Hiring Supply Chain Engineers: The Complete Guide

# Supply Chain Engineer

**Location:** San Francisco, CA (Hybrid) · **Employment Type:** Full-time · **Level:** Mid-Senior

## About [Company]

[Company] is an e-commerce fulfillment platform shipping 5 million packages monthly across a network of 50 fulfillment centers. Our supply chain systems are the backbone of our operations—every inventory decision, order allocation, and shipping choice directly impacts customer experience.

When supply chain works well, orders ship same-day and customers are delighted. When it doesn't, packages are late, inventory sits in the wrong places, and costs balloon. Your software makes the difference.

**Why join [Company]?**

- Work on supply chain at serious scale—5M monthly shipments, 50 warehouses
- Solve real optimization problems with direct business impact
- See your improvements reflected in operational metrics
- Join a 10-person supply chain team within a 150-person engineering org
- Series C company with strong unit economics
- Competitive compensation with meaningful equity

## The Role

We're looking for a Supply Chain Engineer to help us optimize our logistics operations. You'll work on inventory management, order allocation, demand forecasting, and the systems that keep products moving efficiently from warehouses to customers.

Supply chain engineering sits at the intersection of software and physical operations. You'll work closely with warehouse managers, logistics partners, and operations teams. Your algorithms affect real warehouses, real inventory, and real deliveries.

The ideal candidate has experience building logistics software and understands the unique challenges: inventory that exists in multiple places, orders that need fast fulfillment, and forecasts that are never perfect.

## What You'll Work On

### First 30 Days
- Onboard to our supply chain stack, inventory systems, and fulfillment workflows
- Understand our warehouse network, carrier integrations, and operational challenges
- Ship your first improvement (inventory logic, allocation, or integration)

### First 90 Days
- Own a supply chain system component (inventory, fulfillment, or forecasting)
- Contribute to efficiency or accuracy improvements
- Build relationships with operations and warehouse teams
- Understand seasonal patterns and planning cycles

### First Year
- Lead supply chain initiatives with measurable cost or efficiency impact
- Architect improvements to our logistics infrastructure
- Develop new capabilities (multi-warehouse optimization, dynamic allocation)
- Establish supply chain engineering best practices

## Objectives of This Role

- Reduce fulfillment time through better order allocation
- Improve inventory positioning to reduce shipping costs
- Increase forecast accuracy for demand planning
- Scale systems for 2x volume growth
- Build monitoring and alerting for supply chain health

## Responsibilities

**Inventory & Allocation (50%)**
- Build and improve inventory management systems
- Design order allocation logic for multi-warehouse fulfillment
- Implement inventory replenishment algorithms
- Handle inventory reconciliation and accuracy
- Build inventory visibility across the network

**Optimization & Forecasting (30%)**
- Implement demand forecasting for planning
- Optimize inventory positioning across warehouses
- Build algorithms for shipping carrier selection
- Create simulation tools for capacity planning
- Balance service level with cost efficiency

**Integration & Operations (20%)**
- Integrate with carriers and shipping systems
- Build warehouse management system connections
- Create dashboards for operations visibility
- Support peak season planning and execution
- Collaborate with operations on process improvements

## Required Skills and Qualifications

**Technical Skills**
- 4+ years of software engineering experience
- 2+ years in supply chain, logistics, or e-commerce
- Strong understanding of inventory management concepts
- Data analysis and SQL expertise
- Integration experience with external systems
- Proficiency in Python, Java, or similar languages

**Domain Knowledge**
- Familiarity with fulfillment operations
- Understanding of shipping and logistics
- Experience with demand/supply planning concepts

**Soft Skills**
- Collaboration with non-technical operations teams
- Clear communication about system capabilities and limitations
- Analytical approach to operational problems

## Preferred Skills and Qualifications

- Demand forecasting experience (statistical methods, ML)
- Optimization algorithm experience (OR, linear programming)
- Warehouse management system experience
- Multi-location inventory experience
- Background in operations research
- E-commerce or retail fulfillment experience

## Tech Stack

**Backend:** Python, PostgreSQL, custom optimization services

**Data:** Snowflake, dbt, Airflow for pipelines

**Integration:** Carrier APIs, WMS integrations, EDI

**Infrastructure:** AWS, Kubernetes

**Analytics:** Looker, custom operations dashboards

## Compensation and Benefits

**Salary:** $140,000 - $185,000 (based on experience)

**Equity:** 0.04% - 0.12% (4-year vest, 1-year cliff)

**Benefits:**

*Health & Wellness*
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance (100% covered)
- $100/month wellness stipend
- Mental health support through Modern Health

*Time Off*
- Unlimited PTO with 15-day minimum encouraged
- 11 paid company holidays
- 16 weeks paid parental leave

*Professional Development*
- $2,000 annual learning budget
- Supply chain and logistics conferences
- Internal operations and logistics training

*Financial*
- 401(k) with 4% company match
- Equity refresh grants annually

*Workspace*
- $1,500 home office setup allowance
- Hybrid work (2-3 days in SF office)
- Opportunity to visit fulfillment centers

## Engineering Culture

**How we work:**
- Operations-informed engineering—we understand the physical reality
- Data-driven decisions—measure impact before and after
- Close collaboration with warehouse and logistics teams
- Peak season planning and support
- Blameless post-mortems after issues

**What we value:**
- Operational efficiency with real cost impact
- Customer experience through reliable fulfillment
- Partnership with operations teams
- Practical solutions over theoretical optimums
- Work-life balance (peak seasons are supported)

## Interview Process

Our interview process typically takes 2 weeks.

- **Step 1: Recruiter Screen** (30 min)
  Background discussion and role overview.

- **Step 2: Technical Screen** (60 min)
  Backend fundamentals and supply chain concepts.

- **Step 3: Supply Chain Deep Dive** (75 min)
  Technical discussion about inventory, fulfillment, and your experience.

- **Step 4: System Design** (75 min)
  Design a supply chain system component.

- **Step 5: Cross-Functional** (45 min)
  Discussion with operations partner about collaboration.

- **Step 6: Team Interview** (30 min)
  Meet potential teammates.

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*[Company] is an equal opportunity employer.*