Infrastructure Procurement Specialist; Fixed-term 10-month contract

Proton was founded in 2014 by scientists from CERN on a simple truth: privacy is a fundamental human right. Since then, we’ve built the world’s largest encrypted email service (Proton Mail) and expanded into Proton VPN, Proton Drive, Proton Pass, and Proton Calendar—tools used by millions globally to protect their freedom, fight censorship, and keep their data safe. In some situations, Proton has literally helped save lives!

We are profitable, independent (no VC control), and selectively hire from the top ~1% of applicants. Our 700+ team members across 50+ countries come from leading organizations and elite academic backgrounds. We move fast, keep hierarchy light, and prioritize impact over optics. If you want to do meaningful work with exceptionally high-caliber people, this is it. Join us and do work you can truly be proud of. Check our open-source projects here!

We are looking for a Procurement Specialist, for our location in Skopje. Your role will be to join the Proton Procurement team, responsible to serve the hardware, networking, and streaming infrastructure of the Proton infrastructure. As Proton scales up the procurement team is scaling up as well in order to serve the growing demands of the Proton Core and Proton VPN infrastructure teams. You would be part of the team that guarantees Proton's users are going to be served with an optimal and cost-efficient infrastructure. This includes monitoring potential flaws in servers that are already in use, following up with the infra team, and proactively focusing on establishing the long-term wellbeing of Proton VPN infrastructure. Together with the Procurement team that is already in place, you will be able to define strategies and create compelling solutions in regard to the demands of the Proton Team.

• →Own and execute strategic sourcing and vendor selection to serve the different particular
  infrastructure needs
• →Taking part in Initial contact, screening, and establishment of a well-managed relationship with
  vendors/providers
• →Contributing to setting up and maintaining specifications, according to the analysis of the hardware
  requirements
• →Ensuring effective pricing and market analysis
• →Working closely with the projects team to understand details of procurement requirements
• →Taking part in end-to-end responsibility to follow up with future orders, and communication with the
  Infrastructure team
• →Manage the company Procurement software to ensure all data are correct and up-to-date
• →Perform routine follow-up and effective resolution tactics to settle fulfilment issues and invoice
  variances
• →Assist with inventory management as it relates to procurement activities
• →Develop mechanisms and metrics to track supplier performance related to delivery, quality, and cost
• →Identify opportunities for implementation of cost savings and process improvements
• →Manage relationships with suppliers. Evaluate performance and areas of opportunity
• →Negotiate terms with suppliers such as price, quality of goods, deadlines, expectations, etc
• →Translate infrastructure requirements into precise hardware specifications — CPUs, RAM, storage (NVMe/SSD/HDD), NICs, PSUs, rack and chassis form factors — and validate vendor quotes against them
• →Own the full vendor lifecycle for server and networking hardware: qualification, onboarding, contract negotiation, and ongoing performance reviews across price, lead time, and RMA/failure rates
• →Build and maintain a multi-vendor sourcing strategy to reduce single-supplier dependency and protect against supply-chain disruption and component shortages
• →Track hardware lifecycle and end-of-life timelines across the fleet, and plan refresh and capacity- expansion purchasing with the infra team ahead of demand

• IT-based background
• Experience working as a procurement specialist in the same area
• Working in international environment in private sector procurement
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in the English language (proficiency in another major language is an asset)
• Good analytics skills - necessary to evaluate offers, invoice accuracy and order fulfilment
• Interpersonal skills and collaboration with multiple teams, and multiple projects
• Good negotiation skills - vital to negotiating vendor contracts
• Strong organization and communication skills
• Attention to detail and problem-solving skills
• Working knowledge of server and data-center hardware: server CPUs (Intel Xeon / AMD EPYC), memory, storage media, RAID, networking gear (switches, NICs, transceivers), and rack
  infrastructure — enough to read a spec sheet critically and challenge a vendor
• Ability to compare hardware offers on a total-cost basis by sourcing public pricing and creating target pricing

When you apply for a position, refer a candidate, or are considered for a role at Proton Technologies AG (Proton, we, us, or our), your information is stored in Greenhouse, in accordance with their Service Privacy Policy. This information is used to evaluate your suitability for the posted position. We also retain this information for consideration for future roles that you may apply for or that we believe may align with your background and skills.

If we no longer have a legitimate business need to process your information, we will either delete or anonymize it. Should you have any inquiries about how we use or manage your information, or if you wish to access, correct, or delete your data, please contact our privacy team at careers@proton.ch.

Proton does not accept unsolicited resumes from any sources other than directly from candidates. We will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from an unsolicited offer, even if the candidate is subsequently hired by Proton.

To learn more about our privacy policy, please visit our privacy policy page.