We are Sila, a next-generation battery materials company. Our mission is to power the world’s transition to clean energy. To create this future, our team is building a better lithium-ion battery from the inside out today. We engineer and manufacture ground-breaking battery materials that significantly increase the energy density of batteries, while reducing their size and weight. The result? Smaller more powerful batteries that can unlock innovation in consumer devices and accelerate the mass adoption of electric cars to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We're tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time every day, and together we're redefining what's possible. Are you ready to be a part of a team committed to changing the world?
As Senior Staff Global Supply Manager – Battery Cells, you will be the commercial engine executing our global strategy. You won't just be managing suppliers; you will be pioneering the supply chain for new battery architectures, scaling next-generation chemistries from the lab to mass production and enabling a new business vertical. If you thrive at the intersection of advanced battery engineering, global economics, and complex commercial negotiations, this is your opportunity to shape the energy systems of tomorrow.
Responsibilities and Duties- Pioneer & Scale Advanced Technologies (NPI Sourcing)
- Enable New Products: Serve as the commercial lead for New Product Introduction (NPI), working across Battery Engineering, Product Management, and Supply Chain to bring products from concept to scale.
- Technology Roadmapping: Partner across the organization to align our technology roadmap with supplier capabilities.
- Industrialization: Evaluate and qualify supplier factory readiness, driving commercial alignment on line-speed, yield ramp schedules, and manufacturing tooling.
- Establish and drive Clear-to-Build (CTB) management across multi-tier supply chains: Lead proactive line-by-line material readiness tracking, risk mitigation, and buffer management to eliminate component shortages, prevent factory downtime, and guarantee 100% material availability for NPI builds and volume mass production.
- Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Execution
- Strategic Execution: Establish a multi-year commodity strategy, securing dedicated capacity and supply continuity for our products
- Complex Negotiations: Lead complex contractual negotiations, executing MSAs, SOWs, and long-term capacity reservation agreements across the supply chain.
- Innovative Commercial Models: Support the execution of complex contracting frameworks to build a highly competitive and resilient supply base.
- Cost Structure & Analytics
- Bottom-Up Cost Ownership: Build the granular, bottom-up models that factor in raw material indices, conversion fees, electrode scrap rates, and energy tariffs.
- BOM Optimization: Drive aggressive year-over-year cost reductions in support of the cost targets through cost engineering and Design for Cost (DFC) initiatives.
- Market Intelligence: Act as the internal subject matter expert on market dynamics, capacity trends, and pricing models.
- Drive global duty minimization and trade cost optimization: Leverage Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), bonded warehousing, inward processing relief, and duty drawback programs to legally minimize tariffs, VAT burdens, and landed cost across international trade routes.
- Supply Chain Resilience & Compliance
- Risk Mitigation: Execute dual-sourcing and multi-region supply webs to guard our most critical products against geopolitical friction and logistics bottlenecks.
- Global Compliance: Ensure supplier compliance with global sustainability and regulatory requirements, mapping the tier-N supply chain to ensure adherence to FEOC (Foreign Entity of Concern) regulations, NDAA, Battery Passport standards etc as required.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related technical discipline. Master’s / MBA highly preferred.
- Experience: minimum of 8-12 years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, commodity management, or supply chain
- Domain Expertise: Familiarity with Li-ion manufacturing processes (coating, winding/stacking, formation) and an understanding of cell contract manufacturing models and Tier 1 cell vendors.
- Commercial Mastery: Proven track record of independently negotiating complex international supply agreements, index-linked pricing formulas, and managing high-stakes supplier relationships.
- Analytical Acumen: Mastery of advanced cost modeling (Should-Cost/TCO), manufacturing economics, and raw material indexing. Comfort using data to communicate and drive executive decisions.
- Leadership & Drive: Entrepreneurial, scrappy, and highly collaborative. Exceptional ability to translate engineering requirements into commercial realities
- Travel: 25–30% global travel required
- Move long distances (such as from building to building) and be stationary for extended periods of time
- Operate a computer and other office equipment, such as a laptop, copier/printer, etc in a fixed location
The starting base pay for this role is between $156,000 and $211,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.
#LI-PL1 #LI-Onsite
We believe that building a diverse team at Sila helps us amplify our individual talents. We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment where good ideas are free to come from anyone. We are proud to celebrate diversity and all qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, national origin, or any other status protected by law.
Sila Nanotechnologies Alameda, California, USA Office
2450 Mariner Square Loop, Alameda, California, United States, 94501
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