Senior Supply Chain Manager

Charge Robotics•San Leandro, CA

16d•Onsite

About The Position

Charge Robotics is a Series A startup building robots that build solar farms. Demand for new solar projects is booming (1 ⁄ 5 of all the solar that exists in the US was installed last year!), but today’s construction companies can’t keep up due to limited labor resources. We thought this was insane, so we started working on robots to directly address this bottleneck and speed up the world’s transition to renewables. Charge is a fast-moving company, which means constant opportunities for learning and growth. You’ll have a large impact on the direction of our company, and will be compensated accordingly. We’re MIT-founded and backed by top generalist and climate tech investors, including Lux Capital and Y Combinator (S21). If you are excited to work on interesting technical problems with direct climate impact, you’re going to fit right in! Read more about Charge here: Fast Company – Solar Building Robots to Solve One of Climate's Biggest Problems MIT News – Making solar projects cheaper and faster with portable factories YouTube – full video of our Gen1 robots building a solar farm

Requirements

Operate effectively in the fast‑paced environment of a rapidly growing startup, with technical aptitude and excellent written and verbal communication
Feel energized by our mission to accelerate the clean energy transition through automation
Bring 5+ years in hardware/industrial/manufacturing supply chain roles, including 2+ years leading teams with measurable cost, delivery, and quality outcomes
Are a strategic supply chain leader who is equally comfortable building the long‑term architecture and diving into the BOM to find dollar‑level savings
Have deep experience with BOM costing across mechanical and electrical categories (fabrications, machining, harnesses, purchased assemblies)
Are a sharp negotiator who can structure LTAs, capacity reservations, and pricing mechanisms that survive scale‑up and market swings
Build clear processes and simple, scalable systems, owning data quality and driving disciplined S&OP/MRP execution
Are fluent with ERP/MRP and source‑to‑pay concepts (items, AVL, lead times, safety stock, three‑way match, receiving) and comfortable partnering with Finance on reconciliations and cash forecasting
Translate engineering changes into material plans and supplier actions; you understand ECOs, DFM/DFA, and the realities of prototype → production ramp
Are based in or can relocate to the SF Bay Area, and able to work 4-5 days/week from our San Leandro HQ

Nice To Haves

Have scaled a supply chain function from one to n production for complex mechanical systems
Have experience with complex industrial robotics/automation assemblies, and/or very large-scale components
Have worked with MES/PLM/AP systems (e.g., ION, Silkline) and understand how to keep item and revision data in sync across engineering and ERP
Have experience managing and hiring/building a team
Have implemented VMI/consignment and/or kanban; understand import/export logistics and incoterms
Are comfortable modeling in Excel (costed BOMs, PPV, sensitivity) and presenting insights to leadership

Responsibilities

Drive end‑to‑end supply chain strategy for Charge’s hardware/robotic systems, balancing cost, quality, delivery, and risk across custom and off-the-shelf component inputs
Build, maintain, and continuously improve our Bill of Materials; implement should‑cost/clean‑sheet models; drive PPV tracking and BOM roll‑ups that tie to finance
Preempt supply chain bottlenecks by proactively planning for future system builds
Identify and mitigate risk across the supply base (single‑source, geopolitical, commodity volatility); create continuity plans and buffer strategies aligned to program schedules
Develop and execute category strategies, multi‑source/dual‑source critical parts, and negotiate capacity reservations, LTAs, and commercial terms
Drive down cost and lead time via creative sourcing, contract structure, and negotiation
Help build a high‑performing team covering procurement, vendor management, expediting/execution, receiving, and accounts payable
Stand up scalable supplier management: scorecards, reviews, corrective actions, and supplier development to improve OTD and cost
Continuously improve accounts payable processes: vendor onboarding, COIs/W‑9s, credit/terms, POs, receiving
Coordinate closely with finance to manage equipment lease processes without slowing procurement
Partner tightly with Design, Manufacturing, and Field Ops to flow R&D → production: integrate DFM/DFA and ECOs; ensure part readiness and ramp capacity
Establish the operating system for materials: demand planning, MRP, and inventory policies (cycle counts, location control, kitting), and logistics strategy