Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.
We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.
Job Summary
The Operations Engineering Manager, Supply Chain, is responsible for New Product Introduction (NPI) supply chain readiness, Approved Vendor List (AVL) governance, Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM), and Configuration Management for Apptronik’s humanoid robot platform. The role connects product development with supplier and manufacturing execution, ensuring each build has qualified sources, accurate product data, and material that meets program cost, quality, and schedule requirements.
This is a hands-on leadership role that manages the operations engineering team and drives execution from prototype builds through production ramp, in partnership with Engineering, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Supplier Quality, and Manufacturing.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
NPI Supply Chain Readiness
- Own the integrated supply chain readiness plan for prototype, validation, pilot, and production builds, aligning supplier qualification, tooling, capacity, and material delivery with program milestones.
- Lead Procurement Ready and Build Ready assessments by subassembly. Verify released BOMs, drawings, specifications, approved sources, lead times, material availability, and documented exceptions with functional owners.
- Drive early supplier involvement and design for manufacturability with Engineering and Strategic Sourcing. Bring component cost, lead time, supplier capability, and scalability into design reviews.
- Maintain BOM-level material readiness, track shortages and long-lead items, and drive recovery actions with clear owners and committed dates. Coordinate approved risk buys with Procurement.
- Manage the supply chain transition to sustaining production, with documented sourcing, capacity, configuration baselines, and remaining risks.
Approved Vendor List Governance
- Own AVL processes and data integrity, including part-to-manufacturer and vendor relationships, approved manufacturing sites, qualification status, and sourcing restrictions.
- Coordinate supplier and component qualification with Engineering, Strategic Sourcing, and Supplier Quality. Record required approvals before sources are released for purchasing.
- Drive qualification of alternate and second sources for critical parts. Control supplier additions, changes, suspensions, and removals, and keep purchasing systems aligned with approved sourcing decisions.
Supply Chain Risk Management
- Own the platform supply chain risk register, linking critical parts, suppliers, and subtiers to program impact, mitigation owners, and closure dates.
- Assess single-source exposure, geographic concentration, supplier financial health, capacity, lead times, tooling dependencies, obsolescence, counterfeit exposure, and business continuity.
- Drive mitigation plans with functional owners, including alternate sources, capacity commitments, redundant tooling, approved inventory buffers, and supplier recovery plans. Escalate residual risks and decisions required.
- Maintain country-of-origin and supplier traceability data, and partner with Legal, Compliance, and Product Security on applicable sourcing and supply chain security requirements.
Configuration Management
- Own configuration control processes for part numbering, BOM structures, revision levels, release status, and lifecycle data across product lifecycle management (PLM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
- Partner with Engineering and Manufacturing to align engineering and manufacturing BOMs, drawings, specifications, approved sources, and material master data. Maintain controlled configuration baselines for each build.
- Coordinate engineering change requests and orders through cross-functional review, documenting cost, supply, schedule, qualification, and inventory disposition impacts while Engineering retains technical design approval.
- Control change effectivity across purchase orders, supplier work in process, inventory, and build lots. Ensure suppliers acknowledge revisions and approved deviations or substitutions before implementation.
- Maintain configuration history and work with Manufacturing and Quality to reconcile as-built records with released configurations, including serial and lot traceability and approved deviations.
Team Leadership and Operational Improvement
- Lead, coach, and develop the operations engineering team. Set priorities, allocate resources, and hold owners accountable for deliverables and issue resolution.
- Run regular readiness, risk, and change reviews, providing leadership with clear status, recovery plans, and decisions needed to protect program milestones.
- Standardize workflows and improve PLM and ERP data quality, reporting, and automation. Define the handoff and decision responsibilities across Engineering, Sourcing, Procurement, Supplier Quality, and Manufacturing.
Qualifications
- Demonstrated success taking complex electromechanical products from development into production, with direct responsibility for supply chain or supplier readiness.
- Working knowledge of relevant commodities such as precision machined parts, gears and actuators, motors, PCBAs, sensors, cable harnesses, and battery or power systems.
- Hands-on experience with BOM management, AVL governance, supplier qualification, engineering changes, and configuration control in PLM and ERP systems.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and manufacturing requirements and translate them into supplier and procurement readiness actions.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to quantify cost, schedule, inventory, and supply continuity tradeoffs.
- Effective people leadership and cross-functional communication, with a record of resolving technical and supply issues and driving decisions in a rapidly changing development environment.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- Seven or more years of relevant experience in operations engineering, NPI supply chain, supplier development, configuration management, or related hardware manufacturing roles.
- Two or more years of direct people management experience, with demonstrated leadership of cross-functional NPI programs.
Preferred Experience
- Humanoid robotics, industrial robotics, automotive, aerospace, or other complex electromechanical product environments.
- Siemens Teamcenter or comparable PLM platforms and integration of product data with ERP and manufacturing systems.
- Supplier industrialization, production ramp, and structured qualification methods such as APQP, PPAP, or FMEA.
Performance Measures
- On-time completion of supply chain readiness milestones and material availability for planned builds.
- Approved source coverage and qualification progress for critical parts and alternate sources.
- Timely closure of high-priority supply risks and supplier recovery actions.
- BOM and configuration accuracy, timely change implementation, and complete revision traceability.
- Reduction in build disruptions, rework, and excess or obsolete material caused by supply or configuration gaps.
Physical Requirements
- Prolonged periods of standing and walking
- Periods of sitting at a workstation and working on a computer
- Ability to safely lift and/or move approximately 15 pounds at times.
- Ability to move throughout operational areas and maintain awareness of surrounding people, equipment, and robotic systems.
- Visual ability necessary to operate equipment, monitor robotic systems, and read printed and digital materials.
- Ability to communicate effectively with team members during normal operations and when responding to safety or operational concerns.
*This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.
Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
