Major Equipment Procurement & Export Compliance Manager

EOS Innovation Singapore is seeking an experienced Major Equipment Procurement & Export Compliance Manager to support Laser product development programs. This role responsible for leading the strategic procurement of high-value, technically complex, and/or long-lead equipment while ensuring that all procurement and international trade activities comply with applicable export-control, sanctions, customs, and trade regulations.

The role combines strategic sourcing and commercial management with export-compliance oversight. The successful candidate will work closely with Engineering, Project Management, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Logistics, Operations, and external suppliers to ensure equipment is sourced competitively, contracted appropriately, delivered on schedule, and transferred across borders in full compliance with applicable requirements.

Primary Duties

The role leads the strategic sourcing, commercial negotiation, acquisition, and international movement of high-value defense systems, production equipment, and capital assets and serves as a critical interface between procurement, engineering, program management, logistics, suppliers, and regulatory stakeholders, ensuring complex international defense procurement programs are delivered on schedule, within approved budgets, and in accordance with applicable export-control, customs, sanctions, and trade regulations.

The position will have particular responsibility for managing requirements arising under applicable regimes, including ITAR, EAR, Singapore export controls, and relevant national military/strategic export-control frameworks.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Sourcing & Lifecycle Procurement

• Lead end-to-end procurement of complex defense articles, assemblies, production equipment, and high-value capital assets from international suppliers.
• Develop sourcing strategies aligned with program requirements, technical specifications, delivery schedules, budgets, and risk profiles.
• Conduct supplier identification, qualification, tender evaluation, commercial analysis, and contract award activities.
• Assess total cost of ownership (TCO),including acquisition cost, freight and specialist logistics, duties and tariffs, customs requirements, installation, maintenance, spares, and long-term sustainment.
• Work closely with Engineering and Program Management to translate complex technical and military requirements into commercially viable procurement strategies.
• Establish and maintain strategic relationships with international suppliers, defense primes, manufacturers, and specialist subcontractors.
• Monitor supplier performance, delivery milestones, quality, contractual obligations, and supply-chain risks throughout the equipment lifecycle.

2. Export Control & Regulatory Compliance

• Coordinate export-control classification of procured equipment, components, software, technical data, and related technology under applicable regulatory frameworks.
• Assess applicable requirements under relevant export-control lists, including the U.S. Commerce Control List(CCL) and applicable defense/military control lists.
• Manage export and import licensing activities, including preparation and coordination of supporting documentation, end-user documentation, and regulatory submissions.
• Coordinate applicable Technical Assistance Agreements (TAAs), licenses, authorizations, and other technology-transfer arrangements with Legal and Compliance stakeholders.
• Ensure appropriate controls are implemented for the transfer and handling of controlled technical data, engineering drawings, digital blueprints, software, specifications, and other sensitive information.
• Apply appropriate access controls and procedures relating to foreign-person access and cross-border technology transfers.
• Conduct or coordinate denied-party and restricted-party screening of suppliers, sub-tier suppliers, brokers, intermediaries, and other relevant parties.
• Ensure procurement and shipment processes comply with applicable Singapore customs and strategic goods requirements and relevant overseas regulatory frameworks.
• Identify, document, escalate, and mitigate export-control, sanctions, customs, geopolitical, and supply-chain risks.
• Maintain accurate records supporting licensing, classification, screening, shipment, and compliance activities and support internal or external audits.

3. Contract Management & Commercial Negotiation

• Lead commercial negotiations for high-value international defense and capital-equipment contracts.
• Develop and negotiate contractual provisions covering pricing, payment terms, delivery, warranties, performance obligations, liquidated damages, insurance, liability, intellectual property, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance.
• Incorporate appropriate export-control, sanctions, customs, information-security, and regulatory compliance clauses into supplier agreements.
• Ensure relevant compliance and contractual requirements are appropriately flowed down to subcontractors and sub-tier suppliers.
• Integrate industrial participation, offset, local-content, and domestic-participation requirements, where applicable, into supplier agreements.
• Protect company intellectual property, technical information, and commercial interests through appropriate contractual mechanisms.
• Manage contractual variations, claims, disputes, supplier performance issues, and commercial risk throughout the contract lifecycle.

4. Risk Management & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Identify legal, regulatory, geopolitical, supplier, logistics, commercial, and program risks before they affect project delivery.
• Maintain procurement and export-compliance risk registers and establish appropriate mitigation plans.
• Provide clear and timely escalation of material risks to senior management.
• Work collaboratively with Engineering, Program Management, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Logistics, Quality, and Operations.
• Provide management reporting on procurement status, supplier performance, contract exposure, licensing, compliance risks, and delivery milestones.
• Support the development and continuous improvement of procurement and export-compliance policies, procedures, controls, and training
• Design structural elements of a moderate-scale product, using modern techniques such as FEA and relevant simulation to deliver a confident design.
• Produce and manage designs that integrate seamlessly with other mechanical elements as well as electronic and optical components.
• Use design-for-manufacture principles, and a knowledge of production and manufacturing processes, to generate parts and assemblies that are cost-effective to produce and easy to integrate.
• Identify and introduce relevant international standards to design work and create documentation that demonstrates a rigorous design process.
• Own mechanical verification planning and execution, including definition of test requirements, support to prototype builds and review of test evidence to demonstrate compliance with customer and system requirements.
• Demonstrate best practices in model and drawing generation, employing geometric dimensioning and tolerancing to modern standards.
• Contribute productively to design reviews in key project areas.
• Confidently manage suppliers and contractors to deliver on complex parts and assemblies.
• Transition designs to production teams, supporting manufacture and integration.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, Procurement, Logistics, International Business, Engineering, Law, or a related discipline.
• Master's degree or MBA preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in technical procurement, capital expenditure procurement, project procurement, commercial management, or project management within the aerospace, defense, national security, advanced manufacturing, or similarly regulated sectors.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, high-value or multi-million-dollar international supplier relationships.
• Strong understanding of international procurement, contracting, logistics, customs, and supply-chain processes.
• Practical working knowledge of Singapore customs and strategic-goods/export-control requirements, together with familiarity with relevant overseas frameworks such as U.S.ITAR/EAR, EU military/strategic export controls, and UK Strategic Export Controls.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating complex commercial agreements with major international suppliers, defense primes, government-linked entities, or state-owned enterprises.
• Experience working with controlled technical information, export licensing, technology transfer, or regulated international shipments is highly desirable

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

• Compliance Accuracy: Zero major export control violations, voluntary disclosures, or border shipment detentions.
• Cost Efficiency: Percentage of savings achieved against procurement budgets through strategic negotiation.
• Lead Time Reductions: Speed and accuracy of securing complex export/import licenses to meet project deployment schedules