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Bedrock Robotics

Global Supply Manager

LocationSan Francisco, CA
Work modehybrid
Typefull-time
DepartmentOperations
Company size11+ people
First seen1mo ago
Last seen3d ago
Join the team bringing advanced autonomy to the built world
At Bedrock, we’re 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, we’re deploying autonomous systems on heavy construction equipment across the country, improving safety on job sites and accelerating schedules on critical infrastructure projects.
We’re not here debating the future of AI. We’re deploying it in the real world. In just two years, we’ve raised $350M and achieved the first fully autonomous excavator deployments in construction.
This is where algorithms meet steel-toed boots. You’ll work alongside construction veterans and world-class engineers to solve physical-world problems that simulations can’t touch. If you’re ready to do meaningful work on hard problems, we’d love to have you join us.
About the role
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.
Key Responsibilities
1. Global Sourcing & Commodity Strategy
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Develop and execute global sourcing strategies by commodity and technology category.
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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.
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Establish dual-source, multi-source, and regional sourcing strategies to reduce single-source dependency and mitigate geopolitical, tariff, capacity, and lead-time risks.
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Develop China+1 and regionalization strategies where appropriate.
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Own and maintain the Approved Vendor List (AVL), including supplier capabilities, capacity, technology roadmap, financial health, and risk profile.
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Establish supplier segmentation and strategic sourcing roadmaps aligned with long-term product and fleet requirements.
2. Supplier Capacity & Supply Assurance
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Develop supplier capacity strategies aligned with 3–5 year production and fleet deployment forecasts.
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Secure capacity and long-lead components ahead of production ramps through capacity reservations, LTAs, NCNR commitments, and strategic buys where appropriate.
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Monitor supplier capacity, utilization, material availability, sub-tier constraints, and technology transitions.
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Establish supply continuity plans and recovery strategies for constrained or allocation components.
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Ensure supply plans support the transition from prototype through pilot, production ramp, and sustaining operations.
3. Commercial, Cost & Contract Management
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Own commodity cost strategies and annual cost-reduction targets.
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Develop should-cost models based on raw materials, manufacturing processes, labor, tooling, overhead, and supplier margins.
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Negotiate pricing, volume commitments, LTAs, rebates, payment terms, Incoterms, warranty, liability, tooling, and other commercial terms.
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Track commodity indices, FX, tariffs, raw material costs, and market dynamics to anticipate cost movements.
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Drive VA/VE, DFM, competitive bidding, and supplier productivity to achieve BOM cost targets.
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Establish contractual protections against unexpected price increases, supply disruptions, and delivery performance issues.
4. New Product Introduction & Manufacturing Readiness
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Partner early with Hardware Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Program Management to establish sourcing strategy before design freeze.
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Lead supplier RFQs, selection, qualification, prototype builds, and production readiness.
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Partner with engineering on DFM/DFA to ensure designs are optimized for cost, quality, scalability, and repeatable manufacturing.
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Conduct BOM reviews to identify EOL, obsolete, long-lead, allocation, and single-source components early in the development cycle.
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Manage the transition from quick-turn prototype suppliers to qualified high-volume CMs/EMS/ODM partners.
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Ensure suppliers are capable of supporting EVT → DVT → PVT → Production → Sustaining requirements.
5. Supply Chain Risk & Resilience
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Maintain a critical-component risk register covering supply, cost, capacity, technology, geopolitical, tariff, and single-source exposure.
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Identify sub-tier dependencies and vulnerabilities across critical semiconductors, memory, sensors, PCBs, batteries, and other strategic components.
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Develop qualified alternate sources and substitute components for high-risk items.
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Assess supplier business continuity, disaster recovery, financial health, and geopolitical exposure.
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Proactively identify emerging risks and develop mitigation plans before they impact production or fleet deployment.
6. Supplier Performance & Strategic Relationship Management
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Own strategic supplier relationships and executive-level engagement with critical Tier-1 suppliers.
