---
title: 'Expediter - Directs (Contract) at Humanoid'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/expediter-directs-contract-humanoid-london-vs0j4dzd7qvm'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-12'
---

# Expediter - Directs (Contract) at Humanoid

- **Company:** [Humanoid](https://feeny.ai/companies/humanoid)
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-11-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/humanoid/c75ec107-096f-4b77-8c7a-7a8763915819

## Job description

Here at Humanoid, we believe in a future where robots amplify human potential. That’s why we’ve set out on a mission to build the world’s most capable, commercially-scalable, and safe humanoid robots. We’re bringing that mission to life with HMND‑01 - our rapidly developed humanoid platform being deployed in real industrial environments - and we’re growing the team to take it even further.

## About the Role

We’re hiring 1 x Expediter - Directs on a fixed-term contract to join our team based in London, UK. This is an initial 6-month contract, not a permanent role, reporting into the Global Head of Procurement & Supply Chain with cross reporting to Senior Buyers and Site SCM Managers across London, Vancouver & Boston.

## What You'll Do

We are seeking an Expediter - Directs for a hands-on operational supply chain role that owns every open purchase order from the point of placement through to receipt. The role supports the Global Head of Procurement & Supply Chain, the Senior Buyers and the Site SCM Managers, with the London Beta 1 build as the primary focus, and will from time to time pick up expediting activity for our Boston and Vancouver sites. You will be the single point of contact for open order status across Mechanical, Electronics, Electromechanical and Cables & Harnessing commodities, and the voice of supplier delivery performance into Production, Engineering, Planning and Quality.

Operational Responsibilities

- Own the open order book: track every open PO from placement to goods receipt and keep status, promised dates and quantities current in the open order tracker (Google Sheets) and Jira.
- Secure supplier order acknowledgements within 48 hours of PO placement and challenge any confirmed date that does not meet the required date.
- Proactively expedite critical and late orders with suppliers by phone and email, negotiating pull-ins, split deliveries and partial shipments where this protects the build.
- Run a daily shortage and late order review with the buyers and planning team, prioritised against the build schedule and clear-to-build dates.
- Escalate at-risk deliveries early with a clear recovery plan, options and impact, rather than reporting them once they are late.
- Coordinate inbound logistics with the Global Logistics Manager and freight forwarders: collection bookings, shipping documentation, Incoterms, customs paperwork, tracking and proof of delivery.
- Confirm receipts with Goods In and the warehouse team and chase discrepancies (short, over, damaged, wrong part or revision) through to closure with the supplier.
- Resolve receipt and invoice mismatches with the buyers and Finance so POs can be closed and suppliers paid on time.
- Support the buyers with PO amendments (date, quantity and revision changes) and ensure suppliers acknowledge every change.
- Chase first article inspection reports, certificates of conformity and material certifications where required ahead of shipment.
- Maintain accurate supplier contact, lead time and delivery performance data; report on-time delivery and supplier responsiveness weekly.
- Drive continuous improvement of the expediting process, the tracker and the supplier communication cadence.
- Support Production, Engineering, Quality and Planning teams with accurate, timely material availability information.
- Directly support the SCM team in London and pick up expediting activities for Boston and Vancouver when needed, working across time zones with the local buyers.

This role owns the delivery performance of orders already placed. It does not place purchase orders, negotiate pricing or own supplier selection decisions.

## What We're Looking For

## Experience & Qualifications

- 3+ years of expediting, procurement operations, material control or supply chain experience in manufacturing, robotics, technology, aerospace/defence or automotive.
- Proven track record of running an open order book of several hundred lines across engineered parts (machined, sheet metal, cast, PCBA, cables) and catalogue items.
- Experience in a new product introduction or low-volume build environment where priorities and schedules move daily.
- Experience of working in a fast-paced, high-growth or start-up environment with tight build deadlines, shifting priorities and limited process maturity.
- Working knowledge of Incoterms, basic import/export documentation and inbound freight.
- Strong with numbers and data: able to analyse open order, lead time and delivery data, spot trends and exceptions, and present a clear, accurate picture of supply status.
- Awareness of export controls (including EAR) relevant to robotics and technology.
- CIPS or APICS qualification desirable, not essential.

Technical Skills

- Proficient in Google Workspace (Sheets in particular), Jira and Slack; able to build and maintain an open order tracker from scratch.
- Experience with MRP/ERP systems desirable; this role runs on Jira and Google Sheets rather than a formal ERP.
- Strong numerical accuracy and attention to detail, comfortable reconciling lead times, quantities, dates and revisions.
- Able to read a BOM, understand part numbers, drawing revisions and change control.

Behavioural Skills

- Persistent and tenacious with suppliers while remaining professional; comfortable on the phone every day.
- Highly organised with relentless attention to detail; nothing is allowed to drop.
- Calm under pressure and able to prioritise many competing demands in a fast-paced, engineering-driven environment.
- Clear communicator who gives stakeholders a straight, factual status.
- Professional, motivated, and able to operate autonomously.

