Head of Supply Chain & Global Operations

Sauron•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Sauron protects your family and home, bringing the innovations of autonomous robots and self-driving cars to residential security. Our team is led by veteran operators and engineers, alumni of Sonos, Paypal, Tesla, Apple, and Google. Sauron has raised an $27M seed round led by A and Atomic with participation from other leading venture capital firms. We’re hiring a Head of Supply Chain & Global Operations to own and build our entire supply chain function, with a primary focus on developing and managing deep relationships with contract manufacturers (CMs), suppliers, and strategic partners. This is a zero-to-one leadership role. You will define how we source, build, and scale physical products—balancing speed, cost, quality, and resilience. This role reports directly to the CEO.

Requirements

8–15+ years of experience in supply chain, manufacturing, or operations within the consumer electronics space (with a mix of operational scale and early stage startup experience)
Deep experience working with top tier contract manufacturers
Proven track record scaling hardware products from NPI to volume production
Strong negotiation experience with suppliers and manufacturing partners
Experience operating in fast-paced, high-growth environments (startup or high-growth business unit)
Built or significantly scaled a supply chain function from scratch
Managed global supplier networks and manufacturing footprints
Strong intuition for balancing speed vs. cost vs. quality
Comfort operating with ambiguity and high ownership

Nice To Haves

Experience with robotics and camera systems, AI hardware, or complex electromechanical systems
Background in both domestic and international manufacturing ecosystems
Experience navigating tariffs, trade regulations, and geopolitical constraints
Prior experience hiring and leading high-performing supply chain teams

Responsibilities

Identify, evaluate, and onboard contract manufacturers across regions (U.S., Mexico, Asia, etc.)
Build and maintain executive-level relationships with CM partners
Negotiate MSAs, pricing, capacity allocation, and long-term agreements
Act as the primary point of accountability for CM performance (quality, delivery, cost)
Design and implement end-to-end supply chain strategy (sourcing → production → fulfillment)
Develop multi-sourcing strategies to reduce risk and increase flexibility
Build systems for demand planning, forecasting, and inventory management
Partner with engineering and operations to transition from prototype to mass production
Drive DFM (Design for Manufacturing) and DFX improvements with suppliers
Ensure rapid iteration cycles while maintaining production stability
Source and qualify critical component suppliers
Build strategic supplier partnerships for key technologies and components
Monitor supplier health, geopolitical risk, and long-term viability
Own COGS cost targets and continuous cost reduction efforts
Implement KPIs and dashboards for supply chain performance
Drive operational excellence across vendors and internal teams
Work closely with hardware, firmware, and product teams
Partner with finance on budgeting, forecasting, and unit economics
Build and lead the supply chain team over time