Head of Supply Chain

About UsDo you know what a spacecraft is built of? Can you help a team of brilliant engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs make space more accessible to everyone on Earth?As our US Head of Supply Chain, you will own the end-to-end flow of materials, components, and services into and out of the company — from sourcing strategy and supplier selection through procurement, inventory, production planning, and global logistics. You will build the systems, processes, and supplier base that let engineering and manufacturing move fast without running short, overspending, or missing a delivery date.This is a hands-on leadership role. You will set strategy and step into the detail: negotiating a contract, unblocking a customs clearance, or configuring the ERP. You will work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing/Operations, Sales, Warehouse/Packaging, and Finance, and report to C-level management. It starts hands-on and grows into a team lead role as the US operation scales.Key responsibilitiesStrategic — design the US supply base

• Build the US supply base. Qualify and onboard domestic suppliers across machining, electronics/PCBA, harnessing, composites, and long-lead equipment. Build domestic supply resilience without losing schedule or quality.
• Own cost and defend margin. Negotiate rate agreements, LTAs, and volume tiers. Run competitive bid events and create real competition between vendors. Drive should-cost analysis and year-over-year cost-down, and push design-to-cost feedback back into engineering.
• Compress lead times. Pull in vendor delivery on both production parts and capital equipment through negotiation, scheduling agreements, and booked supplier capacity.
• Port what works from Europe. Adapt the European playbook to the US. Copy it where it transfers; redesign it where US regulation, tariffs, or ITAR/EAR demand something different.

Operational — build and run the physical supply chain

• Stand up the procurement function. Procurement policy, approval thresholds, contracts and T&Cs, ERP/MRP configuration, and data hygiene.
• Ensure seamless contract execution: Assist with proposal and contract execution and production by gathering supplier quotes, schedules, and supporting documentation, and managing supplier adherence to costs and schedules.
• Own supplier quality. Supplier qualification and audits, first-article and PPAP-equivalent approval, scorecards and OTD/quality metrics, corrective action, and supplier development to lift underperformers rather than simply replacing them.
• Stand up the warehouse and materials operation. Facility layout, receiving and incoming inspection, stockroom control, kitting to work orders, cycle counting and inventory accuracy, WIP and consumables, shipping.
• Plan and execute. S&OP, demand and capacity planning, inventory targets, and on-time delivery against a rising production rate.
• Hire and lead. Build a team of three to five as volume justifies it — after proving the model personally, not before.

Logistics and trade compliance

• Manage logistics and transportation planning to ensure on-time delivery of goods
• Coordinate with freight forwarders and customs brokers across import, export, and domestic flows, and resolve the operational issues that come with them
• Coordinate with Trade Compliance to ensure declarations, HS codes, values, and shipping documentation are accurate, and that logistics and customs records are archived in line with company policy
• Keep Sales, Warehouse/Packaging, and Finance informed on order and shipment status

Requirements

• 7–12 years in supply chain and procurement at a company that makes physical products
• Deep electronics and EEE sourcing. PCBA supplier management, allocation and obsolescence risk, lifetime buys, MOQ negotiation at low volumes, counterfeit avoidance and traceability
• Production that is both high rate and high complexity. Recurring volume against deep, multi-level BOMs with tight tolerances and heavy qualification work
• You've stood up a supply chain function from scratch, or close to it, at a startup or a new site
• You've done both halves of the job, strategic and operational. You've set up a stockroom, kitting or inventory operation yourself, not only led strategic oversight
• A negotiation record with numbers behind it. Savings, discount structures and lead-time pull-ins you drove yourself
• You've owned supplier quality. Audits, qualification, scorecards and corrective action, rather than passing quality problems to someone else
• Hands-on ERP ownership. NetSuite, SAP, Odoo, Epicor, Infor or similar, configured by you rather than just used
• Heavy experience working cross-functionally with R&D, engineering, production, customer support and customs
• US Person status as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.62). This role requires access to export-controlled technical data

Nice to have

• Experience in space, aerospace, defense, or another regulated, low-volume/high-complexity hardware sector
• Time inside a process-mature manufacturer, with structured sourcing, category management, supplier quality systems and formal contracting
• Working knowledge of ITAR/EAR and US trade compliance
• Familiarity with dangerous goods shipping and export control regimes
• Oversight of $30M+ in annual direct material spend, and experience leading a team of 3–15 people

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