Demand & Supply Planning Manager
Lambda · San Francisco, United States +1 · 8h ago
Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU.
If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us.
Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco or San Jose office location 4 days per week; Lambda's designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.
About the Role
We are seeking experienced Demand & Supply Planning Managers to help build a brand-new planning function for Lambda's data center hardware, as part of Lambda's Supply Chain team, which makes sure the right systems, racks, and networking equipment are in the right place at the right time to power our rapidly growing AI cloud footprint.
You will own the planning process that connects what our customers and data center deployments need with what our ODM/OEM partners and component suppliers can deliver: building and maintaining demand forecasts, translating them into supply and build plans, balancing capacity and inventory against deployment schedules, and surfacing constraints early enough for the business to act on them.
The ideal candidate has planned complex, long-lead-time hardware in a high-growth environment. You are comfortable pressure-testing a forecast, building a supply plan from the bill of materials up, running a rigorous S&OP cycle, and telling leadership clearly where the risks are and what trade-offs are on the table, while moving fluidly between strategic planning and the details that make or break a deployment.
Because this is a net-new team, you will have a real hand in defining how planning works at Lambda: the processes, the cadence, the metrics, and the tools. You will work closely with Sourcing (ODM/OEM), Commodity Management, Operations and Logistics, Data Center Engineering, Finance, and Go-to-Market to bring capacity online on schedule.
What You'll Do
Demand Planning & Forecasting
Own the demand forecast for your assigned portfolio, translating data center deployment plans, customer commitments, and capacity roadmaps into a unit-level, time-phased view of what we need and when.
Build and maintain forecast models, assumptions, and scenarios (base, upside, downside), and track forecast accuracy and bias over time.
Partner with Go-to-Market, Project Management, Finance, and Data Center Engineering to keep the demand signal current as customer commitments, cluster designs, and site readiness change.
Establish clear forecast input ownership, cadence, and change-control so that upstream changes are visible and acted on quickly.
Supply Planning & Capacity Alignment
Convert demand into supply and build plans for finished systems, racks, and networking equipment, including ODM/OEM build slots, integration capacity, and delivery schedules.
Align partner manufacturing capacity and lead times with the demand forecast, and drive resolution when supply and demand do not match.
Work with Commodity Management to understand component availability and allocation (accelerators, memory, storage, optics, power, cooling) and reflect those constraints in the supply plan.
Lead execution timing across the supply chain, setting and driving the schedule so that material procurement is placed and delivered on time to support build and deployment commitments.
Plan for new platform introductions and transitions, coordinating build schedules, ramp timing, and cutover so that new and legacy platforms are supplied without gaps or excess.
Coordinate with Operations and Logistics on inbound flow, staging, and delivery so that supply lands when data centers are ready to receive it, either through direct ship or hub-spoke delivery models.
Integrated Planning (S&OP)
Run or contribute to the Sales & Operations Planning cycle for infrastructure: demand review, supply review, and executive alignment on trade-offs.
Produce clear, decision-ready views of supply versus demand, gaps, risks, and recommended actions for leadership.
Drive consensus across functions, and escalate constraints with options and a recommendation, not just a problem statement.
Keep the plan of record accurate, and make plan changes and their downstream impacts transparent.
Inventory & Working Capital
Leverage analytical models to define and manage inventory targets, buffer strategies, and safety stock for long-lead and critical items, balancing deployment risk against capital and obsolescence exposure.
Monitor on-hand, in-transit, and committed inventory, and flag excess, shortage, and aging exposure early.
Supply Risk & Resilience
Identify, quantify, and help mitigate risks to deployment schedules, including:
Lead-time changes and long-lead component exposure
Manufacturing capacity constraints and build slot risk
Component allocation and shortages
Single points of failure across partners, sites, and regions
Tariff, trade compliance, and geopolitical impacts on flow and timing
Demand volatility and forecast error
Build contingency and recovery plans, and run scenario analysis so leadership can see the options before a constraint becomes a delay.
Planning Processes, Data & Tools
Help design and stand up the planning processes, cadence, and governance for a new team.
Define and report the metrics that matter, such as forecast accuracy, plan adherence, days of supply, inventory turns, on-time delivery, and shortage exposure.
Build the data foundation and reporting needed to plan at scale, and contribute to selecting and implementing planning systems and automation.
