Scout AI Supply Chain Manager at Scout AI responsible for managing purchasing, inventory, and supplier relationships to support vehicle builds. Builds and maintains systems for finance, purchasing, and inventory to scale production.
Responsibilities
The Hardware Team at Scout bridges the gap between traditional machinery and cutting-edge autonomy. We take base vehicles with zero autonomous capability or actuation and turn them into fully functional, validated, production-ready, intelligent platforms. Owning the full hardware lifecycle from concept and prototyping through final product validation.
The team is split between engineering and manufacturing, as our first supply chain hire, you will sit between the two. You’ll run day-to-day supply chain execution, and you’ll also build the system that builds our vehicles: the purchasing, inventory, and planning processes that let us scale from prototype builds to production.
This role is hands-on. You’ll be on the floor managing inventory one day and working with executives the next to make sure the team has what they need to keep building. You’ll move fast, context-switch daily, and help define the process as we go. This is a rare opportunity to join early and own the supply chain function from day one.
Own all purchasing and material readiness for vehicle builds
Issue and manage purchase orders
Receive, track, and control inventory
Build and maintain the systems for finance, purchasing, and inventory, and define how we should inventory as our build volume grows
Support production forecasting and planning in partnership with engineering, manufacturing, and finance
Manage supplier relationships, including onboarding, primary points of contact, and a clear understanding of our demand
Identify and bring on new suppliers in key areas
Build long-term supplier partnerships and forecasting agreements
Work with finance to keep purchasing, receiving, and payments aligned
Qualification
Experience in supply chainHighly organizedMust be located inMust be a UMay be expected to obtain and hold a UExperience with MES and PLM systemsSee your work deployed on real systems
Required
Experience with purchasing systems and processes
Experience in supply chain, purchasing, or inventory management for a company building a physical product (low-rate initial production experience preferred, across industries such as defense, drones, automotive, medical, or consumer electronics)
Hands-on experience with an ERP or MES platform (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Oracle)
Highly organized, with a bias toward action and comfort doing the work yourself
Strong communication skills with vendors and internal stakeholders at all levels
Comfortable buying small quantities of many different parts, rather than large quantities of a few
Must be located in, or willing to relocate to, Sunnyvale, California
Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities
Passion about defense of the United States and its allies
May be expected to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
Preferred
Experience with MES and PLM systems
Experience supporting forecasting and demand planning
Familiarity with purchasing requirements for defense contracts
Work on the world’s most important frontier, ensuring U.S. and allied dominance in the age of intelligent machines
Be a core part of a team building the first defense-specific robotic foundation model
Collaborate with some of the top engineers in autonomy, AI, and national security
See your work deployed on real systems
Backed by investors including Draper Associates and Booz Allen Ventures
