Senior Supply Engineer (K7, K1 Family, H1)

About Knightscope

Knightscope is a security technology company building the Nation’s First Autonomous Security Force. The Company combines autonomous machines, advanced software, and human expertise to help protect people, property, and critical infrastructure. Knightscope’s long-term mission is to make the United States of America the safest country in the world

Job Summary

Knightscope is seeking a Senior Supply Engineer to own the strategic supplier relationships that power our hardware programs — the K7 Autonomous Security Robot, the K1 family (Hemisphere, Capsule, Super Tower), and the H1 wearable Augmented Security Agent platform. This senior individual-contributor role on the ASR Engineering team builds the commercial, technical, and relational framework required to supply design-led, low-volume, custom-heavy physical AI platforms reliably, affordably, and with the responsiveness autonomous systems demand.

About the Role

Reporting to the K7 Chief Program Engineer and partnering closely with the K1/H1 Chief Program Engineer, you will own the top-30% supplier portfolio in each program — by cost or by criticality — and build the multi-year, multi-million-dollar strategic agreements that determine the pace and cost of every program ramp. The role exists because Knightscope’s hardware programs have accumulated strategic supplier dependencies that require supplier engineering attention a transactional procurement function was never designed to provide. You will sit inside the CPE arc at our Sunnyvale HQ — when a supplier issue surfaces, you own it until it is resolved.

Location Requirement: Full-time, on-site at Sunnyvale HQ (No relocation provided)

Key Responsibilities

• Build the commercial framework, with compliance built in — negotiate Master Purchase Agreements with volume-based pricing, tariff-deferred offshore stocking (TAA countries only), warranty terms fit for mission-critical use, and forecast/cancellation mechanisms. Maintain a TAA- and BABA-compliant portfolio with no PRC sourcing for parts or embedded software, and structure tooling investments that protect Knightscope’s IP.
• Provide ready-five technical escalation — build direct relationships with the principal engineers at every top-30% supplier; make hot-fix, failure analysis, and design consultation accessible in hours rather than weeks; read drawings, understand the platform at module level, and write the engineering escalation email yourself.
• Transition sourcing in-house — lead the two-step handoff of integration-partner-sourced BOM lines to direct Knightscope ownership, transfer customer-of-record status at each strategic supplier, and reduce outside consulting spend by substituting your own sourcing capability.
• Run the co-marketing and reference partner program — structure the non-monetary value Knightscope offers suppliers (visibility on a deployed physical AI platform, case studies, “powered by” branding) as a commercial lever, in coordination with the Chief Design Officer and Creative Director.
• Wean the BOM off catalog-sourced parts — transition high-spend catalog lines (McMaster-Carr, Digi-Key, distributor stock) to volume-sourced alternates as production warrants, structuring release agreements that preserve responsiveness without retail pricing.
• Own embedded subsystem supplier strategy — track the AI compute and embedded vision ecosystem (NVIDIA Jetson, Qualcomm, Ambarella, Hailo, TI, Mobileye), keep Knightscope a credible partner, and re-engineer accumulated dependencies so Knightscope drives technical direction.
• Drive supplier cyber compliance and software supply chain security — qualify suppliers against NIST 800-171, CMMC, SBOM completeness, and signed-update mechanisms, serving as the supply-chain-side counterpart to the Director of Cybersecurity through contract language and ongoing posture monitoring.

Required Qualifications

• Senior engineer, 10+ years, with strategic supplier engineering experience in low-volume, high-complexity, custom-heavy product development.
• Automotive industry background required — must walk in already speaking automotive vocabulary and cadence fluently.
• Fluent in automotive supplier-development cadence: APQP, PPAP, IATF 16949, ISO 26262 (functional safety / ASIL), run-at-rate validation, tooling kickoff, SOP/SORP dates, PSW signoff, and supplier scorecards.
• Strong background sourcing and qualifying low-volume molded parts at production scale — composite, SMC/RIM, and/or large-format injection-molded, ideally including outdoor-rated body panels or structural enclosures.
• Demonstrated experience managing the transition from prototype manufacturing methods to production tooling, including tooling investment structuring and DFM coordination with industrial designers.
• Fluent in the McMaster-Carr and Digi-Key catalogs as deliberate engineering tools, with the discipline to wean parts off catalog sourcing as volumes mature.
• Fluent in TAA and BABA compliance and country-of-origin documentation; familiar with software supply chain security frameworks (NIST 800-171, CMMC, SBOM) and able to enforce them through supplier qualification and contract language.
• Engineering degree required; Mechanical Engineering preferred.
• Comfortable in both technical and commercial conversations with supplier engineering leadership; patient, detail-oriented, and commercially savvy without being mercenary. Able to work on-site at Sunnyvale HQ, with travel to suppliers as needed (approx. 15–25%).

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $165,000 – $190,000 (DOE)
• Equity: Stock options
• Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off
• Location Requirement: Full-time, on-site at Sunnyvale HQ