Global Supply Manager

At Bedrock were moving AI out of the lab and into the real world. Our team includes veterans who helped launch Waymo scaled Segment to a $3.2B acquisition and grew Uber Freight to $5B in revenue. Today were deploying autonomous systems on heavy construction equipment across the country improving safety on job sites and accelerating schedules on critical infrastructure projects.

Were not here debating the future of AI. Were deploying it in the real just two years weve raised $350M and achieved the first fully autonomous excavator deployments in construction.

This is where algorithms meet steel-toed boots. Youll work alongside construction veterans and world-class engineers to solve physical-world problems that simulations cant touch. If youre ready to do meaningful work on hard problems wed love to have you join us.

As the Global Supply Manager (GSM) at Bedrock Robotics you will serve as the key link between technical hardware engineering financial forecasting and global supplier operations. Robotics systems integrate complex custom mechanical components high-spec sensors precision electronics and specialized software-hardware interfaces so a GSM must manage both advanced commodity strategies and the physical availability of supplies.

• Develop and execute global sourcing strategies by commodity and technology category.

• Identify evaluate qualify and onboard strategic suppliers for critical robotics components including compute memory sensors/LiDAR cameras PCBAs harnesses actuators gearboxes batteries and electromechanical assemblies.

• Establish dual-source multi-source and regional sourcing strategies to reduce single-source dependency and mitigate geopolitical tariff capacity and lead-time risks.

• Develop China1 and regionalization strategies where appropriate.

• Own and maintain the Approved Vendor List (AVL) including supplier capabilities capacity technology roadmap financial health and risk profile.

• Establish supplier segmentation and strategic sourcing roadmaps aligned with long-term product and fleet requirements.

2. Supplier Capacity & Supply Assurance

• Develop supplier capacity strategies aligned with 35 year production and fleet deployment forecasts.

• Secure capacity and long-lead components ahead of production ramps through capacity reservations LTAs NCNR commitments and strategic buys where appropriate.

• Monitor supplier capacity utilization material availability sub-tier constraints and technology transitions.

• Establish supply continuity plans and recovery strategies for constrained or allocation components.

• Ensure supply plans support the transition from prototype through pilot production ramp and sustaining operations.

3. Commercial Cost & Contract Management

• Own commodity cost strategies and annual cost-reduction targets.

• Develop should-cost models based on raw materials manufacturing processes labor tooling overhead and supplier margins.

• Negotiate pricing volume commitments LTAs rebates payment terms Incoterms warranty liability tooling and other commercial terms.

• Track commodity indices FX tariffs raw material costs and market dynamics to anticipate cost movements.

• Drive VA/VE DFM competitive bidding and supplier productivity to achieve BOM cost targets.

• Establish contractual protections against unexpected price increases supply disruptions and delivery performance issues.

4. New Product Introduction & Manufacturing Readiness

• Partner early with Hardware Engineering Manufacturing Quality and Program Management to establish sourcing strategy before design freeze.

• Lead supplier RFQs selection qualification prototype builds and production readiness.

• Partner with engineering on DFM/DFA to ensure designs are optimized for cost quality scalability and repeatable manufacturing.

• Conduct BOM reviews to identify EOL obsolete long-lead allocation and single-source components early in the development cycle.

• Manage the transition from quick-turn prototype suppliers to qualified high-volume CMs/EMS/ODM partners.

• Ensure suppliers are capable of supporting EVT DVT PVT Production Sustaining requirements.

5. Supply Chain Risk & Resilience

• Maintain a critical-component risk register covering supply cost capacity technology geopolitical tariff and single-source exposure.

• Identify sub-tier dependencies and vulnerabilities across critical semiconductors memory sensors PCBs batteries and other strategic components.

• Develop qualified alternate sources and substitute components for high-risk items.

• Assess supplier business continuity disaster recovery financial health and geopolitical exposure.

• Proactively identify emerging risks and develop mitigation plans before they impact production or fleet deployment.

6. Supplier Performance & Strategic Relationship Management

• Own strategic supplier relationships and executive-level engagement with critical Tier-1 suppliers.

• Establish QBRs and performance reviews covering cost quality delivery capacity technology roadmap and risk.

• Track supplier KPIs including OTD/OTIF yield defects lead time responsiveness and cost performance.

• Partner with Supplier Quality Engineering on supplier qualification factory audits FAI 8D/CAPA and corrective actions.

• Build strategic supplier partnerships to secure priority allocation and engineering support during constrained market conditions.

• Escalate and resolve chronic supplier performance and commercial issues.

7. Manufacturing Fleet Operations & Supply Execution

• Align rolling demand forecasts from Manufacturing Fleet Operations and Deployment teams with supplier capacity and material availability.

• Ensure material availability supports production schedules and fleet deployment requirements.

• Partner with CMs/ODMs/EMS providers on material planning allocation inventory and production execution.

• Develop appropriate VMI safety stock hub inventory and strategic stocking strategies to balance working capital and supply risk.

• Drive improvements in supplier lead times MOQ lot sizes logistics and delivery performance.

• Act as the primary escalation point for allocation customs freight disruptions production interruptions and supplier shutdowns.

