Supply Chain Manager

Company Description

Inspired Flight’s Purpose Statement says it all – Conserving resources, creating jobs, and saving lives by innovating the American drone manufacturing industry. Founded in San Luis Obispo, California, our entirely U.S. based team designs, builds and supports highly capable and flexible drone platforms for both commercial and government customers.

Our purpose driven team exemplifies our Core Values. We are:

• Collaborative:
  We harness the collective intelligence and energy of our team to surpass individual potentials and achieve shared goals.
• Resilient:
  We approach obstacles with flexibility and creativity, supporting one another to stay focused, resourceful, and determined.
• Diverse:
  We place a high value in people of all heritages, genders, sexual orientations, and points of view to spark innovation and solutions, enriching our work environment and outputs.
• Continuously Improving:
  We are committed to ongoing learning and innovation by always seeking ways to enhance our processes, products, and personal expertise.

Underlying all of this is our deeply rooted belief that the cutting‑edge aerial tools we create are advancing an industry that is good for people, good for our planet and good for the United States of America.

This is an in‑office position for hire at Inspired Flight’s HQ in San Luis Obispo, CA.

The Supply Chain Manager & Buyer owns the end‑to‑end supply chain execution for Inspired Flight, ensuring materials and components are available to support manufacturing and customer deliveries. This role manages sourcing, purchasing, supplier performance, lead times, and inventory health across UAV platforms, subassemblies, spares, and accessories. You’ll be hands‑on in daily buying while also building the systems and supplier relationships needed to scale reliably.

This role will report directly to the Operations Manager within the Operations department. This is a prime opportunity for a highly motivated and creative professional that thrives in a high‑growth environment and is looking for career development and advancement.

• Translate production schedules, forecasts, and bookings into actionable supply and material readiness plans for aircraft builds, spares, and strategic customers.
• Maintain uninterrupted material availability to support weekly and monthly production targets, ensuring alignment with delivery commitments.
• Identify shortages early and drive mitigation through expedites, alternate sourcing, re‑prioritization, or safety stock recommendations.
• Partner closely with Operations and Engineering on long‑lead material planning, supplier capacity discussions, risk management, and future scaling needs.

• Execute purchasing for mechanical, electrical, avionics, composites, and COTS components.
• Create, place, and manage POs; confirm pricing, delivery, terms, and compliance requirements.
• Track order status daily; follow up on delays; coordinate receipts and discrepancy resolution.
• Maintain accurate purchasing data in ERP/MRP (prices, lead times, MOQs, supplier info).

• Qualify, evaluate, and onboard new suppliers through structured RFQ, capability review, and approval processes.
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, and supply terms that support cost targets, reliability, and delivery performance.
• Develop and maintain supplier scorecards for OTD (on‑time delivery), quality, responsiveness, and cost stability.
• Lead supplier corrective actions for quality or delivery issues, ensuring rapid containment and long‑term preventive measures.
• Support dual‑sourcing, alternate‑part validation, and risk‑reduction strategies for critical components and long‑lead subsystems.

• Own inventory health: min/max levels, safety stock, turns, and accuracy.
• Coordinate and/or lead cycle counts, root cause inventory variances, and improve storage/kitting flow.
• Keep BOMs, part metadata, and planning parameters clean and current in ERP/MRP.
• Create standard work for procurement processes, supplier communication, PO approval flows, and material staging practices.