The posting
RIVR, part of Amazon is a robotics team pioneering Physical AI through real-world deployment and doorstep deliveries. Founded in 2024 as an ETH Zurich spin-off, RIVR developed wheeled-legged robots designed to operate in complex, unstructured environments such as stairs, gates, doors, and uneven urban terrain. We believe that achieving general physical intelligence requires solving real customer problems in the real world, where robots can learn by gathering rich operational data at scale.
As the Procurement Engineer at RIVR, you will be the dedicated technical-business bridge in our Zürich office, designed to take the "negotiation load" off our core engineering team. We need a professional who can independently manage the procurement of complex robot components - from PCBs to custom mechanical assemblies - handling six-figure capital expenditures for mission-critical robotics infrastructure.
In this role, you will operate as a significant and autonomous contributor. You will solve difficult procurement challenges by applying technical best practices and materials knowledge. You will take ownership of vendor timelines and price negotiations that were previously handled by engineers, ensuring our designers can stay focused on innovation while you ensure our hardware arrives on time, on quality, and on budget.
Key job responsibilities This is a multifaceted role requiring a blend of technical literacy and a proactive spirit to manage a fast-paced startup environment during our scaling phase. You will work with limited guidance to professionalize our supply chain workflows.
● Act as the primary point of contact for technical suppliers, managing all communications regarding pricing, quality issues, lead times, and contract terms.
● Independently manage the purchasing for robot-specific commodities: PCBs, custom cables, metallic and non-metallic components.
● Lead the evolution of our material tracking from manual spreadsheets into professionalized workflows, preparing the organization for future ERP implementation.
● Partner with the CTO in Zürich and the Head of Supply Chain in Shanghai to ensure engineering requirements are perfectly translated into production plans.
● Proactively identify supply chain risks, such as raw material shortages or price surges, and develop decisive mitigation strategies.
● Assist engineers in making the right "make vs. buy" decisions and provide detailed cost-justification studies for high-value orders.
● Support the transition of hardware from the concept/prototype phase into volume production by managing initial vendor technical reviews.
● Ensure all procured parts meet RIVR’s high standards for durability, performance, and safety requirements.
● Communicate findings and constructively propose ideas or corrections to hardware specifications to non-technical partners.
● Optimize best practices for validation and test processes related to incoming hardware.
● Track supplier part delivery status to ensure quality and timeliness.
● Maintain supplier relationships and continuously feed industrial insights back into the engineering backlog.
● Cooperate with suppliers from Europe, China and the USA.
- Proven track record of managing and negotiating substantial purchase orders and vendor contracts. - Ability to understand technical drawings and engineering specifications for mechanical and electrical components. - Ability to take lead in an environment where processes are still evolving; a strong "bias for action" and clarity. - Ability to make the right hardware design trade-offs (e.g., make vs. buy, OEM vs. ODM). - Exceptional verbal and written English; ability to harmonize views between international teams. - Proven experience in technical procurement, buying, or supply chain management in a hardware-centric industry.
- Skills in bottom-up cost analysis and should-cost modeling for custom-machined or injection-molded parts. - Experience in an early-stage startup or a high-pressure "overdrive" environment. - Ability to use prototyping or schematic capture software (e.g., CAD, MATLAB). - Experience with ERP systems or supporting a first-time ERP implementation. - Experience with suppliers from all over the world.
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