Procurement Manager

Job Description

We are seeking a talented and motivated full-time Procurement Manager to build and own Tailscale's procurement function, reporting into our VP of Finance. As our first dedicated procurement hire, you'll create lightweight, scalable processes and systems that help teams buy the software and services they need while maintaining strong commercial discipline and appropriate legal, security, and financial controls. You’ll manage procurement requests end-to-end – from intake and sourcing through negotiation, contracting, and renewal management, and partner closely with Legal, Security, Finance, and internal buyers across the company. At Tailscale, small teams solve concrete problems and build systems that "just work," so we're looking for someone who can bring that same mindset to procurement: high judgment, strong ownership, and durable processes that support growth without adding unnecessary overhead.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and own Tailscale's procurement function, including intake, policy, approval paths, vendor governance, and operating rhythms for software, SaaS, cloud, data, and professional services spend.
• Manage procurement requests from intake to signature, prioritizing across competing asks and aligning stakeholders on requirements and timelines.
• Lead all vendor negotiations directly: pricing, order forms, SLAs, SOWs, renewals, and key commercial terms, with the goal of securing the best possible outcomes for Tailscale.
• Partner closely with Legal and Security, and where relevant Finance, IT, Privacy, and business owners, to coordinate contract review, security/privacy diligence, risk assessment, and approvals.
• Design and implement scalable tooling and systems for procurement intake, contract and renewal tracking, approval routing, and reporting, plus the playbooks and templates that drive consistency.
• Own vendor lifecycle management, including renewal planning, usage review, supplier performance, and opportunities for consolidation or cost optimization.

What We Are Looking For

• 6+ years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, vendor management, or technology purchasing, ideally in SaaS or other high-growth technology environments.
• Proven success building procurement processes, policies, and tooling from scratch and operating them independently—you've created structure where none existed.
• Strong experience negotiating SaaS, cloud, data, and professional services agreements, including pricing structures, order forms, SLAs, SOWs, and renewals.
• Ability to partner credibly with Legal, Security, Finance, IT, and business stakeholders, including working knowledge of vendor due diligence, security questionnaires, and privacy/compliance considerations.
• Strong analytical and financial skills, including the ability to evaluate total cost of ownership, benchmark pricing, manage renewals, and identify savings opportunities.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills, with a service-minded approach that makes procurement an enabler rather than a bottleneck, and the judgment to know when more process is needed and when less is better.

As a company, we strive to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices within our team across all roles and all levels. Tailscale's compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. The salary range displayed on each job posting represents the target range for a new hire's base salary. Individual offers may vary based on experience and skill set.