Spares Inventory Planner
Etched
Location
San Jose
Employment Type
Full time
Location Type
On-site
Department
Production
About Etched
Etched is building the world’s first AI inference system purpose-built for transformers - delivering over 10x higher performance and dramatically lower cost and latency than a B200. With Etched ASICs, you can build products that would be impossible with GPUs, like real-time video generation models and extremely deep & parallel chain-of-thought reasoning agents. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.
Role Overview (What you’ll do)
As a Spares Inventory Planner at an AI infrastructure company, you’ll be responsible for the planning, controlling, and optimization of spares parts inventory across a network of depots. Your primary mission is to optimize and continuously tune min/max inventory levels (reorder points, safety stock, order quantities) so the right parts are in the right places at the right time—supporting system uptime and fast restoration—while balancing working capital and obsolescence risk. You’ll turn real-world demand signals (failures, RMAs, preventive maintenance, deployments) into clear stocking policies and daily replenishment/transfer actions.
What You Can Expect:
Design, own, and continuously improve analytical models and algorithms for min/max, reorder points, safety stock, and order quantities across a multi-depot spares network.
Build advanced Excel/Google Sheets tools and models that translate demand variability, lead times, part criticality, and service targets into stocking policies.
Convert real-world demand signals (failures, RMAs, incident tickets, preventive maintenance, deployments) into data-driven replenishment and positioning decisions.
Optimize inventory placement across central and edge depots using quantitative tradeoff analysis between response time, cost, and risk.
Maintain high-quality inventory master data and improve processes that impact analytical accuracy. Drive continuous improvement of Spares inventory parameters based on actual performance data, changing assumptions, and feedback loops.
Analyze lifecycle and obsolescence risk, supporting ECOs, alternates, last-time-buys, and controlled depletion strategies.
Build and maintain dashboards and reporting for fill rate, stockout risk, turns, days of supply, aging, and service performance.
Partner cross-functionally to communicate insights, risks, and service-versus-cash tradeoffs clearly.
Long-term lead the build out and implementation of the automated spares inventory planning and execution systems and tools
What We’re Looking For:
5+ years of experience in multi-echelon inventory planning, supply planning, spares/materials management, or a related analytical planning role.
Strong proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets, including complex formulas, pivots, scenario modeling, and large dataset analysis.
Demonstrated ability to build and tune min/max, safety stock, reorder point, and order quantity logic from first principles.
Comfort designing algorithms or structured models rather than relying solely on ERP system defaults.
Experience translating messy, failure-driven demand data into clear, actionable inventory decisions.
Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems and inventory or 3PL tools, with a strong focus on data accuracy.
Strong quantitative intuition around service-level, lead-time, and working-capital tradeoffs.
Detail-oriented, structured thinker who can own models, assumptions, and governance over time.
Ability to communicate analytical insights to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Comfortable operating in fast-changing, operationally complex environments.
Nice To Have
AI infrastructure/server/network hardware familiarity; repair loops/RMA/refurb flows; SQL/Python and BI tools (Looker/Tableau/Power BI); CPIM/CSCP.
Benefits
Full medical, dental, and vision packages, with generous premium coverage
Housing subsidy of $2,000/month for those living within walking distance of the office
Daily lunch and dinner in our office
Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)
How we’re different
Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We think most of the progress in the AI field has come from using more FLOPs to train and run models, and the best way to get more FLOPs is to build model-specific hardware. Larger and larger training runs encourage companies to consolidate around fewer model architectures, which creates a market for single-model ASICs.
We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both as needed.