## What We Offer

- Competitive day rate, based on experience
- Office perks: free breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and regular team events
- Collaboration with top-tier engineers, researchers, and product experts in robotics
- Startup culture prioritising speed, transparency, and minimal bureaucracy

## About Humanoid

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Humanoid builds commercially scalable, safe, and reliable humanoid robots designed to automate labor-intensive industrial tasks across warehousing, logistics, manufacturing, and retail.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom (HQ) with offices in Cambridge, MA, USA; Burnaby, BC, Canada; and additional presence in Germany, Georgia, and the UAE.
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Artem Sokolov (CEO & Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Robotics Engineering, Humanoid Robotics, Industrial Automation, Artificial Intelligence
- **Target customers**: B2B / Enterprise — industrial sectors including retail, e-commerce, third-party logistics (3PL), manufacturing, and automotive.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Empowering humanity by building the most reliable, safe, and helpful humanoid robots.” The company aims to free people from repetitive, dangerous, and tedious work, allowing them to engage in more creative and meaningful activities.

## Products & Services
- **HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled**: A robust industrial-grade wheeled humanoid robot designed for material handling, pick-and-place, and visual inspection in warehouses and factories. Prioritizes reliability, low total cost of ownership (TCO), and minimal maintenance.
- **HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal**: A bipedal humanoid robot for more complex environments requiring advanced locomotion, navigation of confined spaces, and higher dexterity. Features human-level manipulation speeds and walking speeds up to 1.5 m/s.
- **KinetIQ**: An AI framework for orchestrating fleets of humanoid robots across both wheeled and bipedal platforms, enabling centralized control and task optimization.
- **Modular Garments**: Exchangeable protective “garments” that allow HMND 01 robots to adapt to different use cases and environments, minimizing contamination and collision damage while enabling functional customization.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$50 million** (Seed round closed October 2025, with 1 lead investor).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Strategic partners include leading global companies in AI, cloud computing, and research. Specific partner names are not publicly listed on the website, but the company highlights collaboration with commercial partners to scale deployment.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew **139.2% YoY** to ~182 employees (as of mid-2026), with 65 active job postings.
  - Opened offices in London, Boston, and Vancouver within its first year.
  - Team includes talent recruited from major robotics and AI firms: Sanctuary AI, Boston Dynamics, Dyson, Arrival, Ocado Technology, 1X, Wayve, Apptronik, and Brain Corp.
  - Focus on initial target sectors representing a combined $12 trillion in annual payroll and 250 million workers.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Human-centric design**: The world is already designed for humans, so humanoids can seamlessly integrate into existing environments without costly redesign.
- **Modularity**: HMND 01’s hardware/software modularity enables multi-task performance and easy repurposing, reducing the need for specialized robots.
- **Reliability & low TCO**: Prioritizing hardware and software stability over raw performance to deliver industrial-grade robustness suitable for mass commercialization.
- **KinetIQ fleet orchestration AI**: Proprietary framework for managing mixed fleets of wheeled and bipedal robots, differentiating from competitors focused on single-form-factor robots.
- **Experienced leadership**: CEO Artem Sokolov previously scaled a family manufacturing business into a billion-dollar enterprise (EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2021). The CTO, Jarad Cannon, has extensive experience translating research into deployment-ready robotics systems.

## Strategic Focus
- **Near-term (2027)**: Deploy robots for physical tasks in manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and retail — tackling repetitive, dangerous, and tedious manual work.
- **Medium-term (2029)**: Expand into the service sector, targeting the 70-80% of the global economy that will be services, with a focus on assisting an aging population (1.4B people over 60).
- **Long-term (2031+)**: Enter households as assistants and companions, potentially revolutionizing everyday life across 3.5 billion homes.
- **Core strategy**: Partner with leading global companies in AI, cloud, and research for technology development, and with commercial partners for scaled deployment. The company believes the humanoid TAM will reach $38 billion by 2035 and $1 trillion by 2050.

## Why Work Here
- **High-growth environment**: Company grew headcount by 139% in a single year, indicating rapid scaling and opportunity for career advancement. 65+ open roles suggest strong hiring momentum.
- **Talent from top robotics firms**: Team includes alumni from Boston Dynamics, Sanctuary AI, Dyson, Ocado Technology, Arrival, Wayve, and others — offering a deep learning and collaboration environment.
- **Technical focus**: Engineering and technical roles represent 38% of the workforce, with senior-level hires at 23% of the team. The company emphasizes hardware, AI, machine learning, and control systems.
- **Mission-driven**: Clear purpose to automate undesirable, unsafe, and repetitive work — appealing to candidates who want to make a tangible societal impact.
- **Global presence**: Offices in London (HQ), Cambridge (USA), and Burnaby (Canada), plus operations in 16 countries — offering potential for international mobility and remote collaboration.
- **Innovation culture**: Described as a place where engineers and researchers “move from demo to deployment” and “not just in the lab.” The CTO emphasizes building systems that perform in the real world from day one.
- **Office/Hybrid policy**: Not explicitly stated, but the company has physical offices in three countries and a distributed team across 16 nations — likely supports hybrid/remote with in-office collaboration for engineering roles.

## Sources
1. [thehumanoid.ai](https://thehumanoid.ai/)
2. [thehumanoid.ai/about-us/](https://thehumanoid.ai/about-us/)
3. [thehumanoid.ai/team/](https://thehumanoid.ai/team/)
4. [thehumanoid.ai/careers/](https://thehumanoid.ai/careers/)
5. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/humanoidai)
6. [Jobs.ashbyhq.com/humanoid](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/humanoid)

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