Overview
Procurement Manager Jobs in United States at NextGrid
Title: Procurement Manager
Company: NextGrid
Location: United States
Procurement Manager / Director — Solar & Storage Development
Location: Remote — Northeast U.S. preferred
Reports to: VP of Operations
Level: Manager or Director (see "Leveling" below)
About the Role
NextGrid is a solar and storage developer building ground-mount, rooftop, carport/canopy, and solar-plus-storage projects across the Northeast, PJM, and ISO-NE markets. We are hiring our first dedicated procurement leader to build the function from the ground up.
This is not a seat in an existing, mature supply-chain org — it is the person who will stand one up. You will own equipment sourcing across the portfolio, build and manage our vendor base, negotiate supply and master purchase agreements, and partner closely with development, finance, engineering, and EPC to align procurement with project schedules, interconnection milestones, and tax-credit timing. We are looking for someone who already knows the solar equipment market and the people in it — who can pick up the phone and get a real answer on lead times, pricing, and allocation because they've built those relationships over years.
Key Responsibilities
Build the procurement function
- Establish procurement processes, controls, and documentation: PO workflows, approval thresholds, vendor onboarding/qualification, and equipment tracking from order through delivery and staging.
- Stand up a vendor management framework and maintain a qualified, bankable supplier base across all major categories.
- Define and report procurement KPIs (cost vs. budget, on-time delivery, lead-time variance, supplier performance).
Source and negotiate across all equipment categories
- Lead sourcing for modules, inverters, racking/tracking (ground-mount, ballasted rooftop, carport/canopy), transformers and MV/switchgear, BESS and battery integration, and balance-of-system.
- Negotiate supply agreements, master purchase agreements, and framework/volume agreements, including milestone-based payment structures, delivery terms, LDs, warranty, and performance guarantees.
- Run competitive RFQs and multi-vendor scenario analysis; drive value engineering with engineering and development.
Manage long-lead equipment and schedule risk
- Own procurement of long-lead items (transformers, switchgear) where lead times can run 12–18+ months; manage allocation, milestone payments, expediting, and delivery coordination against COD and interconnection deadlines.
- Maintain a rolling demand forecast across the development pipeline and flag supply/schedule risk early.
- Structure and document purchases to support domestic content bonus credit qualification and to comply with FEOC / Prohibited Foreign Entity restrictions under the OBBBA.
- Maintain supply-chain compliance documentation, including UFLPA / forced-labor traceability and AD/CVD/tariff exposure analysis.
Cross-functional and commercial
- Work with development and finance on equipment budgets, cost curves, and procurement assumptions feeding project pro formas.
- Coordinate with EPCs and owner's engineers on owner-furnished equipment scopes, logistics, and on-site delivery/staging.
- Track and communicate market dynamics — pricing trends, allocation, tariffs, and policy changes that affect sourcing strategy.
Qualifications
Required
- 6+ years in procurement, supply chain, or sourcing, with at least 3 years in solar / renewable energy (developer, EPC, IPP, or major distributor).
- Existing, active relationships with module, inverter, racking/tracker, transformer, and/or BESS suppliers and distributors.
- Demonstrated experience negotiating supply agreements and managing equipment procurement against construction and interconnection schedules.
- Working knowledge of solar equipment bankability, warranties, and technical specifications.
- Familiarity with the policy/compliance landscape affecting solar procurement: ITC/§48E and safe harbor mechanics, domestic content, FEOC/PFE, UFLPA, and module tariff/AD-CVD dynamics.
- Strong commercial judgment, negotiation, and contract management skills; comfort building process where none exists.
Preferred
- Direct experience procuring long-lead transformers / MV equipment and structuring milestone payments.
- Experience in Northeast / PJM / ISO-NE markets.
- Experience supporting safe harbor programs and tax-credit qualification.
- Familiarity with project finance and how procurement assumptions flow into project economics.
- Established logistics/freight and customs broker relationships.
Leveling
This role can be filled at the Manager or Director level depending on experience:
- Manager — strong individual contributor who owns sourcing and vendor management and builds out core processes, with senior leadership setting overall strategy.
- Director — owns procurement strategy end to end, represents procurement in executive and finance/tax planning, and is positioned to build and lead a team as the pipeline scales.