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Lambda

Director, Data Center Equipment Category Manager

San Jose Office (Zanker); Remote, USA; San Francisco Office (Fremont St); Bellevue OfficeRemote · United States
Director+ · FullTime · Data Center Business
POSTED 3 NOVVERIFIED 8H AGO
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Pay · posted
$224k–350k
mkt median $256k
Open for
1d
since 3 Nov
H-1B · FY26
13
certified LCAs
Hiring · 30d
95
+2 net · open roles

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU.

If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us.

What You'll Do

Lead and develop a team of category managers across electrical, mechanical, and modular equipment, while personally owning Lambda's most critical categories, sourcing events, and negotiations

Own the multi-year category strategy for Lambda's datacenter infrastructure equipment — transformers, MV/LV switchgear, generators, UPS, busway, power distribution, chillers, CDUs, air handling and liquid cooling systems, and prefabricated and modular power and cooling solutions

Secure supply in a constrained market — reserve manufacturing slots, negotiate capacity commitments and framework agreements, and align supplier capacity with Lambda's multi-site demand forecast

Lead end-to-end sourcing events (RFI, RFP, RFQ) from specification through supplier selection, award, and contract execution

Serve as Lambda's lead negotiator on the highest-value equipment agreements — master supply agreements, pricing, lead times, warranties, liquidated damages, and performance guarantees — partnering with Legal and Finance on terms

Partner with Design, Engineering, Construction, and Development to standardize specifications and basis-of-design across sites, driving volume aggregation and repeatable buys

Sequence equipment awards and deliveries against live construction schedules to protect the critical path, and manage expediting, factory witness testing, logistics, and storage

Own the owner-furnished vs. contractor-furnished equipment strategy, including installation, warranty, and commissioning interfaces with general contractors and EPCs

Deliver systematic cost reduction through should-cost and total-cost-of-ownership models, design-to-cost, value engineering, and index-based pricing for commodities like copper and steel

Build strategic partnerships with OEMs, integrators, and manufacturer representatives, and qualify new and second-source suppliers to reduce concentration risk

Own supplier performance management — quality, on-time delivery, and safety — through scorecards, factory audits, and executive business reviews

Identify and mitigate supply chain risks — lead time volatility, tariffs, commodity pricing, single-source exposure, and geopolitical disruption — and maintain contingency plans

Set standards for category governance, contract templates, and spend and supplier data that scale with Lambda's growth

Deliver executive-level briefings on category strategy, market conditions, supply risk, and savings performance

You

Have 10+ years in strategic sourcing, procurement, or category management, with at least 5 years focused on datacenter, mission-critical, energy, or heavy industrial electrical and mechanical equipment

Hold a Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business, Finance, or a related field, or have equivalent experience

Have 5+ years of people leadership managing category managers or sourcing professionals, while staying hands-on in sourcing strategy and negotiations yourself

Have owned multi-year category strategies for high-spend, supply-constrained equipment categories with material cost and continuity-of-supply impact

Know the datacenter equipment supply base — major OEMs, integrators, and their manufacturing capacity, lead times, and pricing dynamics

Are recognized as a lead negotiator — you have personally closed large master supply agreements and capacity commitments, not directed someone else to

Have sequenced long-lead equipment against a live construction schedule and worked shoulder to shoulder with design, engineering, and construction teams

Have set process, policy, or governance standards that an organization adopted

Brief and persuade executives comfortably, internally and across the supplier base, and can build the business case that earns the decision

Source · LambdaFirst seen 3 NovOriginal ↗