Director of Procurement & Trading

About Andercore Andercore is the AI-native supplier of industrial materials and goods for energy and infrastructure. We execute trade and distribution end-to-end, on our own account, at the speed of compute - and we are becoming the supplier of record for the entire industry. Industrial procurement is a €900B market in Europe alone and the largest manual market on earth. 95% of customers have no direct access to global supply chains. Materials pass through four or five intermediaries before they reach a site, and 40% of the margin evaporates on the way. For decades, the operating system of this industry was people: people to source, negotiate, finance, ship, and sell. We built the alternative from scratch. We are the supplier. We buy from global sources and sell to European customers on our own account. Our AI runs the full trade: sourcing, quality, pricing, sales, logistics, credit, and financing. One request. A firm quote in minutes. Delivered on time. For the customer, it feels like buying from their preferred local supplier. No warehouses. No fleet. No inventory risk. Every trade is pre-sold before it is bought. We are also the credit counterparty. Customers are scored and insured in minutes and get up to 60 days of payment terms priced into the quote itself. The working capital behind every trade is bank-funded, not equity-funded. Where we are today: • Strong triple-digit-million euro turnover run rate, the majority of it from repeat customers • Seven European markets live, sourced from suppliers across Asia and beyond • 80+ people across Berlin (HQ), London, and Shanghai • $90M raised in equity and debt, including our $40M Series B, from Atomico, Project A, Target Global, and Inven Capital - with working capital facilities from UniCredit and KfW The margin is in the bits. The moat is in the atoms. We are building the supplier of record for industrial materials - and redefining how global trade works in one of the largest and most essential industries on earth. The Role This is not a traditional procurement role. At Andercore, procurement is trading: fast-paced, market-driven, and executed daily — not on quarterly or annual cycles. You will lead a team of young and hungry category managers, through high-volume purchasing decisions in a dynamic environment where prices, availability, and supplier landscapes shift constantly. You will own end-to-end procurement strategy and execution: sourcing, onboarding to the system, supplier negotiations and disputes, pricing, team leadership, and process design. We need someone who can think strategically and execute operationally every single day — from setting category strategy to approving individual purchase orders. You will be in the driver seat to build the first AI automated trading engine - a unique opportunity in the industrial supply space. You report directly to the C level and sit on the commercial and operations leadership team. Andercore uses AI extensively across the business; you will be expected to leverage it to drive efficiency, margins, and scalability in procurement. The core purpose of this role is to build one buying strategy that combines three things: • Spot trading, run as a repeatable system with a regular market-coverage schedule and clear KPIs; • Strategic buying, where you negotiate allocations, framework agreements and terms with Tier-1 manufacturers and develop private-label and direct-from-factory categories; • Supply planning, where you set the mix of spot, contract and stock and keep price and inventory risk under control. Each part on its own is not enough. The job is to make them work together so that Andercore buys at the right price, secures supply when the market tightens, and never holds stock it cannot sell. What You Will Do • Build and run the procurement machine: Develop and execute procurement strategies that support an 8-digit monthly procurement spend with exponential growth. Negotiate favourable terms, pricing, and contracts with suppliers on a daily basis. • Lead and develop the team: Manage 10+ team members, set clear priorities daily, coach emerging team leads, and create a culture of accountability and speed. You will need to be assertive and hands-on. Be the player-coach. Close deals yourself and hire the people you need to scale • Create scalable processes: Design, implement, and continuously improve procurement workflows, playbooks, and controls. Processes are implemented in days and weeks at Andercore — not quarters and years. • Own supplier relationships: Source, evaluate, and onboard suppliers. Maintain and expand a high-quality supplier network with strong retention across existing and emerging markets. • Drive margin improvement: Identify cost-saving opportunities, optimise purchasing decisions, and improve payment terms to boost net revenue margin and cash cycle. • Collaborate cross-functionally: Work closely with Sales, Customer Success, Logistics, Accounting, and Product & Engineering to align supply with demand and ensure operational excellence. • Full P&L responsibility: for the supply side. • Leverage data and AI: Use data to inform purchasing decisions, monitor supplier performance, and identify market trends. Embrace AI tools to automate and scale procurement operations. • AI-native procurement: automate processes from RFQs through to order confirmations, with sellers as co-designers of the agents. What Success Looks Like • Revenue and margin targets consistently met or exceeded through high availability and competitive pricing. • A robust, high-quality supplier network with strong retention and engagement across existing and emerging markets. • Streamlined, repeatable processes that reduce time-to-onboard, minimise errors, and allow the team to scale without linear headcount growth. • A high-performing, motivated team with emerging team leads and strong cross-functional collaboration. • Accurate, data-driven reporting that drives continuous improvement and informs executive strategy. • Run a category management that unlocks and owns new product lines Who You Are Must-Haves • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from a top university or business school. • 4+ years in a high-performance environment: for example commodity trading / high-velocity B2B procurement. • Proven ability to build processes and delegate effectively. You must be able to create systems that outlast your personal involvement — not do everything yourself. • Strong assertiveness and people leadership. You will manage a young team that needs clear direction, daily prioritisation, and coaching. • Ability to operate at both strategic and granular levels: setting category strategy in the morning and reviewing individual POs in the afternoon. • Excellent analytical and communication skills. • Fluent English is required; German is a strong plus. • Comfortable with a high-intensity, fast-paced startup environment where priorities can shift daily. • Proven results negotiating from the smaller side of the table, i.e. securing allocation, pricing and terms when you are not the biggest customer. • Hard-working, proactive, and independent. Willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. • A personal track record in spot or commodity trading with margin ownership. • Experience scaling a team, plus forecasting and inventory risk management. Nice-to-Haves • Experience in marketplaces, SaaS, or construction / infrastructure / energy materials. • Exposure to AI-driven operations or automation of procurement workflows. • Familiarity with cross-border trade and international supplier management. • Tier-1 strategy consulting background (e.g. McKinsey, BCG, Bain). This Role Is Not For You If… • Your procurement experience is in slow-cycle, enterprise purchasing (annual contracts, quarterly reviews). Our cadence is daily. • You are strong on analysis but weak on implementation. We need someone who executes, not just diagnoses. • You prefer to do things yourself rather than build teams and processes. Delegation and system-building are non-negotiable. • You need a fully structured environment to be effective. Here, you will create the structure. What We Offer • A critical leadership role with direct impact on company growth and P&L. • Highly competitive compensation with performance-based incentives. • A smart, ambitious team backed by top-tier investors — building something that doesn’t exist yet. • Berlin headquarters with a global, multicultural operating environment. We are an equal-opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or any other characteristic. We believe that diversity drives innovation, creativity, and collective strength. Find Jobs in Germany on Arbeitnow