Lead Procurement Manager

We’re looking for a Lead Procurement Manager (individual contributor) to be Peregrine’s first in-house buyer, supporting purchasing across every team — software and IT, marketing and events, travel and employee onboarding, professional services, and more. You’ll be the point of contact for moving sourcing forward and getting deals over the line: managing vendor relationships, owning negotiations, tracking renewals, guiding stakeholders through purchasing decisions, and making sure we buy the right tools and services at the right price.

You’ll work closely with finance, IT, marketing, people/ops, and business leaders in a fast-paced environment where strong judgment and relationship management are essential — owning the full vendor lifecycle and balancing business needs, commercial terms, vendor risk, and long-term partnership health.

About you:

• Deeply experienced in procurement, vendor management, and commercial negotiation in a fast-moving environment.
• A strong negotiator who creates leverage and holds firm on price and terms — payment terms, ramp, and renewal protection — while making practical trade-offs that benefit the company.
• An effective communicator who guides stakeholders through sourcing decisions, aligns them on options and strategy, and keeps purchasing disciplined without slowing teams down.
• Comfortable buying across many categories and departments — software, marketing and events, travel, professional services — and juggling a broad vendor portfolio at once.
• Focused on driving savings and better terms by cutting waste, not just price: consolidating redundant tools and reclaiming unused licenses, and rigorously comparing options in the market.
• Organized and accurate, tracking contract details, renewals, and follow-through.
• Treat vendor risk as part of the deal, coordinating security, data-privacy (DPA), and liability review with Security and Legal.
• A builder — comfortable creating process where none exists and scrappy enough to do the hands-on work as our first procurement hire.

What We Look For

• 7+ years in procurement, strategic sourcing, vendor management, or commercial negotiations — ideally in-house at a Pre IPO/ high-growth technology or software company.
• Proven track record independently owning vendor negotiations, contract management, and renewal tracking across multiple functions and spend categories (e.g., software/SaaS, marketing and events, travel, professional services).
• Experience evaluating vendors competitively and negotiating favorable pricing and terms.
• Comfort influencing stakeholders, pushing back when needed, and partnering cross-functionally to keep purchasing disciplined.
• Track record of building procurement process from the ground up — intake/PO workflows, contract and renewal tracking, spend visibility — and choosing lightweight tooling (e.g., a spend-management or CLM platform) in partnership with Finance.
• Experience coordinating vendor security and data privacy reviews (SOC 2, DPAs) and reviewing core contract risk terms (indemnification, liability caps, insurance) with Legal/Security.
• Excellent executive-level written communication, presentation, and relationship-management skills.
• Senior individual contributor role with direct executive visibility and the ability to shape decisions at the leadership level.
• Located in San Francisco and willing to work in-office with key business stakeholders.