Materials Program Manager

At FreeWire, we fundamentally change the way businesses and utilities electrify. We build battery-based energy storage systems that provide clean and quiet power anywhere it’s needed, reducing the cost and accelerating deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. FreeWire’s solutions are evolving from providing ultrafast EV charging services to a full suite of energy services to accelerate sustainable electrification and provide resiliency to customers and a distributed power source to utilities. FreeWire has secured major strategic investors from Fortune 100 companies and serves leading corporate, utility, and retail customers. The feedback on the Boost Charger, FreeWire’s DC fast charger, has been overwhelmingly positive as we electrify locations that would have been too expensive to power on using conventional charging solutions. Utilities are releasing RFPs with requests for battery backed solutions, their regulatory teams are including our technology as eligible for incentives, and they are seeking cost effective solutions as they electrify their fleets and provide utility owned charging solutions for the public.

FreeWire has deployed battery-integrated chargers with Fortune 100 companies, commercial customers, fleets, retail locations, and gas stations. In addition to its partnership with bp pulse, FreeWire and ampm, a bp subsidiary and convenience store chain with over 1,000 locations, have already deployed multiple public charging stations in the U.S. FreeWire’s regulatory affairs and policy team keeps customers up to date on federal, state, and utility incentive opportunities, which in some cases cover up to 80% of the cost of the charging station, and the company recently announced that the Boost Charger is Buy America compliant. Learn more at www.freewiretech.com and follow us @FreeWireTech.

Materials Program Manager
Location: Newark, CA 

The Materials Program Manager coordinates material-related activities for new products through product development to first year production. The role will assist the Commodity Management (CM) and Supply Chain Teams (SCT) to identify opportunities to drive cost reduction, minimize risk through alternate sourcing, and ensure design manufacturability (DFM) of all new custom-made parts. This role is accountable for materials readiness of new product to ensure time-to-volume performance for new product introduction which includes the responsibility to drive the lowest COGS of FreeWire NPI projects in order to improve company revenue margin. This role will work closely with partners to implement FreeWire sourcing strategy, track NPI (New Product Introduction) product COGS, prototype costs, and handle material readiness for all development builds and ramp for production. It is expected that the successful candidate will possess exceptional interpersonal, organizational, and team building skills to communicate with all levels of the organization and cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities:

• Support engineering in providing quotes and sourcing new parts
• Record and track Cost of Bill of Materials for all NPI products
• Ensure correct design revisions and changes are communicated to suppliers
• Communicate and coordinate design changes between the suppliers and engineers
• Support program manager and Commodity Team in ensuring the product launch is on schedule to support build plans, project timelines, and key milestones from each project
• Identify and communicate to commodity team members any cost savings or risk mitigation opportunities
• Participate & contribute to solving problems and continuous process improvement
• Ensure supply continuity for all new parts introduced into mass production through the management of First Article approval for custom manufactured components, Design for Manufacturing, and enforce
• Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) with the Quality Team, and UL, CSA & CE compliance
• Follows through with engineering on early stages of development to ensure common understanding of the requirements as well as to assist with early architectural choices in the implementation, and actively drive design for value
• Coordinate internally with Engineering, PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), Finance, and Commodity Management to assure new products COGS are optimal, and report on costs of developmental builds and mass production regularly
• Manage metrics including Cost saving, multi-source, and component risk to improve NPI performance
• Drives contract manufacturing partners and other suppliers to purchase required parts and materials based on bill of materials associated for developmental and early production builds
• Lead supply chain/suppliers to ensure continued product availability with supply flexibility, e.g. critical shortages, risk buys, lead-time reduction, supply risk mitigation, etc. and communicate to internal partners with status and actions
• Assist Program Managers with preparation of Purchase Requests for EVT (Engineering Validation Test), DVT (Design Validation Test) & NPI expectations, ensure alignment between materials and project spend, and work with internal stakeholders to manage estimates, projections, and actual spend.
• Take initiatives to Identify process improvement opportunities and work with cross-functional teams to improve tools and process
• All other duties as assigned
  
  

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent
• Positive relationship management skills, including verbal and written communication
• Strong analytical skills with accurate attention to detail
• Quick learner, open-minded, with good collaboration (internal and external)
• Self-motivated, ability to work under high pressure with timeline
• Flexible hours to accommodate different time zones and be accessible for global teams
• Proficient in MS Office, with a focus on Excel and PowerPoint
• Price negotiations, cost assessments & capacity planning skills
• Experience in Arena or any other PLM systems
• Experience in NetSuite or any other ERP systems
• 5+ years of experience in materials, logistics, or planning, including MRP systems, preferably with an outsourced manufacturing environment
• Experience with BOM management for both NPI and production
• The ideal candidate will have supply chain knowledge in project management and be able and willing to take project assignments that require covering roles as both a project manager and commodity manager
• Experience and expertise with the manufacturing of a variety of commodities ideally in one or more of the following commodities:
  • Mechanical and electro-mechanical
  • Metal Fabrication
  • Harness & Cable Assemblies
  • Fasteners Commodities
• Travel: 20%
  
  

FreeWire offers competitive benefits, including:

• Health, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Short- & Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Unlimited PTO
• Dog Friendly

We provide compensation packages that include base pay, benefits, and equity, and it is not typical for someone to be hired at the top end of the range for the role. Actual pay will be determined based on several factors, including location, skills, and experience level.

At FreeWire Technologies, we offer fair and equal opportunities to all our candidates and team members regardless of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual identity, national origin, citizenship, marital status, disability status, parental status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by law. FreeWire Technologies believes in hiring individuals only based on their qualifications and experiences that meet our business requirements to fill the positions.