Director, Supply Chain Management

Job Title: Director, Supply Chain Management

Department: Operations

Employment Type: Full Time

FLSA: Exempt

Location: Houston

Persona AI is developing and commercializing rugged, multi-purpose humanoid robots that perform real work. Persona AI’s founding team has a decades-long history in humanoid robotics, bionics, and product development delivering robust hardware that has touched the stars, worked miles below the surface of the ocean, and even roamed Disney Parks. Our mission is focused squarely on shipping beautiful, reliable products at massive scale, while building a customer-focused team to achieve these aims.

• We offer competitive compensation, a performance-based bonus, 99% employer-covered medical benefits (employee and dependents), early-stage equity, competitive PTO, and a company-wide paid winter break between Christmas Eve and New Year’s.

• You’ll shape technology that’s redefining the possibilities of robotics and human

We are seeking a seasoned Supply Chain Leader to design, build, and scale our end-to-end supply chain function from the ground up. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced supply chain leader who thrives on establishing infrastructure, processes, systems, metrics and teams in a start-up environment that has yet to create a formalized supply chain operation. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of building supply chain organizations, not just managing or maintaining an existing one.

This candidate operates equally well at both strategic and tactical levels. This candidate also thrives in negotiations, contracts, metrics and mentoring. Key to success is the ability to transition product from development stage to volume manufacturing at hyper speed.

• Design the supply chain organization structure from scratch, including strategic sourcing, procurement, planning, and logistics.

• Develop strategy for supplier footprint, logistics, and warehousing to establish efficient, reliable, and repeatable delivery of product to Persona’s manufacturing site.

• Establish process and metrics for supplier qualification to meet Persona’s demanding plan for scale.

• Scrutinize suppliers’ ability to repeatedly meet qualification levels as volume scales (Supplier Validation).

• Develop and maintain vendor partnerships; create scorecards for evaluation of supplier performance; manage RFx processes (RFI, RFP, RFQ).

• Establish a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Develop and execute a multi-year supply chain strategy aligned with business growth objectives.

• Lead make‑vs‑buy decisions and “risk buy” requirements.

• Implement an S&OP process.

• Establish a warehousing strategy, including WMS selection, location, ownership, and logistics.

• Establish and communicate KPIs via a data collection strategy.

• Implement ISO certification and other industry compliance standards based on customer base and geographic locations (regulatory and compliance).

• Execute purchase orders for materials, components, and supplies needed for robotics manufacturing operations.

• Monitor and track all orders from placement through delivery, ensuring on-time receipt of materials.

• Expedite parts as required to keep the product schedule on track.

• Maintain optimal inventory levels, track stock levels, and coordinate with manufacturing to prevent shortages or excess inventory.

• Negotiate contracts, pricing, and terms with existing and potential suppliers to optimize cost and delivery.

• Analyze purchasing data and

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)

• 10+ years of experience in purchasing, procurement, or supply chain management in…