Electronics & Hardware Buyer/Purchaser, Senior

Location: Onsite — Austin, TX Employment Type: Direct Hire, Full Time Job Title: Senior Buyer/Purchaser About 9 Mothers The modern battlefield has changed. Cheap, autonomous suicide drones have turned the tactical advantage upside down, and the world is looking for a solution. At 9 Mothers, we aren’t just "innovating"—we are building the shield. Backed by top-tier investors, we develop AI powered machines designed to intercept and neutralize Group 1/sUAS threats in real-time. Our flagship product is a low-power, counter-drone system built for the edge—on vehicles, at bases, or in a soldier's pack. Why 9 Mothers? While others build for "awareness" or "long-term research," we build for the immediate survival of those in harm’s way. We are a team of hackers, engineers, and mission-driven builders who value field-ready capability over polished slide decks. If you want to see your code or hardware in the field next month—not next year—this is your playground. Position Summary 9 Mothers builds counter-UAS systems — robotic shotgun turret platforms and a proprietary belt-fed shotgun system. Everything we ship starts with parts: custom electronics, machined metal, actuators, cables, and cameras, sourced from vendors we trust. Today, engineers buy their own parts. That stops working the moment we move from prototype and small-run quantities into production — which is exactly where we are headed over the next 12 months. You will be our first dedicated buyer and, initially, a department of one. You will own procurement end to end: finding parts, qualifying vendors, negotiating, placing and chasing POs, and building the purchasing processes and systems this company will scale on. As we grow into production, this role grows with the company — the person who defines purchasing here has a clear path to leading the function. Two things make this role harder than a typical buyer seat. First, we run on scarce, allocated electronics — NVIDIA Jetson modules, cameras, specialty sensors — and you need to be the person who can find them when distributors say twelve months. Second, we are a defense company: our supply base must exclude Chinese vendors, with a strong preference for US suppliers, and you own keeping it that way. Essential Duties Sourcing & Procurement (Primary) - Source and purchase the full robotics bill of materials: custom electronics and PCB assemblies, CNC-machined metal parts, actuators and motors, cable assemblies, cameras and sensors, and supporting COTS hardware - Hunt down hard-to-find and allocated electronics — NVIDIA Jetson modules, GPUs, image sensors — through authorized distribution, direct manufacturer relationships, and carefully vetted secondary-market channels, managing counterfeit risk and allocation constraints - Run the quote-to-PO cycle: solicit and compare quotes, negotiate pricing, payment terms, and lead times, place purchase orders, and track and expedite deliveries against build schedules - Own vendor selection within our trade-compliance constraints: build and maintain a non-Chinese supply base with a strong preference for US vendors, verifying country of origin down to the component level where required Building the Purchasing Function - Define the company's purchasing processes from scratch: PO workflow and approvals, vendor onboarding and qualification, receiving and inspection handoff, and spend tracking - Select and stand up purchasing tooling — from spreadsheets that actually work today to an ERP/MRP system that supports production volumes - Build and maintain the approved vendor list; work with engineering on part numbering, BOM hygiene, and approved alternates - Give the company visibility: report on spend, open orders, lead-time risk, and cost trends so engineering and leadership can plan around reality Scaling to Production - Transition the supply base from prototype and small-run buys to production purchasing: qualify vendors for volume, establish second sources for critical parts, and negotiate