Senior Global Supply Manager II
Based onsite at Rocket Lab Robotics in Pasadena, CA, the Senior Global Supply Manager II will play a pivotal role in ensuring supplier performance and material readiness for Rocket Lab Robotics programs. You will lead supplier relationships after RFQ and vendor selection, manage the handoff from manufacturing engineering into procurement execution, maintain PO schedules with vendors, and drive accurate expected delivery dates to support reliable build planning.
This role combines strategic sourcing, supplier management, schedule execution, contractual flow-downs, and hands-on vendor follow-up. You will work across manufacturing engineering, quality, production planning, programs, and finance to ensure vendors understand technical, quality, contractual, and delivery requirements, and that Rocket Lab Robotics has clear visibility into cost, delivery, and supplier risk.
You'll Bring These Qualifications:
- 8+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, supplier management, supply chain management, or vendor program management.
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent years of work experience (12+ years of total work experience).
- Experience managing supplier delivery performance, purchase order schedules, supplier commitments, and schedule recovery actions.
- Experience working with cross-functional teams such as manufacturing engineering, quality, production planning, programs, finance, legal, and contracts.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly with vendors, escalate risks, drive closure on open issues, and maintain accurate schedule and delivery information for internal planning.
- Experience reviewing or coordinating technical data packages, drawings, specifications, purchase orders, statements of work, or contractual flow-down requirements.
- Ability to travel to supplier sites and work in vendor production environments, labs, or manufacturing areas as needed to support supplier assessments, schedule recovery, and program execution.
- U.S. citizenship is required, due to program requirements.
These Qualifications Would Be Nice To Have:
- Experience in aerospace, robotics, defense, automotive, medical device, semiconductor equipment, or other high-reliability manufacturing industries.
- Experience conducting supplier site visits, vendor assessments, supplier audits, production readiness reviews, or corrective action follow-up.
- Experience developing supplier scorecards, vendor scoring models, performance metrics, and supplier business reviews.
- Strong ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, bills of material, and manufacturing requirements; understanding of design for manufacturability.
- Experience with AS9100, export controls, contractual flow-downs, quality clauses, configuration control, and supplier documentation requirements.
- Experience in a rapid-growth environment with shifting priorities, prototype-to-production transitions, and aggressive delivery schedules.
- Exceptional organizational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to prioritize effectively, manage multiple open supplier actions, and maintain accurate status across programs.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to collaborate effectively across all functions and all levels of the organization.
- Highly self-motivated, able to learn quickly, and committed to maintaining the highest levels of quality, integrity, and accountability.
- APICS, CPSM, or similar supply chain, procurement, or operations certification.
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 10% of the time.