Lithium Mining Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

The Staff Global Sourcing Manager, Critical Minerals (Rare Earth Magnets) is the domain expert and single-threaded leader for a designated critical mineral (e.g., rare earth magnets, germanium, tungsten, antimony, gallium) at Anduril Industries. This is a high-impact role focused on securing the raw materials that power our products against a backdrop of concentrated geopolitical risk, volatile pricing, and opaque multi-tier supply chains.
As the lead for your assigned mineral, you will own the global mandate end-to-end: market intelligence, tiered supply chain mapping, supplier and government relationship management, should-cost modeling, contracting, and stockpiling strategy. You will operate as the hub of a cross-functional pod to translate Anduril's aggregate demand into a resilient sourcing strategy that enhances supplies from US-friendly sources, protects BOM cost, and ensures continuity of supply across NPI and mass production.

• Strategy & Visibility
  • Own the commodity strategy for your assigned critical mineral, with explicit focus on supply chain resilience, geopolitical risk mitigation (particularly PRC concentration in mining and refinement), cost, and quality
  • Build and maintain tiered supply chain mapping from Anduril end products down to the raw material, quantify revenue exposure and BOM impact to prioritize where deeper intervention is needed
• Market Intelligence & Comms
  • Maintain expert-level market intelligence and deliver weekly updates on pricing, disruptions, and geopolitical signals
  • Host monthly cross-functional pod tag-ups, lead quarterly strategy reviews, and conduct regular executive briefings on market conditions and mitigation plans
• Sourcing Execution
  • Lead RFI/RFQ/RFP processes across miners, refiners, processors, and component suppliers
  • Perform should-cost and TCO analysis; negotiate key agreements (offtake, pricing, capacity reservations, payment terms) suited to volatile, concentrated markets
  • Evaluate and recommend strategic interventions (stockpiling, prepayments, JVs, equity investments, vertical integration), partnering with CorpDev and Finance
• Relationship Management
  • Build trusted relationships with suppliers, industry associations, and U.S./allied government bodies (DoD, DPA Title III, DLA, DOE); represent Anduril externally for your commodity
• Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Lead a cross-functional pod spanning product sourcing, parent commodity managers, Engineering, and CorpDev/Finance
  • Partner with Engineering to qualify alternates, influence specs, and design out single points of failure
• Supplier & Performance Management
  • Own supplier performance (delivery, quality, cost, innovation), serving as primary escalation point and managing continuity of supply through NPI-to-MP transitions

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, engineering, or related technical field
• 10+ years of experience in commodity management, strategic sourcing with direct exposure to critical minerals or their downstream products (e.g., rare earth magnets, germanium, gallium, tungsten, antimony, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese)
• Demonstrated experience navigating concentrated, geopolitically sensitive supply chains
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time , including international travel to mines, refiners, and processors
• Ability to relocate, if not already local to be onsite in Costa Mesa, CA

• Advanced degree (Master's or Doctorate) in materials science, chemical sciences or metallurgical or mining engineering; additionally exposure to business via on-the-job training; an MBA is a big plus
• Previous experience in defense, aerospace, automotive, high tech, or related industry with deep raw material dependencies
• Experience working with U.S. government programs supporting domestic critical mineral supply (e.g., DPA Title III, DOE Loan Programs Office, DLA National Defense Stockpile)
• Hands-on experience with multi-tier supply chain visibility tools
• Strong should-cost and TCO analysis skills in a product-based ecosystem
• Strategic thinker with a track record of building commodity roadmaps alongside engineering and finance stakeholders
• Experience structuring or supporting non-traditional commercial arrangements (long-term offtake, prepayments, equity investments, JVs)
• Proven cross-functional leadership and ability to influence at all levels of an organization
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. TS clearance