Global Supply Manager
Airbound
Global Supply Manager
Airbound
Autonomous VTOL drones for lightweight cargo
Our mission is to make a world where everyone has access to delivery. Where goods move as freely as information moves today.
This is possible. Today the cost of moving on a scooter is ₹2/km. That’s the cost of moving a 150kg mass from point A to B. We’re bringing that mass down to less than 5kgs, concurrently bringing the cost down to 10 paise/km. This is how we make deliveries a reality. This is how we create a world where we’re doing billions of deliveries per day.
The tech is not there. The current cost of drone delivery is ₹100/km. We need to completely redefine the way things are done here. We’re building the world’s most efficient aircraft from the ground-up, and scaling that up to beyond anything the aerospace sector has ever seen. This cannot be an iterative process. We have to tear down all conventions and build everything up from scratch.
To do this, we need nothing less than the best engineers. The ones who care about building something fundamentally different, who are deeply curious about understanding the fundamentals of everything they’re working on, who are dreamers that believe in the impossible.
We are building something that hasn't existed before. This role owns the commercial side of how we buy — what it costs, who we buy it from, and how we keep leverage as we scale. You'll sit at the intersection of engineering and business, owning supplier selection and cost for our hardware. You're a commercial operator who can read a drawing and a cost model with equal fluency, build competition into a supply base that barely exists for a product like ours, and negotiate deals that hold up as volumes move from tens to thousands.
Supplier Strategy & Cost Negotiation
Own supplier selection and sourcing across mechanical, composite, and electronic commodities, building a diversified long-term roadmap while negotiating cost-down curves, multi-part/multi-year deals, and quarterly pricing cycles that give us leverage as volumes scale
Build should-cost models to challenge quotes line by line, partnering with engineering to intercept cost at the design stage and qualify alternate processes for real savings
Risk, Compliance & Executive Reporting
Own supply risk on constrained inputs — mapping single-source exposure, lead-time risk, and navigating export controls, licensing, and import compliance
Own cost roadmaps and supplier performance reporting, presenting sourcing decisions and cost positions to leadership and investors with scrutiny-ready analysis
4–6 years in strategic sourcing, global supply management, or commodity management
Outstanding negotiation skills backed by comprehensive global supply ecosystem fluency (tier-1 producers, capacity, raw material pricing, trade policy/export controls) and an existing network of suppliers, mills, converters, distributors, agents, and freight partners you can call on directly
Mechanical or technical acumen strong enough to negotiate on manufacturing process and design fundamentals, not just price. BE/BTech in Mechanical, Industrial, or Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent
Ability to toggle between strategic thinking and detail, and comfort executing independently in a dynamic, high-pressure environment
Experience in aerospace, automotive, or heavy industrial manufacturing, or cross-border sourcing under regulatory constraint
Ideally from a fast-paced startup, a hardware-centric company, or a complex manufacturing environment where you owned both the deal and the delivery
Work location: Hoskote, Bangalore (Headquarters)
Comprehensive health insurance to keep you and your loved ones covered
Relocation assistance and a daily travel stipend to ease your commute
Advanced salary credit to support you when you need it
“A driven, passionate team where you’ll have room to grow and thrive - this is more than just a job, it’s a rare opportunity to build something meaningful from the ground up”
In-office role, working alternate Saturdays.
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Airbound builds autonomous vertical-takeoff tail-sitter drones in Bengaluru that can carry payloads heavier than their own weight, aiming to compete with trucking for certain goods. The drones are designed and manufactured in-house, with the current TRT model weighing 3.3 lb and carrying about 2.2 lb, and future versions targeting up to 11 lb payload; manufacturing happens at a 43,000-square-foot facility. It has logged over 13,000 autonomous flights in Bengaluru and Guntur, including rapid diagnostic-sample transfers for Narayana Health, and is pursuing a multi-city logistics network with Andhra Pradesh. The company raised about $50 million to scale manufacturing and larger aircraft, while BVLOS regulation remains the main bottleneck, and its goal is to expand autonomous air-cargo networks to shorten delivery times and reduce logistics costs.
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