Director, Hardware Operations & Supply Chain

Napster
Napster

Other Engineering, Operations

United States

Posted on Jun 23, 2026
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Director, Hardware Operations & Supply Chain

Reports To: EVP, Strategic Execution

Location: Remote (U.S.)

About Napster

Napster is building the future of AI-powered experiences.

From visible AI agents and digital experts to voice, video, and real-time AI interactions, we're creating products that make AI more human, useful, and accessible. As we expand our ecosystem of AI-powered solutions, hardware will play an increasingly important role in bringing these experiences to life.

We're looking for a Director, Hardware Operations & Supply Chain to build and scale the operational foundation that supports our growing hardware business.

The Role

The Director, Hardware Operations & Supply Chain serves as the operational owner of Napster's hardware business, driving execution across supply chain, manufacturing, logistics, launch readiness, financial performance, and customer operations.

Reporting directly to the EVP, Strategic Execution, this role is responsible for building and scaling the operational infrastructure required to support Napster's hardware offerings. The Director will work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Finance, Partnerships, Support, and external partners to ensure successful product launches, operational excellence, and business growth.

The Director, Hardware Operations & Supply Chain will lead manufacturing, supply chain, certification, logistics, fulfillment, service, repair, reverse logistics, and lifecycle support for Napster's hardware portfolio. Partnering closely with Product and Engineering, this role is responsible for operationalizing hardware products from design-lock through production, launch, and ongoing field operations.

This is an operations and logistics leadership role, not a product-management or hardware-design role. Product and Engineering retain ownership of product definition, design, roadmap, and software development. This role owns the operational execution required to manufacture, certify, launch, support, and scale hardware products.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on operator who thrives in fast-paced environments, learns quickly, communicates effectively, takes ownership, and consistently delivers results.

Responsibilities

Hardware Operations

  • Lead day-to-day operational execution for Napster's hardware business.
  • Build scalable operating models that support growth, efficiency, and profitability.
  • Drive cross-functional alignment across Product, Engineering, Finance, Partnerships, Customer Success, and Leadership.
  • Establish KPIs, reporting, and governance processes to monitor business performance.

Manufacturing & Vendor Management

  • Own contract-manufacturer and ODM relationships, capacity planning, quarterly business reviews, yield and quality-escape management, and corrective action.
  • Run the warranty, RMA, and service-level framework behind every deployed unit.

Supply Chain & Logistics

  • Lead demand planning and S&OP, inventory and safety-stock strategy, spares planning, 3PL and depot operations, and reverse logistics.
  • Manage Strategic relationships with hardware manufacturers, suppliers, and fulfillment partners.
  • Manage sourcing, manufacturing, inventory planning, fulfillment, and logistics operations.
  • Monitor supply chain performance and implement improvements to cost, quality, and delivery.
  • Identify and mitigate operational and supply chain risks.
  • Plan parts availability, end-of-life, and last-time-buy to support multi-year deployments.

Quality & Reliability

  • Own the quality system, incoming acceptance and DOA standards, RMA and failure analysis, FRACAS, 8D/CAPA, and AFR/MTBF targets.
  • Oversee durability and reliability validation and field-reliability monitoring.

Product Launch Readiness

  • Drive launch readiness and operational execution for all new hardware introduced by Product and Engineering.
  • Coordinate manufacturing, inventory, fulfillment, support, and partner readiness activities.
  • Own operational readiness through the build and validation phases (EVT/DVT/PVT, pilot builds) and the production ramp behind each launch.
  • Ensure products deploy on time and at scale.

Change & Lifecycle Operations

  • Operationalize product changes through disciplined change control (BOM, ECO/ECN via PLM/ERP), re-certification sequencing, sourcing, spares, inventory, and customer notice. Product and Engineering decide the change; this role operationalizes it.
  • Run lifecycle and continuity planning so that deployed hardware stays supportable over its full life.

Fleet & Service Operations

  • Manage owned and leased hardware fleets, uptime and service commitments, field service, installation, repair, spares, and the asset lifecycle from deployment through refresh.

Certifications & Trade Compliance

  • Lead product certification and regulatory and trade compliance (e.g., FCC, CE, UL/ETL, RoHS, REACH, WEEE) and the import work that enables new-region expansion (importer-of-record, duties, VAT).

Financial & Business Operations

  • Support forecasting, budgeting, pricing, margin analysis, and profitability management.
  • Partner with Finance to develop business models and operating plans.
  • Drive operational improvements that enhance financial performance.

Customer & Partner Operations

  • Develop scalable support frameworks for customers and partners.
  • Ensure high-quality post-sale support, fulfillment, and operational service delivery.
  • Manage operational relationships with key external partners.

Cross-Functional Partnership on Specialized Domains

  • Partner with Legal, Finance, InfoSec, and Product on specialized domains, commercial and contract terms, payment compliance, data and device security, and product safety, and drive resolution of commercial, compliance, and service-model decisions.

What We're Looking For

Required

  • 8+ years of experience in tech hardware operations, supply chain, and manufacturing
  • Strong understanding of manufacturing, logistics, inventory management, and fulfillment operations.
  • Proven ability to manage complex cross-functional initiatives.
  • Strong financial and analytical skills.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
  • Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth environments.
  • Experience working with overseas manufacturers
  • Hands-on experience managing ODMs, contract manufacturers, 3PLs, or repair/depot partners.
  • Experience taking hardware from late-stage prototype or design-lock through pilot build, production ramp, launch, and lifecycle support.
  • Working knowledge of BOM/change control, warranty, RMA, and reverse logistics.
  • Ability to build operating rhythms, KPIs, and cross-functional governance across Product, Engineering, Finance, Support, and partners.
  • Strong commercial judgment and vendor-management skills.

Preferred

  • Leased fleets, kiosks, field service, uptime SLAs, spares pools, or advance-replacement models.
  • International certifications and trade compliance (FCC, CE, UL/ETL, RoHS, WEEE, importer-of-record, duties, VAT, or regional market entry).
  • Payment-enabled hardware, PCI-DSS, EMV, P2PE, or payment-reader provisioning.
  • Consumer electronics fulfillment, retail/e-commerce returns, or multi-channel hardware support.
  • High-growth, ambiguous, or founder-led environments where operational systems are built from scratch.

Success in This Role

  • Ensure each hardware launch is operationally ready; Production, inventory, fulfillment, and service in place ahead of go-live.
  • Build a reliable, scalable supply chain and operational infrastructure.
  • Improve operational efficiency, margins, and customer satisfaction.
  • Create visibility through strong reporting, metrics, and governance.
  • Serve as the driving force behind operational execution for Napster's hardware business.

Why Join Napster?

You'll have the opportunity to help build the operational foundation behind a rapidly growing AI company. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys taking ownership, solving complex problems, and driving results in a fast-moving environment where they can make an immediate impact.

Apply now
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