Founding Lead Supply Chain Engineer

Founding Lead Supply Chain Engineer Equity: 0.3% – 1% depending on experience About Us We're a stealth team building space hardware at the edge of what's currently possible — high-stakes, flight-grade systems where the engineering bar is unforgiving and the upside is enormous. While we can't share full details yet, our founding and early engineering team includes talent from SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Impulse Space, the group includes people who've pulled off feats almost no one else on Earth has. Role Overview We are seeking a Lead Supply Chain Engineer to own the supply base behind our spacecraft from first principles — the suppliers, parts, and processes that turn our designs into flight hardware, on time and at the quality flight demands. This is a senior technical leadership role. You will not only build and run the supply chain for our first vehicles, but also help build the supply chain team, set technical standards, mentor engineers, and establish the systems, processes, and culture required to source flight-grade hardware at speed. This is not a narrow purchasing role. You will be the primary technical point of contact between our engineers and our suppliers across machined and fabricated structures, propulsion components, electronics and harnesses, and procured flight units — finding and qualifying suppliers, introducing new parts at their shops, driving out cost and lead time, and owning the root cause when something goes wrong. You will partner closely with design, manufacturing, and quality on manufacturability and sourcing decisions, and make tradeoffs across cost, lead time, quality, supplier risk, and schedule. The ideal candidate has direct experience with aerospace supply chains, manufacturing processes, supplier quality, and technical team leadership. We recognize that very few people have all of this. What matters most is that you have exceptional fundamentals, have taken real hardware from released drawing to delivered part through a supply base, have managed or mentored engineers in high-performance technical environments, and act with high agency and urgency in ambiguity while making sound engineering tradeoffs. You will have direct ownership over one of the company's core technical challenges. Key Responsibilities Own the supply chain for flight and ground hardware, from early sourcing strategy through new product introduction, production, delivery, and sustaining support. Act as the primary technical point of contact with suppliers for critical components — machined and fabricated parts, castings and forgings, composites, propulsion components, PCBs and assemblies, harnesses, and procured flight units — and own the risk they carry to the program. Build the supply base from scratch: identify, assess, and onboard suppliers through technical audits, capability and capacity reviews, qualification activities, and process capability validation. Own new product introduction at suppliers: first articles, qualification of new parts, drawing and process changes, and transfers between suppliers. Drive cost, lead time, and quality improvements from first principles — break down design, material, and process choices to find step-change gains in yield, cost, and schedule. Identify and qualify alternative manufacturing methods (e.g., additive, castings, forgings, machining, sheet metal) where they cut cost or lead time without compromising flight quality. Influence design and sourcing decisions early, giving engineers data-driven input on manufacturability, cost, lead time, and supplier risk before designs are released. Lead make-versus-buy trades and vertical integration decisions with engineering and manufacturing. Own root cause and corrective action for supplier issues: lead cross-functional investigations, apply structured problem-solving, and make sure fixes are permanent across the supply base. Manage long-lead and single-source risk through dual-sourcing strategies…

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