Supply Chain Program Manager II

BLUE ORIGIN•Huntsville, AL

About The Position

The Supply Chain Program Manager is a supply chain owner responsible for translating program demand, design, and schedule into executable sourcing strategies that deliver material on time and on budget. The role operates in an AI-first environment that encourages automation of transactional work and is embedded with engineering and manufacturing teams from early design and production planning through high-rate production. The position owns the end-to-end supplier lifecycle, including preparing bid packages, conducting competitive source selection, qualifying suppliers, negotiating contracts, and driving readiness through PPAP, capability studies, and run-at-rate validation. The SCPM works in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment focused on cost reduction, sourcing resilience, and cycle-time compression. The role also defines and supervises AI-enabled procurement automation, with human approval for automated processes, and uses AI-generated data and dashboards to anticipate risks and drive corrective actions. Travel of up to 25% is required for supplier visits, audits, and on-site problem-solving.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and at least 4 years, or a master's degree and at least 2 years, of supply chain, engineering, or program management experience in manufacturing environments.
Exposure to New Product Introduction (NPI) or development programs from design through high-rate production at scale.
Experience with First Article Inspection, supplier capability studies, and production-readiness validation, including run-at-rate assessments.
Understanding of high-rate production requirements, including takt time, line balancing, capacity validation, and supplier scalability from low-rate to high-rate production.
Experience developing and executing sourcing strategies, including competitive events, dual-sourcing, make/buy trades, and total cost analysis.
Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and ability to embed with and influence engineering and manufacturing teams.
Excellent communication skills, including the ability to explain complex supply chain issues through clear executive summaries and recommendations.
Strong analytical and quantitative skills; experience with BOMs, MRP/ERP systems, material estimating, cost modeling, and supply chain metrics.
Comfort with digital tools, supplier portals, EDI/TMS, and data-driven decision-making, and enthusiasm for AI and automation adoption.
Ability to define scalable processes, build templates, and work effectively in a startup-like environment.
Willingness to travel up to 25% for supplier visits, audits, and on-site problem-solving.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens or nationals, U.S. permanent residents, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as refugees or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

Experience in high-rate manufacturing environments with takt-driven planning, JIT principles, and production rates.
Experience onboarding and developing new suppliers, including international/global sourcing across multiple regions.
Lean Six Sigma training at Green Belt level or higher, or equivalent continuous improvement experience.
Experience with cost-down strategies, including should-cost modeling, learning curves, indexed pricing, and competitive re-bids.
Experience with commodity types such as castings/forgings, machined parts, assemblies, electronics, raw materials, and special processes including welding, heat treat, coatings, and NDT.
Background in supplier development, capacity planning, and capital investment in the supplier base.
Familiarity with export control requirements and global supply chain compliance.

Responsibilities

Build bid packages with technical requirements, commercial terms, and evaluation criteria in collaboration with Supply Chain Engineers and Commodity Managers.
Support competitive supplier source-selection events.
Qualify and onboard suppliers, including facility assessments, capability validation, and contract execution.
Drive supplier readiness through PPAP, tooling acceptance, Control Plans, capability studies (Cp/Cpk), and run-at-rate validation.
Validate supplier capacity to scale from low-rate initial production to high-rate steady-state production, including tooling, equipment, shifts, and process capability.
Develop and execute dual- and tri-source strategies to mitigate risk and create cost competition.
Conduct make/buy/where trade studies with engineering and manufacturing to support vertical integration decisions.
Negotiate supplier contracts, pricing, terms, and remedies; manage long-term agreements and master service agreements with indexed pricing and capacity commitments.
Embed with assigned technical programs.
Partner with Supply Chain Engineers on technical readiness and Commodity Managers on commercial strategy.
Provide status, risk, and mitigation reporting to program leadership and executive stakeholders.
Use AI-generated data and dashboards to identify trends, predict delays, and drive corrective action.
Define requirements for AI-driven procurement automation, including bid package generation, supplier risk screening, PO/ASN reconciliation, and predictive analytics.
Supervise automated processes using human-in-the-loop approvals, focusing on strategic decisions and exceptions.
Improve templates, workflows, and automation to reduce cycle time and manual work.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Basic and supplemental life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Short- and long-term disability coverage.
401(k) with company match of up to 5%.
Education Support Program.
Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week.
Paid time off of up to four weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours.
Up to 14 company-paid holidays.
Depending on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses; bonus eligibility and amounts are not guaranteed.