Supplier Management Manager

About the Role
This position offers an exciting opportunity for an experienced supplier management professional to lead the tactical execution of supplier management across the UAE and international supply base, including the internal supply relationship with the company. The role combines technical procurement expertise, commercial ownership, and hands-on execution to ensure hardware, equipment, and services arrive on time and at a competitive total cost. You will manage the full supplier lifecycle from quotations, sourcing, and purchase orders to onboarding, delivery, performance management, renewal, and offboarding. Partnering closely with Engineering, Quality, Planning, Programs, Finance, and the Supplier Development function, you will play a significant individual contributor role with real strategic weight, building the processes and working relationships needed to support a rapidly expanding portfolio of technologies and flight hardware.

What You'll Do

• Own the supplier portfolio — Manage a mix of local and international suppliers along with internal supply partners, segmenting by criticality, technology, capacity, lead time, and risk, and setting appropriate ownership and review cadences for each.
• Lead technical sourcing and quotations — Turn approved specifications, drawings, and documentation requirements into effective RFQs, evaluating quotes with Engineering and QA based on compliance, lead time, capacity, tooling costs, and total cost of ownership.
• Drive procurement execution — Own requisitions, PO placement and amendments, supplier acknowledgement, and delivery follow-up, ensuring quantities, prices, and delivery dates are accurate and resolving any receipt or invoice discrepancies.
• Negotiate contracts and commercial terms — Negotiate and administer pricing, payment, delivery, warranty, change, cancellation, and tooling-ownership terms with Legal and Compliance to ensure quality and technical requirements are met.
• Manage demand and product availability — Connect production and program demand with supplier lead times and capacity, proactively flagging shortages and long-lead exposure, while securing necessary coverage and managing cash and obsolescence risk.
• Lead delivery recovery — Validate supplier milestones and delivery evidence, running recovery plans and escalations through to confirmed resolution when deliveries falter.
• Manage the supplier lifecycle — Coordinate due diligence, onboarding, qualification, approved status, and offboarding, ensuring continuity of orders, tooling, and records during transitions.
• Partner on quality and technical issues — Collaborate with QA on supplier nonconformances and corrective actions, coordinating technical changes with Engineering, and converting Supplier Development findings into sourcing and commercial decisions.
• Run the company and internal supply execution — Establish clear demand handoffs, commitments, and escalation paths with company counterparts, applying consistent expectations across internal supply relationships.
• Improve performance and cost — Conduct supplier reviews on delivery, quality, responsiveness, and risk, enhancing total cost through negotiation, order strategy, and qualified alternatives.
• Build the function — Develop practical processes, dashboards, and decision records, while coaching procurement colleagues as the portfolio and team grow.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 7–15 years of experience in supplier management, technical procurement, or supply chain within aerospace, space, or another demanding engineered-product environment, with direct accountability for production hardware or technically complex supply.
• Technical procurement literacy, able to read specifications, drawings, BOMs, revisions, and acceptance requirements, and knowledgeable about when Engineering or QA sign-off is required.
• Hands-on, end-to-end procurement experience, including RFQs, quotation comparisons, approvals, POs, amendments, delivery follow-up, and supplier lifecycle management.
• Demonstrated depth in commercial and contract management, with the ability to discuss specific terms you've negotiated and the associated risks they addressed.
• Proven track record of preventing or resolving shortages, managing capacity or long-lead constraints, and restoring supplier commitments with measurable results.
• Experience managing a supplier portfolio: segmenting risk, conducting performance reviews, and driving corrective actions to resolution.
• Strong cross-functional influence across Procurement, Engineering, QA, Planning, Finance, and suppliers, including being able to foster relationships without direct authority.
• Proficiency in ERP/MRP systems, linking demand, supply, lead times, and PO data to evaluate cost, inventory, and cash impacts.
• Background in building processes and mentoring colleagues in a fast-growing environment.
• A degree in engineering, supply chain, or a related field (or equivalent demonstrated experience), with clear professional English communication; proficiency in Arabic and French is a plus.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience with space or aerospace flight hardware, including traceability, configuration, qualification, and controlled-change requirements.
• Background in complex electronics, avionics, harnesses, precision machining, structures, propulsion, or optical payloads.
• UAE or regional supplier experience.
• Experience managing intercompany or joint-venture supply relationships.
• Experience supporting new product introduction and transitioning from development to production-scale purchasing.
• Familiarity with supplier development and quality systems; AS9100 or equivalent experience is a plus.
• Professional certification such as CIPS, CPSM, or CSCP, along with cost breakdown or should-cost experience.
• Understanding of international logistics, customs, and export-control considerations.

Why the company
The company is at the forefront of building satellite systems and space operations capability out of the UAE, closely collaborating with the company. As the technology portfolio scales, this role is critical in ensuring that the hardware, equipment, and services required for our programs are delivered on time, meet quality standards, and are cost-efficient.

The company's mission is to simplify space for organizations wishing to deploy physical and virtual missions to space. Building on the company's legacy, the company is poised to become the first commercial entity in the United Arab Emirates to mass-manufacture satellites, aiming to produce tens of satellites annually from a state-of-the-art 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi.