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. 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.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of supply chain experience in high-tech hardware
- Hands-on experience building supply chain processes in an early-stage hardware company
- Practical experience implementing or managing ERP, MES, PLM, and ECC systems
- Deep expertise with Foundry/OSAT/CM management and supplier qualification
- Strong understanding of NPI and hardware development cycles
What We Do
We are nEye Systems, a next-generation optical switch company. Our programmable photonic integrated circuit integrates high-radix optical circuit switching on a Si chip and is a future-proof solution for Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) systems and other high-performance computing environments. Our optical switches are poised to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the growth and adoption of AI/ML – the excessive costs of power requirements and network expansion. We are a well-funded, early-stage company and will be a key player in several multibillion $ markets.
