Head of Manufacturing & Supply Chain Strategy

Investigo; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 460,000; Full time

Job summary

Investigo partners with a high-growth U.S. advanced hardware and autonomous systems company to recruit a Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing Strategy.

This leader will design and execute a roadmap to secure scalable, compliant supply chains, decide onshoring vs outsourcing, and shape capital‑allocation decisions across hardware operations. You will collaborate with Regulatory, Trade Compliance, Finance, and Engineering to translate evolving requirements into sourcing and manufacturing

Qualifications

• 10+ years in supply chain, manufacturing operations, commodity management, or operations strategy (regulated hardware).
• Experience influencing component and supplier selection during product design (NPI, design reviews, approved-vendor decisions).
• Credibility across sourcing and factory floor; engage on capacity, tooling, ramp, yield, and economics.
• Direct ownership of multi-tier country-of-origin or trade-compliance programs.
• Experience building and defending make-vs-buy or vertical-integration analyses, including capex and ramp assumptions.
• Translate complex technical and regulatory findings into executive-level decisions.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategic roadmap for secure, scalable supply chains.
• Set onshoring and supplier development priorities for domestic and allied supply.
• Build business cases for in-house manufacturing vs external sourcing, with long-term economics.
• Collaborate with regulatory and trade-compliance teams to translate requirements into sourcing decisions.
• Impact supplier-of-record decisions during new product introduction with R&D and engineering teams.
• Establish multi-tier traceability and country-of-origin information across components.
• Identify sourcing moves that enhance compliance, tariffs handling, and domestic-content objectives.

Skills

Supply chain strategy

Manufacturing operations

Regulated hardware experience

NPI & design influence

Make-vs-buy analysis

Executive communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory & trade compliance

Job description

Investigo is partnering with a high-growth U.S. advanced hardware and autonomous systems company to hire a Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing Strategy. The company is making a significant long-term investment in expanding U.S. manufacturing and developing secure, resilient domestic and allied supply chains. As regulatory requirements around component origin, supplier eligibility, market access, tariffs, and domestic content continue to evolve, these considerations are becoming fundamental inputs into product design and manufacturing strategy. This leader will determine which capabilities to onshore, which suppliers to develop, and which technologies or manufacturing processes should be vertically integrated versus externally sourced. You will work across Hardware Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Trade Compliance, and Finance to translate regulatory and supply-chain constraints into actionable business decisions. This is a highly visible role with the opportunity to influence major sourcing, manufacturing, supplier-development, and capital-allocation decisions.

What You’ll Own:

• Supply Chain & Manufacturing Strategy
  Develop the strategic roadmap for creating secure, scalable, and compliant supply chains. Determine which technologies and capabilities should be onshored, vertically integrated, developed with strategic suppliers, or maintained externally.
• Onshoring & Supplier Development
  Set priorities for securing critical commodities and expanding domestic and allied-country supply. Where a suitable supply base does not currently exist, determine whether to develop a supplier, bring the capability in-house, or work with engineering to design around the constraint.
• Make-vs-Buy & Vertical Integration
  Build and defend business cases for bringing manufacturing capabilities in-house. Recommendations will incorporate capital requirements, ramp assumptions, capacity, tooling, yield, supply-chain resilience, regulatory exposure, and long-term economics.
• Regulatory & Product Risk
  Partner closely with regulatory and trade‑compliance teams to understand changing requirements and translate them into sourcing and manufacturing decisions. Maintain an evidence‑based view of product and supply‑chain exposure and communicate risks in terms of schedule, revenue, cost, and market access. Relevant frameworks may include NDAA restrictions, the American Security Drone Act, country‑of‑origin requirements, FCC requirements, tariffs, and federal supply‑chain restrictions.
• NPI & Supplier‑of‑Record Decisions
  Work alongside Global Supply Managers and hardware engineering during new product introduction to influence supplier‑of‑record and approved‑vendor decisions. Bring regulatory, origin, resiliency, and compliance considerations into design reviews early enough for engineering teams to act on them.
• Multi‑Tier Supply Chain Traceability
  Build greater visibility beyond Tier 1 suppliers, establishing multi‑tier bill‑of‑materials traceability, country‑of‑origin information, and chain‑of‑custody visibility across purchased and internally manufactured components.
• Cost & Compliance Optimization
  Identify sourcing moves that simultaneously advance compliance, tariff, domestic‑content, resiliency, and cost objectives. Help develop domestic sourcing strategies that can become economically competitive with traditional global supply chains.

What You Bring:

• 10+ years of experience across supply chain, manufacturing operations, commodity management, or operations strategy, including at least three years in a regulated hardware environment where sourcing decisions carried meaningful legal or contractual implications.
• Experience influencing component and supplier selection during product design, including NPI, design reviews, supplier‑of‑record decisions, or approved‑vendor‑list decisions.
• Credibility across both the sourcing organization and factory floor, with the ability to engage on capacity, tooling, ramp, yield, supplier qualification, and manufacturing economics.
• Direct ownership of a multi‑tier country‑of‑origin, supplier‑compliance, or trade‑compliance program.
• Experience personally building and defending a make‑vs‑buy or vertical‑integration analysis, including capital expenditure and production‑ramp assumptions.
• A track record of translating complex technical and regulatory findings into executive‑level business decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing decisions even when you do not have formal authority over the teams involved.

Preferred Experience We’re particularly interested in candidates who bring one or more of the following:

• Working knowledge of NDAA 889/848, country‑of‑origin and substantial‑transformation analysis, Buy American domestic‑content requirements, or DFARS/FAR flow‑downs.
• Experience within aerospace & defense, UAS, defense electronics, complex electromechanical hardware, EMS, or contract manufacturing.
• Commodity experience involving batteries/cells, motors and magnetics, imaging or thermal sensors, PCB or PCBA.
• Experience standing up a production line or transitioning an externally sourced manufacturing process in‑house.
• Familiarity with federal supply‑chain qualification or assessment processes.
• Experience developing new domestic or allied‑country suppliers where an established supply base did not previously exist.

How the Role Fits

This role reports directly to the Head of Hardware Operations and will operate alongside senior Supply Chain and Manufacturing leadership. Key partners include Regulatory, Manufacturing Engineering, Global Supply Management, Program Leadership, Trade Compliance, and Finance. The position will begin as an individual contributor, with the opportunity to build a focused team as the program grows. The role will also have regular exposure to senior leadership, particularly around manufacturing strategy, supply‑chain risk, and capital‑allocation decisions.