---
title: 'Procurement & Vendor Coordinator [contract] at Limelight Steel, Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/procurement-vendor-coordinator-contract-limelight-steel-inc-headquarters-62h5jcsjhhdm'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-30'
---

# Procurement & Vendor Coordinator [contract] at Limelight Steel, Inc.

- **Company:** Limelight Steel, Inc.
- **Location:** Headquarters
- **Employment:** contract
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-30
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/limelight-steel/c75d43a4-2442-44f4-aa43-5bcc196d4d9a

## Job description

Position summary

Limelight Steel is looking for a contract Procurement & Vendor Coordinator to run day-to-day buying, expediting and vendor management for the installation and commissioning of our laser steelmaking demonstration plant in Oakland, CA. This role is 20 to 30 hours per week, flexible, through the next 2 to 4 months when our schedule carries its heaviest procurement and vendor fabrication load. This role can be fully remote, with a slight preference for someone who can occasionally be on-site in Oakland, CA.

You will take ownership of the purchase and fabrication packages on our laser furnace and sulfur system schedules: getting quotes, raising requests in Procurify, placing orders, and chasing vendors and fabricators until material is on site and accepted. You will work with our small engineering team, pulling the right engineer in when a technical query, deviation or substitution needs a decision, and keeping the engineering lead informed on cost, delivery and ongoing risks.

The role covers the procurement and expediting work a buyer and expeditor does on a mid-sized EPCM project, scaled to our lean sized, flat, quick moving startup: each procured scope runs as a package with placement of an initial RFQ, bid comparison and purchase order; every open order is chased against its promised date by phone, email and potentially local shop visits; imported specialty components are moved through our contracted logistics companies (freight forwarders and customs brokers) for transit, import clearance and delivery to site; vendor drawings, material certificates and data books are tracked to approval; and vendors deal with one contact, with engineers brought in only for technical decisions. The ideal candidate has routinely done this on industrial capital projects, is comfortable reading basic fabrication drawings and P&IDs well enough to buy against it with a supporting BOM and/or specification, and keeps a tidy, current record of every order.

Roles and responsibilities Procurement

- Own the procurement package list for our laser furnace and sulfur system, keeping each line current: scope, vendor, quote, PO, promised date, actual date, status. The list currently holds about 40 to 50 items.
- Issue RFQs from engineering specifications, data sheets and BOMs; gather and compare quotes; prepare short bid summaries for engineering and commercial sign-off; then place the order once authorized.
- Raise spend requests in Procurify with the right backup, and track them through approval and PO release.
- Place and manage orders for custom fabricated weldments, piping, fittings, valves, pumps, insulation, instrumentation, bulk materials, and consumables.
- Source and set up service and labour contracts (field welders and pipe fitters, electrical contractors, rigging suppliers, third-party consultants) with engineering defining the scope.

Expediting

- Hold regular check-ins with vendors and fabricators on open orders; confirm drawing approvals, material receipt, fabrication progress, inspection and ship dates.
- Flag delivery slips early, with the schedule rows they affect, and propose recovery options (partial shipment, alternate source, air freight, re-sequencing).
- Interface with our contracted logistics companies on imported specialty components: book transit, supply commercial invoices and packing lists, confirm HS codes and incoterms with the vendor, resolve customs holds, and track each shipment to delivery at site.
- Arrange receiving at site: check deliveries against PO and packing list, log and photograph damage or shortages, and get the responsible engineer to accept or reject.

Vendor management and interfacing

- Act as the day-to-day point of contact for vendors, so engineers are pulled in for technical decisions rather than order status.
- Route technical queries, deviation requests, substitutions and vendor document submittals to the right engineer, and close the loop with the vendor.
- Track vendor documents due (GA drawings, data books, material certs, test reports, O&M manuals) and chase them to completion.
- Manage warranty claims, returns, back-charges and credit notes with vendors.
- Keep a vendor list with contacts, lead times, terms and performance notes for use on future projects.

Reporting and coordination

- Issue a short weekly procurement and expediting status to the engineering lead: orders placed, deliveries due, slips, and decisions needed.
- Attend the engineering standup when needed to report procurement status and take actions.
- Keep procurement records (quotes, POs, correspondence, receiving records) filed and traceable.
- Maintain competitive bidding documentation to support financial audit requests.

## Key qualifications

- 5+ years in procurement, expediting or vendor coordination on industrial capital projects.
- Experience with an owner's project team or an equipment fabricator.
- Has bought and expedited mechanical equipment, fabricated steel, piping and valves, and electrical/instrumentation items.
- Reads P&IDs, BOMs, data sheets and fabrication drawings well enough to buy against them and spot gaps.
- Organized and persistent: keeps an order list current and chases vendors until the material is on site.
- Clear written communicator with vendors and engineers; knows when to decide and when to escalate.
- Comfortable with spreadsheets and a purchasing system (Procurify or similar).