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Establish QBRs and performance reviews covering cost, quality, delivery, capacity, technology roadmap, and risk.
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Track supplier KPIs including OTD/OTIF, yield, defects, lead time, responsiveness, and cost performance.
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Partner with Supplier Quality Engineering on supplier qualification, factory audits, FAI, 8D/CAPA, and corrective actions.
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Build strategic supplier partnerships to secure priority allocation and engineering support during constrained market conditions.
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Escalate and resolve chronic supplier performance and commercial issues.
7. Manufacturing, Fleet Operations & Supply Execution
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Align rolling demand forecasts from Manufacturing, Fleet Operations, and Deployment teams with supplier capacity and material availability.
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Ensure material availability supports production schedules and fleet deployment requirements.
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Partner with CMs/ODMs/EMS providers on material planning, allocation, inventory, and production execution.
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Develop appropriate VMI, safety stock, hub inventory, and strategic stocking strategies to balance working capital and supply risk.
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Drive improvements in supplier lead times, MOQ, lot sizes, logistics, and delivery performance.
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Act as the primary escalation point for allocation, customs, freight disruptions, production interruptions, and supplier shutdowns.
8. Tooling, Supply Intelligence & Long-Term Planning
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Own commercial strategy for soft tooling, hard tooling, fixtures, test equipment, and supplier CapEx.
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Negotiate tooling ownership, amortization, maintenance, capacity, transfer rights, and end-of-life provisions.
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Ensure tooling investment and capacity are aligned with long-term production ramps.
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Monitor global markets across semiconductors, memory, sensors/LiDAR, PCBs, metals, plastics, batteries, and other strategic commodities.
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Track supplier technology roadmaps, industry capacity expansions, commodity trends, tariffs, and geopolitical developments.
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Provide 12–36 month supply, cost, capacity, and risk outlooks to leadership.
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Translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing, inventory, contracting, and design decisions.
Overall Accountability
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.
Key Requirements
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Experience: 8–10+ years in global supply chain, commodity, or program management, with proven experience managing complex, cross-functional projects in fast-paced, tech-driven environments.
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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.
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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.
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Cross-Functional Leadership: Demonstrated ability to work effectively across diverse teams (Engineering, Product, Operations, Partnerships, etc.).
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Communication Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with comfort presenting metrics and supply chain strategies to senior leadership and external stakeholders.
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Risk Management: Proven track record of identifying, managing, and mitigating risks in large, complex programs.
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Adaptability: Comfortable with ambiguity and able to thrive in a fast-moving, constantly evolving environment.
Day in the Life: Global Supply Chain Management
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
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Overnight Updates: Scan emails and Slack messages from contract manufacturers (CMs) and Tier-1 suppliers in East Asia and Europe that came in overnight.
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Component Tracking: Check on an urgent shipment of custom harmonic drive actuators stuck in customs for an upcoming prototype build.
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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 robot’s main perception stack.
Hardware and Manufacturing Engineering & DFM Collaboration
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New Product Introduction (NPI) Meeting: Meet with the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering teams working on the next-generation mobile robot.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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Grab lunch while reviewing electronics/silicon lead-time trends, raw metal market index pricing, and global logistics news.
Demand, Forecast, Supply Planning
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Supply & Demand Alignment: Meet with Operations, Logistics, and Deployment teams to review the 12-month rolling build forecast.
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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
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Quarterly Business Review (QBR) Preparation: Aggregate vendor scorecard metrics — On-Time Delivery (OTD), yield rates, and non-conformance reports (NCARs)
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Master Purchase and Service Agreement Management & Negotiation: commercial negotiation with key suppliers and vendors and secure favorable (volume discounts, resource prioritization and payment terms).
High-Impact Days vs. Standard Days
Depending on the company’s product cycle, a GSM’s focus shifts drastically:
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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.
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During Production Scaling: 70% of the day is spent on contract negotiation, yield/quality management at the contract manufacturer, and long-term capacity reservation.
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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.
Bedrock Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer
We’re 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.
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