Are you inspired by invention? Is problem solving through teamwork in your DNA? Do you like the idea of seeing how your work impacts the bigger picture? Answer yes to any of these and you’ll fit right in here at Amazon Robotics. We are a smart team of doers that work passionately to apply advances in robotics and software to solve real-world challenges that will transform our customers’ experiences in ways we can’t even imagine yet.
Amazon Robotics has locations in the greater Boston and Seattle area, the epicenter of robotics innovation. Our diverse teams come from all over the world to design, test and build our dynamic fleet of robots, mechatronic systems and pack automation solutions. Current advancements are underway in autonomous movement and mobility, artificial intelligence and machine learning, manipulation, simulation, robotic management software, predictive analytics, and much more.
The Amazon Robotics Supply Chain provides strategic sourcing for a portfolio of robotic technologies and is responsible for delivering new products by enabling the right suppliers and technologies, and getting the right materials at the right cost to the right place at the right time to support our network of global fulfillment and transportation solutions. It is a fast-paced operation that works cross-functionally with teams across Amazon and is driven by data and metrics.
We are seeking Robotics Supply Chain New Product Lead - Tech tackle to most critical, technologically advanced products at Amazon. The Lead will be responsible for a small portfolio of robotic products in the vision, sensing, and advanced compute. They will be accountable for supplier and supply chain strategies, product cost roadmaps, enabling rapid NPI builds, and ensuring a successful ramp to mass production. They manage their products from concept, through development, to scaled deployment. They work with senior product and engineering leaders to drive appropriate trade-offs between commercial vs. technical constraints, risks and goals. Within the robotic product they lead, they must be able to drive the multiple advanced technologies and commodities, driving a clear path to production.
Essential to the role is a level of technical subject matter expertise in vision, sensing, and/or advanced compute to work effectively with the technical teams developing robotic products. While it varies by group, this expertise includes an understanding of the technologies and architectures of the robotic products and key commodities that make up the robotic products, including the technology’s development and integration strategy and trajectory, both within Amazon and its wider position in the business and industry. This role will contribute to technical strategies and decisions, with contributions that balance technical and business requirements, to help drive engineering teams toward scalable products that achieve Amazon’s cost targets.
The RSC New Product Lead - Tech is a trusted subject matter expert, consulted by teams above and below. They clearly communicate with direct and indirect stakeholders, advocating for commercial opportunities at the Director level and above. They contribute to strategic documents for aligning goals with cross-functional teams, own reporting on forecasting and planning the business impact of each opportunity, and regularly report on the status and impact of their contributions. Their impact is measurable via quantifiable metrics, and they have the ability to deeply influence measurable business outcomes.
We are looking for strong business owners who can Think Big, Deliver Results, and leaders who are ready to make long lasting impact to Amazon Robotics technologies. They should be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment where delivery time for new products and features is typically measured in months. The leader will have a proven background in Robotics automation, global supplier management and new product introduction on the development and scaled production of advanced technology. The successful candidate for this position will be experienced working with cross-functional leaders from product, engineering, manufacturing, and field operations. They are self-managing, have a high sense of urgency and driven to achieve product development and deployment. They will be a highly visible leader that will own the communication, coordination execution, and delivery of a multi-year program vision.
Key job responsibilities
- Lead cross-functional supply chain team dedicated to the supplier and supply chain design, sourcing and logistics decisions, and supply chain execution for robotics products from concept, through development, to scaled deployment.
- Act as single point of contact for program resources (leadership and working teams) to communicate Supply Chain decisions and progress, provide feedback on supply chain implications of program decisions and changes, and support financial planning and capital approvals for the program.
- Work with Robotics leadership to ensure partnership between Robotics Supply Chain, hardware engineering, operations and program teams on commodity and supplier selection, cost performance tradeoff analysis, cost road map development and execution, and enabling rapid product development stages, and delivering an effective path to scaled deployment.
- Responsible for definition and approval of the Product level Supply Chain Strategy documents, including identification of critical components and suppliers, product cost roadmap to meet payback targets, definition of capacity plan and associated sourcing and tooling requirements, supply chain risk assessment & mitigation plans.
- Work with sourcing in developing negotiation strategies for categories which impacts the product to deliver against business objectives and achieve sustainable relationships with strategic suppliers pertaining to Amazon Robotics products supporting the priority programs as driven by the Operating Plan (OP)
- Work with GCMs on managing overall supplier relationships including supplier performance, capability development, capacity planning, contracting, risk mitigation, and cost and quality improvements.
- Develop roadmap to achieving NPI and GA total cost targets (TCO), including make vs. buy analysis and value engineering opportunities
- Ensure non-cost goals (Sustainability, Supplier Development, Cost Savings) are met and supported by the product specific supply chain strategy.
A day in the life
Think Big, Bias for Action and Earns Trust - are the three key functional competencies that are needed to be successful in this role. This helps to demonstrate high Customer Obsession, taking ownership, dive deep in solving business problems and Deliver Results creating value.
Key functional skills are technical product management experience, extract insights from data, drive actions and communication skills to influence cross functional stakeholders on executing the supply chain strategy.
Key deliverable - Develop New product Supply Chain Strategy influencing program leadership and helps in achieving financial targets on cost, lead time helping financial payback.
About the team
The team contains subject matter experts who have the passion to solve business problems. As single-threaded leaders they are wholly dedicated to solving one business problem, wakes up in the morning and worries just about that one thing, ensuring the initiative’s vision and goals are always at the forefront and is ready to escalate risks early. The team believes in developing efficient and accurate mechanisms for communicating forecast and capacity requirements for new products to scale effectively. Finally actively support and foster a culture of inclusion.