Senior Procurement Associate

At Serve Robotics, we’re reimagining how things move in cities. Our personable sidewalk robot is our vision for the future. It’s designed to take deliveries away from congested streets, make deliveries available to more people, and benefit local businesses. The Serve fleet has been delighting merchants, customers, and pedestrians along the way in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago while doing commercial deliveries. We’re looking for talented individuals who will grow robotic deliveries from surprising novelty to efficient ubiquity. WHO WE ARE We are tech industry veterans in software, hardware, and design who are pooling our skills to build the future we want to live in. We are solving real-world problems leveraging robotics, machine learning and computer vision, among other disciplines, with a mindful eye towards the end-to-end user experience. Our team is agile, diverse, and driven. We believe that the best way to solve complicated dynamic problems is collaboratively and respectfully. JOB OVERVIEW The Senior Procurement Associate is responsible for driving financial and operational outcomes through strategic sourcing, vendor management, and contract governance. The role owns assigned spend categories end-to-end, with accountability for cost savings, cost avoidance, spend under management, contract compliance, and supplier risk mitigation. This position partners closely with Finance, Engineering, Operations, and Legal to ensure procurement decisions support company growth while maintaining strong cost controls, commercial discipline, and scalable processes. JOB DUTIES - Own sourcing strategy for assigned categories, including delivery of annual cost savings and cost avoidance targets - Lead RFPs, RFQs, and supplier evaluations using total cost of ownership analysis and financial modeling - Deliver Finance-validated hard savings through pricing, scope, and commercial negotiations - Increase spend under management by transitioning ad hoc purchasing to preferred suppliers and formal contracts - Manage supplier relationships with ongoing tracking of pricing adherence, SLAs, on-time delivery, and quality - Maintain high contract compliance within managed categories and reduce off-contract spend - Reduce supplier concentration risk through vendor rationalization and dual sourcing where appropriate - Identify and mitigate supplier continuity, financial, and operational risks - Partner with Legal and Finance to structure, negotiate, and execute supplier contracts - Actively manage renewals, expirations, and pricing escalators to prevent value leakage - Negotiate payment terms that support cash flow and working capital objectives - Partner with Finance and FP&A on budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis for procurement-managed spend - Quantify and report hard savings and cost avoidance using Finance-approved methodologies - Support audit and compliance requirements through strong documentation and policy adherence - Provide clear, data-driven procurement insights to leadership - Design and improve procurement processes that scale with company growth while maintaining controls - Improve requisition-to-PO and contract cycle times without compromising governance Drive adoption of procurement systems to improve policy compliance, data quality, and reporting accuracy - Act as a strategic partner to Engineering, Operations, and other stakeholders on vendor strategy - Challenge requirements or vendor selections that are not cost-effective or scalable - Mentor junior team members as the procurement function grows EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, & SKILLS Required Experience, Qualifications, and Skills - 5-7 years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, or supply chain - Demonstrated ability to deliver measurable cost savings and cost avoidance - Strong financial and analytical skills, including cost modeling and business case development - Experience negotiating complex commercial agreements - Proven ability to influence stakeholders across functions Preferred Experience, Qualifications, and Skills - Experience in hardware, robotics, manufacturing, or technology-driven environments - Familiarity with ERP and procurement systems such as NetSuite, Coupa, SAP, or Ariba - Experience in a high-growth or scaling organization - Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related field; MBA a plus Additional Information - In just a few sentences, provide any additional context or key aspects of the position (if any) that have not been captured in the above sections - Ex. Physical requirements or travel requirements