Senior Manager, Supply Chain Planning

Job Overview

The Senior Manager, Supply Chain Planning builds and owns our sales and operations planning process: reconciling demand forecasts against contract manufacturers capacity, equipment throughput, and cell supply well ahead of when those constraints would otherwise surface as a shortage. This is the role that catches a capacity mismatch in a planning review, not three weeks before a build.

You also own the system that planning runs on. We are selecting an MRP now and it has to be supporting real planning before our contract manufacturers’ validation builds begin in spring 2027.

This role reports to the Director of Supply Chain and works closely with sales, engineering, our contract manufacturers, and our cell supplier. In the near term, this role also owns hands-on clear-to-build execution, the daily work of tracking material against the build plan, expediting suppliers, and keeping builds unblocked, while we build out the planning function.

This role carries three strands at once. Today you split time between building the S&OP process, standing up our MRP, and running day-to-day clear-to-build execution. Expect the planning on spreadsheets while the system comes online, because the planning cadence does not wait for the tool. As volume grows, we plan to bring in a dedicated materials execution hire to take day-to-day clear-to-build off your plate, so you can focus fully on planning, forecasting, system ownership, and the cross-functional forecast-versus-capacity rhythm.

Who this role is for

You have personally stood up an S&OP or demand-capacity planning process from scratch before, ideally at an early-stage or resource-constrained company. Not inherited a mature process and kept it running, built one: defined the cadence, built the first forecast and capacity model with imperfect data, and got skeptical stakeholders to actually show up and use it. You know what that looks like because you've lived it.

You have implemented or owned an MRP or ERP planning module, not just used one. You have done the unglamorous parts: item master cleanup, BOM structure, planning parameters, cutover, and the months afterward where adoption either happens or quietly doesn't.

You know how to get engineering, sales, and leadership into the same room on a recurring basis to reconcile demand against actual capacity, not just circulate a spreadsheet nobody looks at. You know how to get people with competing priorities to align around a shared plan.

You are also comfortable rolling up your sleeves on hands-on execution: expediting a supplier, chasing a shipment, working a part shortage list. You don't see this as beneath the planning work, you see it as the ground truth that makes your planning credible.

You think in terms of constraints, not just demand. Capacity at a contract manufacturer, equipment throughput, long-lead cell supply, these all shape what's actually possible, and you build your plan around real constraints instead of an idealized demand curve.

You are analytically strong and comfortable building your own models and tools in a resource-constrained environment. You can run a planning cycle on a spreadsheet while the real system gets stood up, and you don't treat that period as beneath you.

You are comfortable in early-stage environments where the playbook is still being written, and you're motivated by the idea of building a function from the ground up instead of inheriting a mature one.

This role is not a fit for

• Your experience is purely strategic planning without any hands-on execution background. This role is hands-on in the near term.
• Your experience is purely tactical expediting without S&OP or demand-capacity planning experience. This role is planning-led.
• You have used planning systems but never configured one or owned the data behind it.
• You need a mature planning system or dedicated planning team already in place to be effective. You will build this.
• You would find a startup operating tempo frustrating.

What you'll do

S&OP and planning

• Build the initial planning cadence and tooling from scratch: a rolling demand forecast, a capacity model spanning contract manufacturer throughput, equipment constraints, and cell supply, and a recurring review cycle with defined inputs, outputs, and decision owners.
• Partner with sales and engineering to build and maintain the rolling demand forecast, and translate that forecast into a supply and capacity plan.
• Run scenario planning against demand and supply variability (acceleration, supplier slips, capacity changes) so leadership has real options in hand before being asked.
• Identify capacity or supply constraints early and drive cross-functional decisions to resolve them before they become shortages. Escalate constraints that can't be resolved through the normal process, with clear options and trade-offs.
• Own consigned material planning in partnership with global supply management team.

MRP system ownership

• Contribute to MRP selection if the decision is still open when you join, and make a recommendation to the VP of Supply Chain.
• Own configuration and data integrity: item master, BOM structure, lead times, planning parameters, and the interface with Arena.
• Run migration and cutover, and get the system supporting live planning ahead of spring 2027 validation builds.
• Drive adoption across supply chain and the functions outside it that need access, including program management and engineering.
• Maintain the data in production. The standard you hold is the standard the company gets.

Materials execution (near term)

• Own the part shortage list and drive recovery plans to closure.
• Place and manage purchase orders against forecast and production schedule; follow up directly with suppliers on committed ship dates and expedite when at risk.
• Run material readiness reviews ahead of build events with our contract manufacturers.
• Team and cross-functional leadership
• Partner with our sourcing and procurement team on supplier delivery performance and long-term capacity commitments.
• Partner with supplier quality on shipments affected by a quality hold or corrective action.
• Help define and hire for a dedicated materials execution role as volume grows, and transition day-to-day execution to that role once it lands.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years in supply chain planning, S&OP, or demand planning in a hardware or industrial product environment.
• Direct, hands-on experience standing up an S&OP or demand-capacity planning process from scratch, not just running or maintaining one that already existed. Early-stage or resource-constrained company experience strongly preferred.
• Hands-on experience implementing or owning an MRP or ERP planning module, including data setup and cutover, not only using one someone else configured.
• Direct experience reconciling demand forecasts against manufacturing or supplier capacity constraints.
• Hands-on materials execution experience: purchase order management, supplier expediting, and build readiness tracking.
• Strong analytical and modeling skills; comfort building planning tools in Excel or similar without a dedicated planning system.
• Demonstrated ability to run a cross-functional process that gets engineering, sales, and leadership aligned on a shared plan.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in battery, energy storage, power electronics, or other hardware-adjacent categories.
• Experience planning around long-lead, high-value components such as battery cells or semiconductors.
• Experience standing up a planning system at a company with no IT or business systems function behind them.
• Experience working with a contract manufacturer in a component-direct sourcing model.
• Experience scaling a company through a steep production ramp.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary of $175,000 to $195,000, plus equity.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Flexible PTO with a generous holiday policy.
• Carlsbad, CA preferred. Open to fully remote for the right candidate. Occasional travel to contract manufacturers.

Ready to work on power systems that matter? Let's talk.