Vice President, Supply Chain
📍 Onsite – San Mateo, CA | 🌍 Global Operations | ⚡ Energy + Hardware + AI
Be a force in ending energy inequality. Join ZOLA Electric and help power the future for over 3 billion people around the world.
About ZOLA Electric
At ZOLA Electric, we are solving one of the world’s greatest challenges: energy access. Over 3 billion people globally live without reliable power, impacting everything from healthcare to education to climate change. We’re changing that.
Born in the Serengeti and now operating across 10+ countries and 4 continents, ZOLA’s technology platform combines hardware, a control layer, and an AI-enabled SaaS application (ZOLA Intelligence) to provide affordable, reliable, and renewable energy at scale. Today, we serve more than 3 million people and businesses, and we’re just getting started.
We are a growth-stage, mission-driven company and we’re looking for a rising supply chain leader to help us scale.
The Role: Vice President, Supply Chain
ZOLA Electric Labs is seeking a Vice President, Supply Chain to build and lead our global supply chain operations. This role is based onsite in San Mateo, CA and reports directly to our CEO.
This is a high-ownership role for someone who has hands-on experience managing supplier and contract manufacturing relationships in China, and who is ready to step into an executive leadership role with global scope.
What You’ll Do
- Build and lead global supply chain operations: procurement, sourcing, logistics, NPI, quality, and order fulfillment
- Own the strategy: develop a 3-year global supply chain roadmap aligned with company goals and product vision
- Lead end-to-end operations: S&OP, contract manufacturing (CM) oversight, inventory, and logistics
- Drive New Product Introduction (NPI) in partnership with Engineering and Product teams
- Develop and optimize systems: ERP implementation, SOPs, and tooling for global visibility and control
- Negotiate and manage supplier contracts and capital purchases in battery, inverter, PCBA, and high-tech hardware
- Lead a lean global team across time zones, setting KPIs and building a culture of operational excellence
- Mitigate risk across our global supplier and manufacturing footprint, with a focus on Asia and emerging markets
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Finance, Engineering, and Go-to-Market teams
- Own supply chain budget planning and performance monitoring
What We’re Looking For
- 5-12+ years in supply chain or hardware operations; 2+ years in a leadership role
- Deep knowledge of batteries, inverters, PCBA, and hardware systems
- Proven success in global procurement and manufacturing, especially in Asia
- Strong NPI, quality, and supplier negotiation experience
- ERP systems expertise (implementation and optimization)
- Experience leading lean, high-performing, distributed teams
- Exposure to process automation and AI/data-driven ops
- Knowledge of Lean and Six Sigma a plus
- 🎓 MBA or MS in Engineering/Operations is a bonus
- ✈️ Able to travel internationally
- 🏢 Based in SF Bay Area and able to commute to San Mateo, CA
Why Join ZOLA
- Impact: Solve one of the world’s most urgent problems
- Innovation: Build AI-driven energy hardware and software systems
- Global Reach: Operate across 4 continents with a distributed, mission-driven team
- Executive Role: Direct visibility and influence alongside our CEO and leadership team
- Purpose + Scale: Combine startup energy with meaningful global impact
ZOLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
