive stakeholders without direct authority.
Proficiency with ERP systems, RFQs/RFPs, and supplier contract management.