Sourcing Lead, Direct
At a glance
Senior Recruiting & Talent Acquisition role at wing. Palo Alto · $220,000–$234,000 base.
hrroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set sourcing direction and lead commercial work across the aircraft and ground-infrastructure supply chain
- Review supplier coverage and map long-term plans for each commodity and technology against the product roadmap
- Negotiate supplier contracts and pricing, while coaching the team through complex deals
- Work with engineering, suppliers and contract manufacturers to choose partners and ensure assemblies can be built to quality standards
- Build sourcing processes for supplier research, qualification and production readiness, while managing supply risks in regulated markets
What you bring
- At least twelve years managing global suppliers and moving high-volume products from early design into mass production
- At least five years leading global supply-chain teams
- A technical bachelor's degree is preferred; equivalent experience in supply chain, manufacturing or another listed field is also considered
- You have negotiated manufacturing agreements, new technology and IP terms, and can build cost models for electromechanical products
Who this fits
This senior leadership role suits someone who can guide global sourcing teams while working directly with technical teams and suppliers. You’ll be onsite in Palo Alto and will lead a team of global sourcing managers.
From the employer
About Wing:
Wing offers drone delivery as a safe, fast, and sustainable solution for last mile logistics. Consumer appetites for on-demand services are increasing, but current delivery methods are inefficient, costly, and contribute to road accidents and air pollution. Wing’s fleet of highly automated delivery drones can transport small packages directly from businesses to homes on-demand, in minutes. We design, build, and operate our aircraft, and offer drone delivery services on two continents. Our technology is designed to be easy to integrate into existing delivery and logistics networks, offering a scalable drone delivery solution for a broad range of businesses. Wing is a part of Google's parent company, Alphabet, and our mission is to create the preferred means of delivery for the planet. If you're ready to do the greatest work of your life, come join us.
About the Role:
Wing is looking for a Sourcing Lead, Direct to join our Sourcing team. This role is onsite based in Palo Alto, CA. You will lead the strategy for our hardware supply chain design, build and develop our team of global sourcing managers and enable Wing’s growth by partnering closely with engineering, operations, legal and finance teams. Your leadership across both the direct team, our suppliers, and with cross-functional stakeholder partners will ensure that the hardware supporting Wing’s services can be built cost-effectively at scale, meet quality and compliance standards, and are delivered on time.
Our team moves fast and we will look to you to learn quickly, lead with conviction and build strong relationships both internally and externally. This is a role with high impact and high influence, spanning many cross functional teams and work-streams across engineering, legal, finance, quality, manufacturing, product management and more. You are equally comfortable in deep dive technical conversations around new product design as you are at our partner factories, scaling mass production. Most importantly, you consider the team’s success your success, and you are genuinely excited about enabling the growth and development of your team members.
What You’ll Do:
- Lead commercial engagement and sourcing strategy for our full hardware supply chain across both aircraft and ground infrastructure
- Critically evaluate our current supplier portfolio and create a long term strategy for each commodity & technology to support Wing’s innovation roadmap
- Mentor, coach and close the negotiations to secure best contractual terms and pricing for our supplier partnerships
- Partner closely with internal cross-functional teams, our suppliers and our contract manufacturers to ensure quality and manufacturability of our assemblies
- Partner closely with our engineering and other technical teams to drive the right partner selection for design and development from concept through mass production
- Create the strategy and apply the playbook across all our hardware for new supplier market research, qualification and industrialization
- Assess and mitigate long term supply chain risk, especially in regulated markets
- Mentor and coach the team in developing successful, long-term supplier relationships globally
- Build trust and lightweight, yet scalable processes with all cross functional teams
What You’ll Need:
- 12+ years of experience developing and managing global supplier relationships and bringing high-volume products from concept to mass production
- 5+ years of directly managing global supply chain teams
- A Bachelor's Degree in a technical field (e.g., mechanical, industrial, or electrical engineering) is preferred, but equivalent practical experience in supply chain, manufacturing, military service, or consulting will also be considered
- Ability to have hard conversations with peers, direct reports and partners while preserving trust and relationships
- Ability to switch between teaching, coaching and mentoring seamlessly based on individual needs of the team
- Operate across multiple cross functional teams and many projects at once, with enough insight into details to be able to provide critical inputs while keeping the end goal and strategy at the forefront
- Ability and curiosity to quickly learn and dive deep into technology and challenges but keep the team on a fast pace of operational execution
- You are a skilled negotiator, capable of developing leverage for new technology and industry while coaching the team through complex deals
- You have deep experience structuring and negotiating legal frameworks for new IP development and licensing, Master Supply Agreements for scaled manufacturing, Capex investment schedules and custom SOWs as business needs come up
- You are skilled at developing bottoms-up cost modeling and have experience-based knowledge of cost structures for various electromechanical commodities
- You take an AI-forward approach and automate where possible to increase the productivity of the team
- You have scaled many products and can thoughtfully lead the team though the balance of requirements at different stages of the product development cycle (proto, EVT, DVT, PVT, MP)
The US base salary range for this full-time position is the salary range below + bonus + equity + benefits. Wing’s salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.
Salary Range$220,000—$234,000 USDWing is an equal opportunity employer and it is Wing's policy to comply with all applicable national, state and local laws pertaining to nondiscrimination and equal opportunity. Employment at Wing is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. Wing does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), or any other basis protected by law.
If you have a need that requires accommodation during the interview process due to a disability or special need, please let us know by completing our Candidate Accommodations Request Form.