Chef Robotics is accelerating the deployment of intelligent machines in the physical world, starting with food production — the sector facing the largest labor shortage in the U.S., with 1.14M unfilled jobs today and 3.1M projected by 2030. These roles can't be offshored, making robotics essential to keeping production onshore and strengthening America's manufacturing base.
Our AI-powered robots automate food prep and assembly in commercial kitchens and food manufacturing, and have already produced over 110 million meals in production — generating the world's largest proprietary dataset for deformable food manipulation. Backed by investors including Kleiner Perkins, Construct, Bloomberg Beta, and Promus Ventures, and built by a team from Cruise, Zoox, Google, Tesla, and Amazon Robotics, Chef is rapidly scaling with multiple multi-year contracts and a mission to put an intelligent robot in every commercial kitchen.
About the Role
Chef Robotics is seeking a commercially-driven Supply Chain Manager to architect the sourcing and logistics infrastructure required to scale our production from hundreds to thousands of robots. You will be the bridge between technical engineering and high-volume manufacturing, ensuring our global supply chain is as innovative as the robots it builds.
In this role, you will:
- Architect the manufacturing procurement process and manage the supply chain for both off-the-shelf hardware and custom machined parts, focusing on lead-time reduction and cost-efficiency.
- Work closely with Contract Manufacturers (CMs) to scale production from 100 to 1,000+ robots.
- Create and oversee operational processes for warehouse managers and technicians to ensure seamless shop-floor execution.
- Own the supplier lifecycle, from RFQ (Request for Quote) and initial evaluation to conducting quarterly business reviews (QBRs) and maintaining supplier scorecards.
- Manage international shipments, complex logistics, and establish a robust parts depot strategy.
- Act as the primary bridge between Engineering, Finance, Sales, and Manufacturing to align on forecasting, MRP (Material Requirements Planning), and what is feasible for the team.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to establish field service logistics and preventative maintenance schedules.
- Lead receiving, inventory management, and internal QA processes using MES (First Resonance) instead of traditional ERP systems to ensure production uptime.
What You Bring:
- 3+ years of experience in sourcing or procurement in manufacturing
- Degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business Administration, or equivalent experience
- Strong negotiation and contract management skills.
- Experience with MRP/material planning and forecasting in a hardware environment.
- Proven ability to manage international logistics and vendor relationships.
- Ability to build and scale processes in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Chef Robotics is solving one of the hardest problems in AI and robotics — and we ship. Our robots are in production today, generating real data that trains the next generation of food AI. Backed by Kleiner Perkins, Construct, Bloomberg Beta, and Promus Ventures, and built by a team from Cruise, Zoox, Google, Tesla, and Amazon Robotics, we're scaling fast with multiple multi-year enterprise contracts. If you want to build physical AI with real-world deployments and real impact, Chef is the place.
