Supply Chain Manager

nEye.ai; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

nEye.ai in Santa Clara is seeking an experienced supply chain leader to architect their end-to-end supply chain. In this role, you will manage vendor engagement, materials planning, and logistics while closely collaborating with the Operations and Engineering teams.

The ideal candidate has over 8 years of experience in high-tech hardware supply chain management and is skilled in building processes in rapidly growing companies. This position offers a unique opportunity to significantly impact the operations of a pioneering hardware company.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of supply chain, operations, or manufacturing experience in high-tech hardware.
• Hands-on experience building supply chain processes in an early-stage hardware company.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and scale supply chain processes, workflows, and documentation.
• Develop and maintain demand forecasts and safety stock models.
• Identify and manage critical suppliers across various components.

Skills

Supply chain management

Operations leadership

Negotiation skills

Analytical mindset

Job description

About Us

nEye.ai, a well‑funded optical switch startup, is poised to revolutionize the future of data centers. nEye’s MEMS‑based silicon photonics optical circuit switches (OCS) eliminate critical bottlenecks in AI processing by enabling direct optical connections among thousands of GPUs and memory units. The company’s OCS is an ultra‑low power consumption, high radix, compact chip‑scale design, offering hyperscale data centers enhanced performance, efficiency, and scalability.

Role Overview

This is a foundational, hands‑on role responsible for architecting nEye’s end‑to‑end supply chain. You will own vendor engagement, materials planning, forecasting, inventory, logistics, and act as the business owner for the rollout of critical operational systems (ERP, MES, PLM/ECC). You will work closely with the Operations and Engineering teams to design a supply chain that is resilient, scalable, and deeply integrated with engineering and manufacturing workflows. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a zero‑to‑one environment and wants to spearhead the supply chain function for a category‑creating hardware company.

Key Responsibilities

• Build Supply Chain Function
  • Design, implement, and scale supply chain processes, workflows, policies, and documentation.
  • Develop a strategic roadmap for supply chain operations aligned with nEye’s growth and manufacturing ramp.
  • Establish foundational KPIs, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms for supply chain health.
• Systems Leadership
  • Partner with the Operations Systems lead to define requirements for ERP, MES, and PLM systems and act as the primary business owner for supply chain data accuracy and process adoption.
• Materials Planning & Execution
  • Develop and maintain demand forecasts, safety stock models, build plans, and long‑lead strategies.
  • Own purchasing, PO management, and cost optimization for prototype and production materials.
  • Oversee inbound/outbound logistics, warehousing, inventory, and materials traceability.
  • Proactively identify and mitigate supply risks (allocation, yield issues, capacity constraints, sole‑source components).
• NPI to Production Readiness
  • Drive BOM accuracy, AVL management, ECO coordination, and change control across hardware, photonics, and MEMS components.
  • Partner with engineering teams on build schedules, material availability, and long‑lead planning.
  • Ensure vendors are prepared for yield, reliability, and scale requirements.
• Supplier Ownership
  • Identify, qualify, and manage critical suppliers across MEMS, silicon photonics, ASICs, optics, PCBA, and mechanicals.
  • Negotiate supply agreements, lead times, pricing, and capacity commitments.
  • Create and maintain vendor scorecards, drive quarterly reviews, and lead corrective actions when needed.
  • Ensure suppliers meet quality, reliability, and manufacturability expectations for nEye’s OCS products.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of supply chain, operations, or manufacturing experience in high‑tech hardware (semiconductor, MEMS, silicon photonics, optics, or similar).
• Hands‑on experience building supply chain processes in an early‑stage or rapidly growing hardware company.
• Practical experience leading the requirements, process design, and adoption for ERP, MES, PLM, and ECC systems.
• Deep expertise with Foundry/OSAT/CM management, outsourcing models, and supplier qualification.
• Strong understanding of NPI, hardware development cycles, prototype‑to‑pilot‑to‑production transitions.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, roll up your sleeves, and operate at both tactical and strategic levels.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills; strong analytical mindset.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with silicon photonics, MEMS fabrication, optical modules, or complex multi‑disciplinary hardware assemblies.
• Prior ownership of ground‑up ERP/MES/PLM implementation.
• Startup operations buildout experience.
• Familiarity with reliability testing, manufacturing quality, and yield management.

nEye.ai is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. 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.

Starting salary and title will depend on, and be commensurate with, relevant industry experience, skills, training, education, market demands, and the ultimate job duties and requirements.