Sr. Manager, Raw Materials Supply Chain

SR. MANAGER, RAW MATERIALS SUPPLY CHAIN

The imminent growth of SpaceX’s Mars program demands a new type of supply chain. We require our suppliers to provide premium quality with rapidly evolving designs at increasingly ambitious volumes, rates and costs, and need to scale our raw materials supply chain accordingly. SpaceX is looking for a high horsepower leader to manage a team of talented raw materials sourcing professionals and build a raw material supply chain that is creative, cost-effective, resilient, and scalable as program goals evolve. This role will require a strong leadership presence, effective goal-setting, and transparency in strategy to deliver results for the entire business. We are actively looking for leadership candidates who possess comprehensive experience with negotiating strategic relationships with raw material mills, distributors, international partners, and rare earth metal producers to secure future supply, drive cost out and have unrelenting motivation to enable suppliers for success. This position will support all programs at SpaceX including Falcon, Dragon, Raptor, Starship, and Starlink and requires a combination of proven leadership, creativity, technical depth, and persistence.

This is a critical position that requires practical experience in leading sourcing strategies for vendor development and new product development to completion, to build stabilized, high volume production for metallic raw material in many different alloys including Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Nickel, Titanium, and Copper that comes in forms including plate, sheet, coil, round bars, extrusions, and wires. The ideal candidate will have a broad understanding of the manufacturing of raw material, the supply landscape, rare earth metals market, and key contacts with industry players.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead a team to manage and build the supply base supporting critical raw material commodity for all SpaceX programs with an emphasis on scaling a strategy for raw material mills and distributors world wide
• Work in a cross-functional team environment with a variety of partner groups as a strong decision-maker, strategic change agent, and voice of leadership to achieve team and company-wide goals  
• Leverage demand forecasts and upcoming design releases to go secure ample manufacturing capacity and quality yield to enable aggressive ramp up of production across programs, and secure creative cost-down solutions without impacting quality of inputs
• Provide guidance to internal procurement staff and engineering customers on design for manufacturability, material alloy and condition choices, supply chain optimization, and cost reduction for strategies raw material commodities.
• Provide transparent and well-constructed raw material strategies to executives, senior leaders, and individual product teams that thoroughly capture and mitigate risk, and correctly prioritize/trend cost, quality, and rate.
• Visit supplier’s facilities and accurately assess technical capability, equipment, and capacity for rapid deployment of new product development and long term production to implement a successful E2E product life cycle management strategy and process
• Monitor and manage costs to ensure adherence to project-specific budgets, forecasts and maintain cost of Bill of Materials. Ability to develop should-cost models for competitive cost analysis and drive continuous improvement on cost in the supply chain. Drive the team to achieve goals and communicate strategies.
• Drive the team to push suppliers for continuous process improvement to enhance efficiency and implement cost-saving programs with suppliers
• Administer moderate to large contracts and independently negotiate with supplier’s contract terminology, pricing, technical requirements, scope and terms involving responsibility, liability, indemnification, intellectual property and export compliance.
• Ensure compliance with all company policies, procedures and government regulations with high integrity, and drive the team to emulate strong levels of integrity to do the best for SpaceX.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Advanced degree and 4+ years of experience working in one or more of the following; or bachelor’s degree and 6+ years of experience working in one or more of the following; or 10+ years of experience working in one or more of the following:
  • Engineering
  • Purchasing
  • Contract negotiation
  • Material or production planning
  • Operations or supply chain management
  • Material cost control
  • Master production scheduling
• 3+ years of experience leading a team with direct reports

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• 5+ years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, technical procurement or supply chain management
• Experience in sourcing from a global supply base with raw material mills and distributors
• Experience reading drawings, geometric dimensioning and tolerance, preliminary design reviews, and quality documents
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills with ability to prioritize between many programs and priorities effectively
• Prior experience managing large value contracts/LTA’s with a global supply base
• Proven track record of managing a high volume of tactical purchase orders while setting and managing a strategy for your responsible commodities
• Experience in identifying and executing an optimized supply chain, including raw material, machining, material processing, inspection and logistics
• Technical procurement, New Product Introduction and production procurement, manufacturing, or design/development experience
• Exceptional written, verbal and presentation communication skills
• Ability to learn quickly and prioritize appropriately to meet customer and company needs
• Excellent customer service skills
• Must be detail-oriented, self-motivated and able to respond quickly to a fast-moving and ever-changing environment
• Conducts all activities with the highest of integrity
• Highly-collaborative team player with impeccable attention to detail and strong verbal, written, and presentation skills

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be able to travel - up to 50% work week travel may be required, including international travel
• Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed to meet major milestones
• This position is based in Hawthorne, CA and requires being onsite - remote work not considered

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:    

Pay Range:    

Sr. Manager: $160,000.00 - $205,000.00/per year    

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation & will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.