First Mode is a creative engineering company solving the toughest problems on and off the planet, with the goal of having an outsized impact on the world around us. We build the barely possible.
From our state-of-the-art manufacturing and production facilities in Seattle and Perth, we design and deliver resilient, reliable solutions for the most demanding and constrained frontiers in existence. In the last year our engineers built a 2MW hydrogen fuel cell and battery powerplant to retrofit a three-story, 300-metric-ton-capacity diesel haul truck; designed the power source and refueling system for the world's first endurance race vehicle to be powered by liquid hydrogen; and delivered spaceflight hardware headed 370 million kilometers from Earth to asteroid 16 Psyche.
While each project is unique, we typically meld together robotics, automation, systems engineering, modeling and simulation, and advanced fabrication to create a new future across many industries. If you have exceptional talent and a vision for the future, we want to talk.
First Mode is seeking to grow its skillset in supply chain and production. As a member of the team, with broad experience in researching, finding, auditing, developing, and contracting new and novel supply chain partners. The Director of Supply Chain will manage an international group of Global Supply Managers and develop right size processes, supply chain automation and error proofing to allow efficient scaling of ideation and end products throughout our international supply chain partners.
Position Responsibilities

• Manage strategic partnerships with suppliers to accelerate delivery of our barely possible and sustainable initiatives
• Evaluate supplier core competencies and competitive positioning
• Create efficient and right sized processes and gates for RFI's, RFP's and RFQ's - defining commercial terms and gated thresholds
• Have strong experiences in Things Gone Wrong Things Gone Right (TGW/TGR) and be able to apply intuition to process and know how to trim bureaucracy to accelerate innovation adoption
• Mentor a group of international G lobal Supply Managers and be a go - to escalation path to close price negotiations to balance quality, cost, and delivery terms on high-risk components
• Work closely with First Modes digital twin architect to develop an automated ERP/MRP system embedded inside the supply chain discrete locations , ensuring minimal overhead for maximum real time data-based problem solving
• Lead the global supply management team to build hard skills and soft skills in vendor selection process with engineering and quality teams , ensuring full value stream mapping is considered and attributes are not bid in isolation
• Leverage past relationships and create new relationships throughout the supply chain to navigate an often-ambiguous New Product Introduction phase in the product life cycle
• Leverage advanced analytics capability (machine learning) to automate contracts and move ambient data capture upstream

Basic Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in global supply management
• Demonstrated experience in mentoring teams and leading by influence
• Bachelor's Degree in engineering, business, supply chain management, related discipline and/or equivalent experience

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in global supply management
• Experience developing supply chain business processes from first principles
• Experience developing integrated MRP/ERP systems

Additional Requirements

• Must be willing to travel within the United States and internationally to represent First Mode to its customers, vendors and partners (up to 30%)

Location

• This position will be located at First Mode's headquarters in Seattle, WA and will be required to work in office >60% of working hours

Eligibility

• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive compensation and bonus structure
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
• Flexible PTO with 12 week supplementary paid parental leave and winter shutdown
• 401(k) retirement account with a discretionary employer match
• Commuter benefits (parking and public transportation)
• A culture that encourages professional growth with learning and development reimbursements
• Open and collaborative workspaces with free office snacks and lunches
• Hybrid work model

First Mode is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with First Mode is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Notice to First Modejob applicants: First Mode will never ask you to pay money or provide sensitive personal data to process a job application. If someone representing themselves as being associated with First Mode asks for any personal information as part of an application process, please report this immediately to [email protected]