{"id":1938257,"url":"https://alion.io/job/rocket-lab-manager-purchasing","title":"Manager - Purchasing","company":{"id":684473,"name":"Rocket Lab","domain":"rocketlab.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/rocketlab-2","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":75,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.773,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":43,"computed_at":"2026-11-06T05:58:05Z"}},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Auckland, New Zealand"],"countries":["NZ"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":59000,"max_usd":137000,"period":"year","method":"global_role_cell_scaled_by_country","sample_n":4991},"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AS9100","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-05-07T00:17:32Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-05","last_verified_at":"2026-11-06T16:50:08Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":183,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":183},"description":"ABOUT ROCKET LAB\nRocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move fast, build real hardware for meaningful missions, and make the impossible routine. Come shape the future with us.\nSUPPLY CHAIN\nRocket Lab’s Supply Chain team is responsible for the flow of all materials, products, and components through the business. With many of our own products functioning as critical components to our own and our customers’ missions, the Supply Chain team has a direct impact on the success of our rocket and satellite programs. They set up the assembly kits that enable our technicians to put together our Electron rockets, manage inventory, look after shipping and receiving, manage direct and indirect procurement, and inspect and ensure that all of our materials and products are compliant and up to standard. They are the chain that links our teams together and are critical to our success. \nMANAGER PURCHASING\nRocket Lab is scaling rapidly from research and development into true mass production, and we are seeking a Purchasing Manager who can build and lead the procurement team that will support this transformation. Based in Auckland, this role owns all machining related commodity purchasing including aluminum, composites, and 3D printed materials. You will ensure our supply base is ready for high rate manufacturing. This role reports to the Director of Procurement NZ.\nWHAT YOU WILL DO:\nLead a high performing procurement team focused on machining and raw material commodities\nManage end to end procurement that supports production ramp and rapid engineering cycles\nDevelop global commodity strategies that deliver cost, quality, and delivery performance at scale\nNegotiate using first principles cost modelling to influence engineering design and long term cost\nBuild strong supplier relationships and ensure readiness for high volume production\nResolve material and scheduling issues across engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain\nOversee supplier performance including quality, on time delivery, and pricing\nMaintain accuracy of procurement and planning data in ERP\nIdentify new suppliers and capabilities to support future scaling\nWHAT YOU BRING:\n8 or more years of purchasing experience including leadership in fast paced or high growth manufacturing environments\nDemonstrated success sourcing, negotiating, and managing suppliers in complex production settings\nExperience building team strategy and operational plans for scaling operations\nStrong cross functional collaboration skills\nNICE TO HAVE\nExperience in aerospace, automotive, or other high rate and high precision manufacturing sectors\nStrong communication, organisation, and problem solving skills\nExperience in rapid growth environments\nKnowledge of AS9100 and US export controls ITAR and EAR\nIf this sounds like you then apply now.\nWHAT TO EXPECT \nWe’re on a mission to unlock the potential of space to improve life on Earth, but that’s not an easy task. It takes hard work, determination, relentless innovation, teamwork, grit, and an unwavering commitment to achieving what others often deem impossible. Our people out-think, out-work, and out-pace. We pride ourselves on having each other’s backs, checking our egos at the door, and rolling up our sleeves on all tasks big and small. We thrive under pressure, work to tight deadlines, and our focus is always on how we can deliver, rather than dwelling on the challenges that stand in the way. \nImportant information:\nFOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN US OFFICES ONLY:\nTo conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Rocket Lab Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable. Learn more about ITAR here.\nRocket Lab provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment at Rocket Lab, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.\nApplicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for the application/interview process for a job in the United States should contact Giulia Johnson at . This dedicated resource is intended solely to assist job seekers with disabilities whose disability prevents them from being able to apply/interview. Only messages left for this purpose will be considered. A response to your request may take up to two business days.\nFOR CANDIDATES SEEKING TO WORK IN NEW ZEALAND OFFICES ONLY:\nFor security reasons, background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers being made to an applicant. These checks will include nationality checks as it is a requirement of this position that you be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States' International Traffic in Arms Regulations. \nUnder these Regulations, you may be ineligible for this role if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union, or a country that is part of NATO, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality. For more information on these Regulations, click here ITAR Regulations.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5901,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Launch Services","Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-06T00:51:50Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":10,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.34,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":183,"expected_fill_days":43,"reasons":["conf:2","stale_co","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-06T05:58:05Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/rocket-lab-manager-purchasing","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/rocket-lab-manager-purchasing.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-06T19:27:54Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2813,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-07T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":684473},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=684473"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Frocket-lab-manager-purchasing"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Frocket-lab-manager-purchasing"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Frocket-lab-manager-purchasing"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/rocket-lab-manager-purchasing\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Frocket-lab-manager-purchasing"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":1938257}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"rocketlab.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":1938257},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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