Document processes and playbooks so the function scales as Lambda grows.
Cross-Functional Partnership
Partner with Sourcing (ODM/OEM) so commercial commitments, capacity reservations, and ramp terms line up with the plan.
Partner with Commodity Management on component supply, allocation, and long-lead procurement.
Partner with Operations and Logistics on inbound execution, delivery timing, and exceptions, as tactical execution increasingly sits with Operations over time.
Partner with Hardware, Network, and Data Center Engineering on platform roadmaps, site readiness, and configuration changes that affect supply.
Partner with Finance on capex forecasting, inventory reserves, and the cost impact of planning decisions, and to understand commitment, cash flow, and liability curves that inform top-line financial reporting.
Provide leadership with market insight, risk visibility, and clear recommendations on supply, cost, and timing trade-offs.
You
8+ years of experience in Demand Planning, Supply Planning, S&OP, Supply Chain, or Materials Planning for hardware and direct experience planning at the system, rack, or complex-assembly level (compute, storage, networking, or integrated hardware platforms).
Demonstrated experience building demand forecasts and translating them into supply, build, and inventory plans in a long-lead-time, supply-constrained environment.
Strong understanding of BOM structures, lead times, and how component constraints flow through to finished-goods availability.
Experience working with ODMs, OEMs, or contract manufacturers on capacity, build schedules, and ramp planning.
Hands-on experience running or contributing to S&OP or an equivalent integrated planning process.
Strong analytical and financial acumen, with the ability to combine mathematical models and advanced spreadsheet skills, such as statistical forecasting, inventory and safety stock optimization, and scenario modeling, to produce outputs in a structured, scalable, and repeatable manner, and comfort working with large datasets.
Experience with ERP and planning systems and a track record of improving planning processes and tooling.
Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders, drive alignment across functions, and communicate risk and trade-offs clearly.
Comfort operating with a high degree of ownership in a fast-growth, ambiguity-rich environment, including building processes from scratch.
Nice to Have
Experience supporting hyperscale data center or AI infrastructure build programs.
Experience planning through new product introductions, platform transitions, and rapid capacity ramps.
Experience managing allocation and shortage scenarios for constrained components such as accelerators, memory, optics, power, and cooling.
Familiarity with the ODM/OEM ecosystem and how build and supply models (turnkey, consigned, disaggregated) affect planning.
Experience implementing or scaling planning tools and platforms, and working fluency in SQL, Python, or BI tools.
APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM, CSCP) or equivalent.
Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or related field; advanced degree a plus.
For the ODM Racks role:
Experience planning AI/ML compute systems, GPU servers, or accelerated computing platforms at scale.
Experience planning finished racks and systems with ODM partners, including build slot, integration capacity, and ramp planning.
Experience with liquid-cooled and high-power rack architectures and cluster-level deployment models, including the power and cooling infrastructure that gates them.
For the Network Hardware Equipment role:
Experience planning data center switching, routing, or high-speed fabric hardware at scale, including scale-up and scale-out AI fabrics.
Familiarity with optical transceiver and cable supply markets (400G/800G and beyond, DAC/AOC, structured cabling) and their distinct lead-time and allocation dynamics.
Experience planning network equipment deployments alongside compute and storage so that clusters are delivered complete.
For the Critical Rack Commodity Planning role:
Experience planning long-lead, allocation-constrained components such as accelerators, memory, storage, power, or cooling.
Experience with BOM explosion and managing component-level supply and demand, including allocation, buffer strategy, and shortage mitigation, and connecting it to finished-goods build plans.
Experience working with commodity or component sourcing teams to align procurement commitments with the demand forecast.
We Are Looking for Someone Who Is:
Analytical and commercially minded, able to move between a detailed forecast model and an executive conversation about trade-offs
Data-driven, decisive, and execution-oriented
Comfortable with leveraging AI tools in everyday workflows
A clear communicator and strong collaborator who builds trust with partners and internal stakeholders
Comfortable building process and structure in a fast-growth, ambiguity-rich environment
Proactive at finding risk early and bringing options, not just problems
Salary Range Information
The annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.
About Lambda
Founded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fast
Our investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent Cove
We have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG
Our values are publicly available: https://lambda.ai/careers
We offer generous cash & equity compensation
Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles
401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)
Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually use
Equal Opportunity Employer
Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.