Senior Buyer/Planner, Supply Chain
- Compensation
- $90K–$120K / yr
- Location
- San Carlos, CA
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Category
- Operations
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 5+ years in purchasing, planning, or sourcing, including hands-on buying in a regulated manufacturing environment (medical device strongly preferred)
- Demonstrated experience sourcing and onboarding new suppliers from scratch — not solely managing an established supply base
- Working knowledge of both catalog/distributor sourcing and custom build-to-print sourcing (machining, injection molding, cable assemblies, PCBAs)
- Hands-on ERP/MRP experience; able to own item master and BOM data integrity. ERP implementation experience a plus
- Able to read engineering drawings and understand a BOM well enough to hold a technical conversation with a supplier and with R&D
- Working knowledge of purchasing controls under 21 CFR Part 820 / ISO 13485, supplier qualification, and first-article inspection
- Strong Excel skills and comfort building shortage reports, clear-to-build views, and cost comparisons without a dedicated analyst
- Preferred: experience supporting a product through commercial launch or a production ramp
- Preferred: experience with single use, terminally sterile devices, sterilization vendors, and contract manufacturers
- Relentless follow-through — the person who chases the acknowledgement, the ship date, and the FAI until it is closed
- Comfortable owning execution and negotiation while the VP of Operations owns sourcing strategy and final supplier selection
- Prioritizes by risk and lead time rather than working the list in order
- Communicates bad news early and with a recovery plan
- Thrives with incomplete information and evolving designs; builds the process while running it
- People who can toggle between deep subject-matter expertise and generalist startup contribution — going deep in a specialty while pitching in wherever the company needs it.
- People comfortable with ambiguity and ownership.
- People who are deeply mission-driven, and who take a contrarian "why not" approach rather than accepting incremental progress as the ceiling.
Full description
This role will own teh tactical and execution side of supply chain — RFQs, supplier onboarding, purchase orders, lead times, and inventory — while the VP sets overall sourcing strategy, approves supplier selection, and holds contract and spend authority.
About Ventaris Surgical
Ventaris Surgical is an early-stage medical device company headquartered in San Carlos, CA, founded in 2024. We're developing a next-generation ureteroscopic system designed to help surgeons achieve complete kidney stone treatment — reducing the physical and cognitive burden of the procedure so surgery is simpler, easier, faster, and patients get a stronger path to recovery.
Kidney stone disease is one of the world's most common urologic conditions — nearly 1 in 10 people will experience a kidney stone in their lifetime, and more than 500,000 people undergo kidney stone surgery in the U.S. every year. The pain is often rated comparable to or worse than childbirth, and roughly half of patients live with the fear that their stone will return. Today's surgical tools make it difficult for surgeons to consistently achieve complete stone clearance — we're changing that.
About the Role
Ventaris Surgical is building the supply base for a complex electromechanical Class II device ahead of commercial launch. We are seeking a Senior Buyer / Planner to own sourcing and material execution end to end: identifying and onboarding suppliers for current bill of materials, then maintaining inventory flow as we scale from clinical builds to commercial production.
Reporting to the VP of Operations, you will own the tactical and execution side of supply chain — RFQs, supplier onboarding, purchase orders, lead times, and inventory — while the VP sets overall sourcing strategy, approves supplier selection, and holds contract and spend authority. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role in a small team: you will be the person who knows where every part is and what is at risk.
Key ResponsibilitiesSourcing & Supplier Onboarding
- Segment the BOM by sourcing path and risk: catalog/distributor items, custom build-to-print parts, and long-lead or sole-source critical components
- Identify and screen candidate suppliers; issue RFQs and prepare cost, capability, capacity, and lead-time comparisons to support VP-level selection decisions
- Drive supplier onboarding to completion: quotes, tooling POs, quality agreements, and first-article submission and approval, partnering with Quality on supplier evaluation and qualification
- Own the tooling and long-lead critical path — track every tooling-gated part against the launch date and escalate slips early
- Build and maintain the Approved Supplier List (ASL) and supplier documentation in coordination with Quality
- Execute dual-sourcing plans for critical and sole-source components