Senior Staff, Contract Manufacturing & Strategic Partnerships

Mainspring Energy; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mainspring Energy is scaling manufacturing to meet rising demand for its onsite power platform. We seek a senior leader to own the contract manufacturing network strategy, govern partnerships, and drive capacity, cost, and continuity improvements.

You will guide negotiations, manage a cross-functional team, and develop scalable processes to deliver reliable production and long-term partnerships across the supply chain.

Qualifications

• Multi-year contract manufacturing strategy experience
• 10+ years in complex contract manufacturing, global supply chain, and/or operations with at least 10 years managing strategic supplier/CM portfolios
• 5+ years of people leadership experience with a track record of building high-performing teams
• Experience defining and executing multi-year contract manufacturing strategies aligned with product roadmaps and company growth
• Deep understanding of manufacturing lifecycle including production ramps, transfers, and continuous improvement
• Expertise in executive-level negotiations (MSAs, SOWs, pricing, tooling) and managing financial performance (TCO, budgeting)
• Ability to lead through influence across Finance, Engineering, Quality and other stakeholders
• Experience in high-growth industrial technology, energy, automotive, or similar complex hardware environments

Responsibilities

• Execute the multi-year contract manufacturing strategy aligned with product roadmaps, capacity needs, and growth objectives.
• Oversee partner networks with strategic selection, allocation, and exit decisions based on capability and risk.
• Establish governance and MOS to manage CM portfolio at scale and provide executive reporting.
• Lead negotiations (MSAs, SOWs, pricing, tooling) to protect business interests and foster long-term partnerships.
• Own cost performance, value engineering, and total-cost-of-ownership initiatives with Finance and Supply Chain.
• Coordinate cross-functional readiness for pilot builds, production ramps, and sustained volume manufacturing.
• Set KPIs for safety, quality, yield, and delivery and drive root-cause analysis and improvements.
• Identify and mitigate supply chain risks and ensure contingency planning.
• Provide concise updates to leadership on performance and investments; drive cross-functional alignment.
• Build and develop a high-performing team with clear accountability.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Executive negotiations

Cross-functional alignment

Risk management

Team leadership

Operations optimization

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Operations, or related field

Job description

Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:

• Pragmatic Optimism
• Excellence without Ego

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:

• Pragmatic Optimism
• Excellence without Ego
• Proactive Collaboration

Job Overview

Mainspring is rapidly scaling manufacturing to meet growing customer demand and accelerate deployment of the world\'s most flexible and adaptable onsite power generation platform. As we expand production capacity and strengthen our supply chain, our contract manufacturing partners play a critical role in Mainspring\'s ability to deliver on its commitments to customers, investors, and stakeholders.

Leadership Role

The leader of Contract Manufacturing & Strategic Partnerships will set the strategy and operating model for Mainspring\'s contract manufacturing network and serve as the executive owner of its most critical manufacturing partnerships. This leader will translate Mainspring\'s product, demand, and growth roadmaps into multi-year partner strategies that secure capacity, improve cost, quality, delivery, and inventory performance, and protect business continuity.

This role is accountable for the overall health and performance of the contract manufacturing portfolio. The leader will establish governance and executive business-review mechanisms, lead complex commercial negotiations, guide manufacturing readiness and production ramps, and drive rapid resolution of significant operational, quality, delivery, and relationship issues. The role will work closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Legal, Product Development, and Executive Leadership and will influence decisions across organizational boundaries.

Consistent with Mainspring\'s, this leader will build scalable processes and organizational capability, develop team members and future leaders, and operate with a high degree of autonomy. Success will be measured by partner performance, supply continuity, financial results, launch and ramp execution, risk reduction, and the strength of strategic relationships that enable Mainspring\'s long-term manufacturing strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Execute the multi-year contract manufacturing strategy, ensuring full alignment with product roadmaps, capacity requirements, and company growth objectives.

• Portfolio Management: Oversee the partner network, including strategic selection, allocation, and exit strategies based on capability, risk, and long-term fit.

• Governance & MOS: Establish the organizational structure, decision rights, and Management Operating System (MOS) required to manage the contract manufacturing and related portfolio at scale.

• Complex Negotiations: Lead executive-level commercial negotiations (MSAs, SOWs, pricing, tooling) to protect business interests and risks while fostering sustainable, long-term partnerships

• Financial & Cost Strategy: Partner with executive leadership, Finance and Supply Chain to own cost performance, value engineering, and total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) initiatives as it relates to contract manufacturing. Clear ownership of contract manufacturers’ costs and pricing, driving transparency and accountability where necessary

• Operational Readiness: Coordinate/support cross-functional readiness for), pilot builds, production ramps, and sustained volume manufacturing at our contract manufacturers

• Performance Excellence: Establish rigorous KPIs (safety, quality, yield, delivery) and drive structured root-cause analysis and continuous improvement when performance falls below expectations

• Risk Mitigation: Proactively identify and mitigate supply chain and contract manufacturing operational, and geopolitical risks, ensuring robust business-continuity and contingency planning

• Executive Reporting & Stakeholder Management: Provide concise, decision-oriented updates to leadership regarding performance, tradeoffs, and required investments, while driving cross-functional alignment

• Team Leadership: Build, coach, and develop a high-performing team, fostering clear accountability and strengthening organizational capability

Qualifications

• Bachelor\'s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Operations, or related field

• 10+ years in complex contract manufacturing, global supply chain, and/or operations, with at least 10 years specifically managing high-impact strategic supplier or CM portfolios

• 5+ years of people leadership experience, with a proven track record of building high-performing teams and developing future leaders

• Demonstrated success in defining and executing multi-year contract manufacturing strategies that align with product roadmaps and company growth objectives

• Deep understanding of the full manufacturing lifecycle, including production ramps, manufacturing transfers, and continuous improvement (safety, quality, yield, delivery)

• Expertise leading complex, high business impact, executive-level negotiations (MSAs, SOWs, pricing, tooling) and managing financial performance, including TCO modeling, budgeting, and investment analysis

• Proven ability to lead through influence across organizational boundaries (Finance, Engineering, Quality) and drive alignment with internal and external stakeholders

• Experience within high-growth industrial technology, energy, automotive, or similar complex hardware environments is highly preferred

Critical Success Factors

Success in this role requires:

• Enterprise-level ownership and accountability for measurable improvements in cost, quality, delivery, capacity, risk, and partnership performance

• Ability to set strategy and translate it into an executable operating model, roadmap, and performance cadence

• Executive presence and credibility with internal leaders and external manufacturing partners

• Balanced strategic thinking and hands-on operational leadership

• Strong judgment in complex commercial, operational, and relationship decisions

• Proactive communication, disciplined escalation, and clear decision recommendations

• Ability to build/influence organizational capability, develop leaders, and create durable processes that scale

• Confidence leading difficult conversations, negotiations, performance recovery, and change

Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.

In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy\'s estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

This position is onsite at our Menlo Park HQ. The salary will be adjusted to reflect local market conditions based on employee location as well as the experience of the employee. Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre-IPO stock options + benefits.