Location: Onsite — Austin, TX
Employment Type: Direct Hire, Full Time
Job Title: 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 volume pricing, blanket orders, and scheduled releases
Plan procurement against production build schedules — long-lead items ordered early, safety stock on allocation-risk parts, and no line-down surprises
Work with engineering on BOM health for production: component lifecycle and end-of-life monitoring, alternate qualification, and cost-down opportunities as volumes grow
Compliance & Risk
Procure within ITAR constraints and maintain the documentation to prove it: country-of-origin records, vendor certifications, and traceability appropriate for defense customers
Screen the supply chain against prohibited-source requirements (e.g., NDAA Section 889 covered entities) and keep Chinese-origin content out of the product
Protect against counterfeit components — buy through authorized channels by default, and apply rigorous vetting (testing, escrow, documentation) when the secondary market is the only option
Required Qualifications
5+ years of procurement/purchasing experience for physical hardware products — robotics, defense, aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment, or similar electromechanical systems
Proven ability to source scarce and allocated electronics: you have found parts others couldn't (GPU modules, embedded compute, image sensors, or similar), and you know the authorized-distribution landscape, the broker market, and how to avoid counterfeits
Experience buying across our categories: custom PCB assemblies, machined metal parts, actuators/motors, cable assemblies, and cameras or sensors
Experience supporting a product transition from prototype/low-volume to production purchasing — vendor qualification, volume negotiation, and lead-time planning
Track record of building or substantially defining purchasing processes, not just executing within an established system
Self-sufficient as a department of one: you set your own priorities, close your own loops, and don't need a manager to unblock you
Strong negotiator with vendors of all sizes — from Fortune 500 distributors to two-person machine shops
US person (citizen or lawful permanent resident) — required for ITAR compliance
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in a defense or ITAR-regulated environment; working familiarity with NDAA Section 889, country-of-origin verification, and government customer flow-downs
Experience selecting or implementing an ERP/MRP system at a growing hardware company
Existing relationships with electronics distributors (Arrow, Avnet, Digi-Key, Mouser, etc.), embedded-compute vendors, and domestic machine shops or contract manufacturers
Experience with formal supplier qualification, supplier audits, or purchasing in an AS9100/ISO 9001 environment
Early-stage startup experience — comfortable with ambiguity, thin process, and building the airplane while flying it
What Success Looks Like
In the first 90 days, purchasing runs through you and nobody misses the old way: engineers hand you a part number or a drawing and parts show up on time. You own the vendor relationships that matter, you've found at least one "impossible" part, and a real PO process exists where none did before.
On an ongoing basis, builds don't slip because of parts. Long-lead and allocation-risk items are ordered before they become emergencies, costs come down as volumes go up, and the supply base is production-ready, second-sourced where it counts, and clean of prohibited vendors. When we scale, purchasing is a reason we can — not a reason we can't.
About the Interview
Application screening phone call (30 min)
Virtual interview with the Director of Hardware Operations (45 min via MS Teams)
Onsite interview + meet the team
Offer
Work Environment
This role is based on-site in Austin, TX at our shop, alongside the engineering and manufacturing team. The environment is a working R&D and manufacturing facility for weapons systems — expect an active shop floor and proximity to live-fire test activity, with strict adherence to safety protocols. Occasional travel for vendor visits, supplier audits, and industry events.
Compensation Range: $105K - $120K