8. Tooling Supply Intelligence & Long-Term Planning

• Own commercial strategy for soft tooling hard tooling fixtures test equipment and supplier CapEx.

• Negotiate tooling ownership amortization maintenance capacity transfer rights and end-of-life provisions.

• Ensure tooling investment and capacity are aligned with long-term production ramps.

• Monitor global markets across semiconductors memory sensors/LiDAR PCBs metals plastics batteries and other strategic commodities.

• Track supplier technology roadmaps industry capacity expansions commodity trends tariffs and geopolitical developments.

• Provide 1236 month supply cost capacity and risk outlooks to leadership.

• Translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing inventory contracting and design decisions.

The Global Supply Manager should ultimately be accountable for ensuring that Bedrock has the right supply at the right cost quality capacity and timing to support the robotics product and fleet ramp.

• Experience: 810 years in global supply chain commodity or program management with proven experience managing complex cross-functional projects in fast-paced tech-driven environments.

• Technical Proficiency: Strong understanding of supply and vendor management with the ability to communicate complex ideas across internal teams as well as external suppliers vendors and partners. Experience with robotics automation or hardware-related areas such as compute sensors or memory design and utilization is a plus.

• Problem-Solving Mindset: Ability to manage and resolve complex challenges with little to no established playbook using creative and proven strategic thinking to drive solutions.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Demonstrated ability to work effectively across diverse teams (Engineering Product Operations Partnerships etc.).

• Communication Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with comfort presenting metrics and supply chain strategies to senior leadership and external stakeholders.

• Risk Management: Proven track record of identifying managing and mitigating risks in large complex programs.

• Adaptability: Comfortable with ambiguity and able to thrive in a fast-moving constantly evolving environment.

Here is what a typical day looks like for a Global Supply Manager (GSM) at a robotics company. Because the role spans international suppliers hardware engineering contract manufacturers and fleet operations the day is split between early-morning global communications cross-functional internal meetings and analytical deep dives.

Early Morning: Asian & European Supplier Syncs

• Overnight Updates: Scan emails and Slack messages from contract manufacturers (CMs) and Tier-1 suppliers in East Asia and Europe that came in overnight.

• Component Tracking: Check on an urgent shipment of custom harmonic drive actuators stuck in customs for an upcoming prototype build.

• Quick Asian Vendor Standup: Join a 20-minute call with a chassis supplier in Taiwan to resolve a tooling delay on an injection-molded housing for the robots main perception stack.

Hardware and Manufacturing Engineering & DFM Collaboration

• New Product Introduction (NPI) Meeting: Meet with the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering teams working on the next-generation mobile robot.

• Design for Manufacturability (DFM) Review: Review early CAD designs for a custom motor bracket flag that a tighter tolerance requested by engineering will double the unit machining cost and suggest an alternative alloy to hit BOM targets without sacrificing structural strength.

• BOM Scrubbing: Review the updated Bill of Materials (BOM) to flag long-lead microcontrollers and identify parts nearing End-of-Life (EOL).

Financial Modeling & Cost Analytics

• Should-Cost Modeling: Spend focused time building a should-cost analysis for custom LiDAR wiring harnesses breaking down raw wire costs crimping labor overhead and margin ahead of upcoming price negotiations.

• Purchase Order (PO) Execution: Approve high-value POs for production-run components and coordinate raw material inventory buffers to support fleet expansion targets.

Lunch & Industry Catch-Up

• Grab lunch while reviewing electronics/silicon lead-time trends raw metal market index pricing and global logistics news.

Demand Forecast Supply Planning

• Supply & Demand Alignment: Meet with Operations Logistics and Deployment teams to review the 12-month rolling build forecast.

• Capacity Planning: identify a potential bottleneck with overall supply chain and draft a mitigation plan and strategies(e.g. dual-sourcing cells or qualifying an alternate supplier).

Commercial Negotiations Supplier Reviews & Escalation Management

• Quarterly Business Review (QBR) Preparation: Aggregate vendor scorecard metrics On-Time Delivery (OTD) yield rates and non-conformance reports (NCARs)

• Master Purchase and Service Agreement Management & Negotiation: commercial negotiation with key suppliers and vendors and secure favorable (volume discounts resource prioritization and payment terms).

Depending on the companys product cycle a GSMs focus shifts drastically:

• During Prototype Builds (NPI Phase): 70% of the day is spent hand-holding prototype suppliers expediting quick-turn parts and moving between the hardware lab and engineering desks.

• During Production Scaling: 70% of the day is spent on contract negotiation yield/quality management at the contract manufacturer and long-term capacity reservation.

• Travel Days (10%25% of the role): On-site visits to domestic or international supplier factories for line audits yield troubleshooting and executive relationship building.

Our roles are often flexible. If you dont fit all the criteria or are in another location (especially one where we have an office like SF or NY) please apply anyway! Wed love to consider you.

Bedrock Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Were committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin ancestry age disability veteran status genetic information or any other protected characteristic.

Reasonable Accommodations

We want our hiring process to be accessible to everyone. If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please let your recruiter know so we can support you.

Required Experience:

Manager