Sourcing Lead, Direct

Palo Alto, CAOnsiteFull TimeLead$220,000–$234,000 /yrPosted 21 days ago

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Required skills

Sourcing Lead
hardware supply chain
global sourcing managers
supplier portfolio
commodity
innovation roadmap
contractual terms
pricing
supplier partnerships
assemblies

Nice to have

technical field
mechanical engineering
industrial engineering
electrical engineering
equivalent practical experience
manufacturing

Role summary

Wing is seeking a Sourcing Lead, Direct for its Palo Alto, CA office. This role will lead the hardware supply chain strategy, manage a global team of sourcing managers, and partner with engineering, operations, legal, and finance to ensure cost-effective, high-quality, and timely delivery of hardware. The ideal candidate will have 12+ years in global supplier management and 5+ years in direct people management, with a technical degree preferred. Responsibilities include leading commercial engagements, developing supplier strategies, negotiating contracts, managing risk, and driving product development from concept to mass production. The role requires strong negotiation, cost modeling, and relationship-building skills, with a preference for AI/ML and engineering experience.

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 USD

Wing 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.

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Sourcing Lead, Direct

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