Director of Procurement & Trading

About the Job

As a key growth accelerator, A11 partners with Europe’s most ambitious startups and scale-ups, corporates and SMBs to connect them with top-tier talent ready to make an impact.

We’re looking for a hands-on Director of Procurement & Trading, reporting directly to the C-level, at one of our Ecosystem Companies. This is not a traditional procurement role: procurement here is trading, executed daily, and you will build one buying strategy that combines spot trading, strategic buying and supply planning.

Join the A11 Ecosystem – a next-generation supply chain platform redefining how one of the world’s largest industries sources, distributes, and finances materials. Engineered to unlock the full potential of global trade, it harnesses agentic AI and workflow automation to provide seamless, high-efficiency access to premium materials at scale. Since its commercial rollout, the platform has fueled exponential growth, optimizing procurement for thousands of businesses while setting new benchmarks for speed, transparency, and efficiency. Its competitive edge lies in full digitization and AI-driven supply chain management automation, eliminating inefficiencies and creating a direct, intelligent bridge between suppliers and buyers. With a team of 80+ FTEs across Europe (Berlin HQ), China, and India, the company is rapidly scaling toward profitability, driving triple-digit million GMV, and setting new industry standards in autonomous, AI-powered supply chain orchestration.

In this role, you’ll:

• Build and run the procurement machine: Develop and execute procurement strategies that support high 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. 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, 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
• Take 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
• Drive AI-native procurement: Automate processes from RFQs through to order confirmations, with sellers as co-designers of the agents

Your Profile: 

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 or high-velocity B2B procurement
• Proven ability to build processes and delegate effectively. You create systems that outlast your personal involvement
• 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)

Please note that this position is based in Berlin.

Benefits and Perks:

• Fulfil a role with entrepreneurial freedom and help scale a high-impact business model
• Join an experienced founding team of serial and 2nd-time founders
• Attractive base and bonus compensation program
• Collaboration with top-tier investors and angels (incl. various unicorn founders) as well as leading market experts

If you’re eager to join the A11 Ecosystem and shape what’s next, we want to hear from you!

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

A11 is committed to diverse and equal opportunities hiring for all – applicants, candidates, and employees alike. We value humans – with all our glorious multifaceted backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences – and look forward to your application.