Location: Farnborough – Parking onsite
Contract Type: Full Time, Permanent
Hours: 37 – Hybrid
Travel: Yes
AALTO, a global leader in Stratospace. Based in Farnborough, AALTO is an Airbus subsidiary that manufactures, operates, and delivers services with its solar-powered, stratospheric platform: Zephyr.
Zephyr’s persistence enables continuous flight for months at a time. Its current flight-time record of over 67 days in the stratosphere. From above 60,000+ft, or 20km above ground, AALTO can deliver several applications including direct-to-device connectivity and high-resolution Earth observation.
AALTO operates in a new operational layer between most of air traffic and low-Earth orbit, Stratospace. This is where high-altitude platforms led by Zephyr deliver services to commercial and government partners. We can help monitor environments, observe borders, track natural disasters and connect unconnected communities.
Join us as we create a new domain of aerospace: Stratospace. You’ll be part of a highly-skilled, innovative and passionate group of people – Team AALTO. Together, we can Unlock Stratospace.
About The Role
We are recruiting a Procurement Manager to shape, lead and elevate our Procurement function across both Direct and Indirect spend. Reporting to the VP of Procurement, you’ll play a pivotal role in building the sourcing strategies, supplier partnerships, commercial governance and operational excellence that will help power AALTO’s next phase of aerospace manufacturing, aircraft certification, industrialisation and business transformation.
This is an exciting opportunity for a procurement leader who thrives in a fast-moving, high-technology aerospace environment and wants to make a visible impact. Working closely with Engineering, Programme Management, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, Legal, IT, Supply Chain Quality Assurance and Operations, you’ll ensure AALTO has the supplier capability, contractual protection, cost discipline and resilient supply chain needed to support the Zephyr programme, CAA certification activity and our transition from development into industrialised operations.
What you’ll be doing:
- Define and deliver Procurement strategy across Direct and Indirect spend, ensuring it supports programme delivery, certification milestones, industrialisation and operational excellence.
- Lead procurement activity across strategic aerospace commodities, production support, engineering services, facilities, IT, professional services and other indirect categories.
- Create clear category plans, sourcing roadmaps, supplier segmentation and make/buy recommendations that balance cost, quality, delivery and risk.
- Run complex RFx, tender, supplier selection and negotiation processes, bringing structure, pace and strong governance to every commercial decision.
- Negotiate and manage supplier agreements, pricing structures, statements of work, framework agreements and contract variations that protect AALTO commercially.
- Partner with Legal, Compliance, Export Control, Quality and Engineering to ensure procurement decisions meet regulatory, airworthiness, export control and corporate governance requirements.
- Build supplier performance frameworks with meaningful KPIs across cost, quality, delivery, responsiveness, capacity, technical capability and continuous improvement.
- Support supplier readiness, capacity planning and industrialisation, helping AALTO move from development and prototype supply into repeatable manufacturing operations.
- Identify and mitigate supply chain risks including long lead items, single-source exposure, obsolescence, capacity constraints, financial risk and regulatory change.
- Improve procurement processes, systems adoption, data quality and reporting rhythms across ERP and associated procurement tools.
- Work with Finance and programme stakeholders to support budget control, cost reduction, working capital improvement and accurate procurement forecasting.
- Lead, coach and develop Procurement team members, creating a culture of ownership, high performance and continuous professional growth.
- Represent Procurement in senior cross-functional forums, ensuring decisions are commercially sound, operationally practical and aligned to AALTO’s strategic goals.
What we’re looking for:
- Proven procurement leadership experience across strategic sourcing, category management, supplier management and commercial delivery.
- Experience across both Direct and Indirect Procurement, including technical, production, engineering, services and business support categories.
- Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to influence at senior level, manage challenge constructively and turn business needs into practical procurement outcomes.
- A strong background in tender preparation, evaluation, supplier negotiation, contract development and contract management.
- Commercial confidence, data-led decision making and the ability to work with cost models, supplier proposals, budgets, forecasts and procurement performance metrics.
- Procurement experience in aerospace, defence, aviation, automotive, advanced manufacturing or another high-complexity regulated industry would be highly desirable.
- An understanding of regulated aerospace quality and certification environments, including ISO9001, EN/AS9100, CAA requirements or equivalent frameworks.
- Experience supporting industrialisation, operational excellence, supply chain transformation, ERP adoption or procurement process improvement programmes.
- A degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business, Finance or a related field, or equivalent professional experience; CIPS qualification is desirable.
- Confidence using M365 and ERP systems such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365 or equivalent procurement and supply chain platforms.
You’ll also bring:
- The ability to lead procurement activity across complex direct and indirect categories, ideally within aerospace, defence, advanced manufacturing or another regulated technical environment.
- A track record of building procurement strategy, governance, processes, performance management and supplier relationship frameworks in a fast-moving organisation.
- Excellent commercial judgement, negotiation capability and contractual risk awareness, with the confidence to challenge, influence and advise senior stakeholders.
- A collaborative leadership style, with the ability to prioritise, simplify and deliver through ambiguity, change and competing programme demands.
- A commitment to integrity, accountability, continuous improvement and team spirit.
Desirable skills and experience:
- A full, valid driving licence and access to your own vehicle.
In addition to an attractive market-aligned salary, we offer:
Rewarding Excellence: Benefit from our short-term incentive plan that rewards your hard work and dedication.
Enjoy Your Time Off: Benefit from 25 days of holiday to relax and recharge.
Stay Healthy: We’ve got your health covered with private medical insurance, along with dental and optical cash back.
Secure Your Future: Take advantage of our personal pension plan to ensure a comfortable retirement.
Peace of Mind: Our income protection and life assurance schemes are there to support you when you need it most.
Getting around: Drive the latest vehicles with our discounted salary sacrifice scheme.
We Care About You: Our employee assistance programme is always available to provide the support you need.
Perks Galore: Enjoy a range of employee discounts via Perkbox, from household goods to travel!
Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?
If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at AALTO, you can register your details here: https://careers.aaltohaps.com/connect
