Director of Logistics

Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

Proper Voltage is unlocking the next generation of battery technology across robotics, data centers, and defense.

We're building intelligent battery systems that make advanced chemistries (sodium-ion, lithium-titanate, lithium-silicon) work in products that were never designed for them. Humanoid robots can upgrade power systems without redesigning their entire platform. Data centers get safer, cheaper backup power. Drones and autonomous vehicles get higher energy density without lengthy integration cycles.

If you want to work on hard engineering problems that matter this is the place.

The Director of Logistics owns Proper Voltage's end-to-end freight and logistics function: inbound material flow, outbound customer delivery, packaging design and validation, and reverse logistics. Our finished product is a large-format battery system, classified as a dangerous good, shipped to commercial and defense customers who expect flawless delivery from day one.

This role reports to the VP of Supply Chain and works closely with the Director of Supply Chain (contract manufacturer and procurement relationships), the Materials Program Manager (who will report to this role), engineering, and our customers' receiving and logistics teams.

This is a build-from-scratch role. Outbound shipping for a large dangerous-goods product has real safety, regulatory, and customer-relationship stakes that a generalist logistics function cannot absorb as a side responsibility. You will set up the carrier relationships, the packaging program, and the customer delivery process before our first commercial shipments, and you will own the freight strategy across both inbound and outbound as we scale.

• Inbound: you own freight forwarder relationships and inbound freight strategy across our supplier base, including Asia-origin suppliers. When a supplier quotes ex-works or FOB origin, you decide how that material moves from the supplier's dock to our contract manufacturers, and you negotiate the rates and service levels that get it there reliably and cost-effectively.
• Outbound: you own dangerous-goods-compliant shipping to commercial and defense customers. This includes carrier qualification, hazmat documentation and labeling, driver certification requirements, and the customer-facing delivery experience. Our product ships in both individual units (in the low hundreds of pounds) and larger rack configurations (over a thousand pounds), so packaging and handling requirements span a wide range.
• Packaging: our contract manufacturers support packaging execution, and we expect to bring in specialized packaging engineering support as needed. You will own the coordination and final validation (drop testing sign-off, handling instructions, ensuring the packaging solution meets DG and customer requirements) without needing to be the hands-on packaging designer.
• Reverse logistics: you build the process for defective unit returns, including dangerous-goods-compliant return shipping, customer coordination, and field service logistics support.
• This role starts as an individual contributor with the Materials Program Manager reporting to you. The team will grow as volume and complexity increase.

• You have real experience shipping a regulated, hazardous, or safety-critical product at commercial scale. You know how dangerous goods classification, carrier certification, and hazmat documentation actually work in practice, not just in theory.
• You have built or significantly scaled a logistics function from an early stage. You've negotiated freight forwarder contracts, qualified carriers, and set up a customer delivery process where none existed before.
• You think about total landed cost, not just freight rate. You know when using your own forwarder instead of a supplier's preferred logistics provider saves real money and improves visibility, and you know how to make that case and execute on it.
• You are comfortable owning both inbound and outbound freight as one connected function, and you understand where that overlaps with (and stays distinct from) supplier commercial negotiation.
• You are comfortable in early-stage environments where the playbook is still being written. You will build the carrier relationships, packaging program, and delivery process from the ground up.

• Your logistics experience is limited to standard, non-hazardous freight.
• You need an established freight and carrier network in place before you can be effective. You will build this.
• You are looking for a role focused only on strategy without hands-on operational ownership. This role is deeply hands-on in the near term.
• You would find a startup operating tempo frustrating.

• Establish and manage freight forwarder relationships across our supplier base, with particular focus on Asia-origin freight.
• Negotiate freight rates and service levels. Identify…