Desired qualifications

- Experience on metallurgical, pyrometallurgical, chemical or process plants.
- Expediting overseas fabrication, including freight, customs and incoterms.
- Working knowledge of commercial terms: payment milestones, warranties, back-charges, change orders.
- Experience with vendor document control and inspection and test plans.
- Familiarity with project schedules (Smartsheet, MS Project or similar) and linking deliveries to schedule rows.
- Nice to have: Bay Area based, or able to be on site in Oakland when needed for receiving and vendor visits.

Contract terms

- Contract position, 20 to 30 hours per week, flexible hours.
- Initial Term: November 2026 to February 2027, the period our current schedule carries the heaviest buying, expediting and vendor fabrication load. Potential to renew, including longer-term remote support, depending on project needs.
- Reports to the engineering lead (Darryl Metcalfe).
- Nice to have: Mix of remote and on-site work in Oakland, CA, with on-site presence for receiving and vendor visits.

## About Limelight Steel, Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Limelight Steel uses arrays of high-efficiency lasers to electrify primary steelmaking, delivering clean industrial heat that processes iron ore into iron metal with zero direct CO₂ emissions and significant energy savings.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Oakland, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Andy Zhao (Co-founder & CTO), Michael Lwin DuMont (CEO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Industrial manufacturing / Steel production / Clean energy technology
- Target customers: B2B – steel producers and integrated steel manufacturers seeking to decarbonize their ironmaking processes
- Mission: Eliminate fossil fuels from steelmaking, which currently contributes over 7% of global CO₂ emissions, by providing clean industrial heat specifically tuned for iron ore.

## Products & Services
- **Laser Furnace (Electric Ironmaking Technology)**: A patented photonic furnace that uses laser diode arrays to heat iron ore to >1,600 °C, enabling thermal decomposition into molten iron and oxygen. The system uses commercially available laser components (similar to those used in projectors) to reduce cost and accelerate scale-up.
- **Laser Diode Arrays**: Arrays of small, postage-stamp-sized laser diodes that uniformly illuminate large areas of ore, enabling high throughput.
- **Thermal Decomposition Process**: Replaces the chemical reduction agents (coke/coal) used in blast furnaces with laser-driven heat, avoiding the need for green hydrogen or specific ore grades.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Pre-Seed funding round closed on Dec 6, 2021 (amount undisclosed); subsequently awarded at least one U.S. Department of Energy / ARPA-E grant (reports indicate up to $28 M in federal funding for advanced iron and steel clean-tech).
- **Notable Investors**: Khosla Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Cantos, Incite Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and others. (Website notes “backed by industry-leading frontier tech investors.”)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Named one of *Popular Science*’s “50 Greatest Innovations of 2024”
  - Listed on *Forbes* “30 Under 30 – Energy” (2024)
  - Included in the *Cleantech Group* “50 to Watch” (2024)
  - Featured at the 2025 ARPA‑E Energy Innovation Summit
  - Small, growing team (≈10–20 employees based on published roles and team page).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Patented laser furnace** that processes all commercial iron ore grades (not limited to high‑grade ore or specific feedstocks).
- **Up to 20–40% energy savings** over traditional blast furnaces and competing electric methods.
- **Zero direct CO₂ emissions** – no need for carbon‑based reducing agents, avoiding the massive emissions footprint of conventional steelmaking.
- **Leverages falling laser costs** from the telecom and consumer electronics industries, enabling a path to cost‑parity with fossil‑fuel‑based steel.
- Avoids the scale‑up challenges of green‑hydrogen‑based ironmaking and the ore‑grade restrictions of electrolysis approaches.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale‑up**: Currently operating a laboratory demonstration system with 1.5 kW laser power processing 10–20 g of ore. Next step is a 150 kW pilot capable of producing up to 100 tons of steel per year.
- **Commercialization**: Validate technology at pilot scale, secure additional funding/partnerships with steel producers, and build a first commercial facility.
- Ongoing R&D into laser efficiency, furnace durability, and process integration with downstream steelmaking equipment.

## Why Work Here
- **Impact‑driven mission**: Directly tackle one of the hardest‑to‑abate industrial sectors; every tonne of steel produced with Limelight’s technology avoids roughly 2 tonnes of CO₂.
- **Culture**: The company states it is “building a diverse, courageous, and kind team that is ecstatic about frontier industrial technology.”
- **Team & environment**: Small, cross‑disciplinary team (engineers, scientists, operations) working out of an Oakland lab with hands‑on prototyping and testing. Offers exposure to cutting‑edge photonics, process engineering, and industrial scale‑up.
- **Notable perks**: Not specified; likely a fast‑paced startup environment with equity, autonomy, and direct influence on technology direction.

## Sources
1. [Limelight Steel – Homepage](https://www.limelightsteel.com/)
2. [Limelight Steel – Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/limelight-steel)
3. [Limelight Steel – About Us / Team](https://www.limelightsteel.com/about-us)
4. [CB Insights – Limelight Steel Company Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/limelight-steel)
5. [Crunchbase – Limelight Steel](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/limelight-steel)
6. [MIT Technology Review (via CB Insights) – “4 technologies that could be used to produce these chemicals” (features Limelight Steel at ARPA‑E summit)](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/limelight-steel#news)

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