Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing Strategy

San Mateo · USD 229,500-302,500 / year · 10+ years experience · Full-time · Hybrid · Posted Oct 19, 2026

At a glance

Skydio is seeking a Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing Strategy to spearhead the SkyForge initiative and build stable, compliant supply chains.
This role will drive the strategic plan to establish world-class manufacturing, determine which capabilities to onshore or vertically integrate, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Work closely with the regulatory team to understand current regulations, policy direction, and help influence key partners setting policy.
Determine which capabilities and technologies to onshore, vertically integrate, or partner on to build robust and compliant supply chains.
Set priorities for securing and onshoring supply across critical commodities with commodity teams, deciding whether to develop a supplier, bring work in-house, or design around constraints.
Assess production for U.S. facilities and build make-versus-buy cases with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Finance.
Maintain a live, evidence-backed view of product line standing against each regulation and report on a regular cadence.
Work alongside Global Supply Managers (GSMs) and hardware engineering during NPI to set SPOR and integrate regulatory screening early.
Stand up bill-of-materials traceability to tier three and beyond, with country of origin and chain of custody across purchased and in-house components.
Find moves that serve compliance, tariff, and domestic-content goals at once while driving domestic sourcing to cost parity.

10+ years in supply chain, manufacturing operations, commodity management, or operations strategy.
At least 3 years in a regulated hardware environment where sourcing decisions carried legal or contractual consequences.
Experience influencing component and supplier selection during design, through NPI, design reviews, or SPOR and approved vendor list (AVL) decisions.
Credibility with both a sourcing organization and a factory, with fluency in capacity, tooling, and yield.
Accountable ownership of a multi-tier country-of-origin, supplier compliance, or trade compliance program.
A make-versus-buy or vertical integration analysis personally built and defended, including capex and ramp assumptions.
A track record of turning technical findings into executive decisions, and of changing engineering or sourcing decisions without formal authority.

Working knowledge of NDAA §889/§848, country-of-origin and substantial-transformation analysis, Buy American domestic-content tests, or DFARS and FAR flow-downs
Background in in-house manufacturing, UAS, aerospace and defense, defense electronics, or EMS and contract manufacturing
Commodity experience in batteries and cells, motors and magnetics, imaging or thermal sensors, or PCB and PCBA
Experience standing up a production line or bringing an outsourced process in-house
Experience with a Blue UAS or Green UAS submission, or a DCMA or DCSA assessment
Experience developing domestic or allied-country suppliers from scratch