Technical Commodity Manager - Robotics
OpenAI · San Francisco, United States · 1mo ago
About Team
Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and advancing toward AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world environments. Working across the full model and systems stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the physical constraints of real-world systems to improve people’s lives.
About Role
We're a growing hardware company. As we scale, we also need a supply chain that evolves and stays nimble to the changing shape and direction our engineers designs. Today we need someone who understands the iterative process of R&D but is also ready to expand into new product introduction (NPI), and after that, high-volume manufacturing. We're hiring for where we're headed, not just where we are today.
This role prioritizes judgment, adaptability, and analytical ability over years of experience alone. A strong candidate will be able to reason from first principles, quickly develop expertise in new commodities, and identify potential commercial or technical issues before they affect the program. While extensive tenure is not required, this is not an entry-level position; candidates should have a solid foundation in strategic sourcing, supplier management, and hardware manufacturing.
Over time, you'll help us build out a full supply chain organization: buyers, global supply managers (GSMs), contract manufacturing leads, and specialists across categories like precision machining, gears and mechanical components, EMS/PCBA, electrical components, and contract/JDM manufacturing. Where this role goes - into a specific commodity, into people management, into ops - will depend on where you're strongest and where the business needs you most.
This role is based in San Francisco, CA and requires in-person presence 4 days a week and up to 30% travel to vendor sites.
In this role you will:
Partner directly with engineering during R&D to source components, qualify vendors, and get quotes and samples turned around quickly, without waiting on a fully built-out process.
Build supplier relationships from scratch in categories that matter to us today (and be willing to pick up new ones as our needs shift).
Evaluate quotes, lead times, and vendor capabilities well enough to make a sound call even when the data is incomplete.
Be a cross functional partner that is able to work with legal, finance, and the leadership team to gather approvals and remove roadblocks.
Help stand up the processes, tools, and vendor scorecards a growing supply chain org actually needs. You won't be inheriting a mature system, you'll be helping build it.
As we move into NPI, work with engineering and quality to get designs ready for production: DFM feedback, first-article inspection, pilot builds.
As we scale into high-volume manufacturing, help transition sourcing relationships and processes from prototype-friendly vendors to production-grade suppliers and contract manufacturers.
Flag risk early — single-source dependencies, long-lead components, supplier financial or quality issues — and bring solutions, not just problems.
You might thrive in this role if you:
Strong reasoning ability and intellectual curiosity. You should be comfortable digging into a new commodity or technology you don't know well and getting up to speed fast.
Solid grounding in supply chain fundamentals - purchasing, negotiation, supplier management, basic understanding of manufacturing processes, even if your total years of experience are modest.
Comfort with ambiguity. Early-stage supply chain work means incomplete data, shifting priorities, and building the plane while flying it.
Direct, clear communication with engineers, with suppliers, and with leadership.
Some exposure to the hardware supply chain is required; deep specialization is not. Any of the following is a plus, not a prerequisite: precision machining, gears/mechanical components, EMS (electronics manufacturing services), PCBA, electrical/electronic components, contract manufacturing or JDM relationships.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on experience working with technical hardware, components, manufacturing processes, and technical supplier decisions.
What success looks like:
Within the first 6 months, you will have:
Engineering and manufacturing see you as a highly responsive, agile partner who moves at their pace, turning evolving technical and production needs into viable supplier options, quotes, samples, and clear recommendations without becoming a bottleneck.
You’ve built a strong understanding of our most important commodities, suppliers, cost drivers, lead times, and manufacturing constraints.
Our highest-priority supply risks (long-lead parts, single-source dependencies, quality concerns, and weak supplier capacity) are visible, actively managed, and backed by practical mitigation plans.
You’ve established strong relationships with existing suppliers and added credible alternatives where we need more capability, leverage, or resilience.
The basic operating system for supply chain is taking shape: clear sourcing and purchasing workflows, reliable supplier and part data, and lightweight tools for tracking cost, delivery, quality, and risk.
You’re helping prepare upcoming designs for NPI by bringing supplier, manufacturability, cost, and lead-time considerations into engineering decisions early.
Most importantly, you’re operating with independence: making sound calls with incomplete information, escalating the decisions that genuinely need leadership input, and consistently bringing solutions rather than just identifying problems.
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
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