Supply Chain Executive Search
SYMBOTIC
IPO | Softbank · 2026
INVESTORS | Walmart · AIC T-hub · SVF Investment 3 · C&S Wholesale Grocers
A warehouse is a physics problem that most companies solve with people.
Symbotic builds the robotics and software that automate it: storing, retrieving, and sorting cases at a speed and density human-operated warehouses cannot reach. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers use it to make the supply chain faster and cheaper, and Walmart is both a customer and an investor.
the engagement
Symbotic came to 33eleven Partners in 2020 through Paul Arsenault, and we ran six searches over three years across finance, engineering, information security, and strategic sourcing, spanning the company's move into the public markets.
Six searches, and no two in the same function.
6
Searches completed
6
CANDIDATES PLACED
101
avg. days to close
1k+
executives evaluated
PLACEMENTS
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A CFO hired ahead of the public markets, at a company whose revenue model depends on multi-year automation deployments rather than recurring software.
111 days. 365 executives evaluated.
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Engineering leadership for a business where the product is physical, the failure modes are mechanical, and a bad release stops a warehouse.
278 days. 591 executives evaluated, the widest funnel of the engagement.
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A company that automates other people's supply chains still has to run its own, and its inputs are robotics components with long lead times.
Closed in 35 days. 166 executives evaluated.
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Depth beneath the VP hire, made in the same year.
Closed in 24 days, the fastest search in this engagement. 221 executives evaluated.
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Security leadership for a company whose systems run inside other companies' warehouses.
Closed in 49 days from a narrow pipeline of 27 executives.
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Sourcing leadership specific to electronics and manufacturing inputs, as production scaled.
111 days. 115 executives evaluated.
PARTNERSHIP INSIGHTS
Six searches, six different functions.
Most repeat engagements go deep in one area. Symbotic went wide: finance, engineering, information security, and three sourcing and supply chain roles, across three years.
That is what a hardware company scaling into public markets actually needs. The constraint moves. First it is capital and reporting, then it is whether the product ships reliably, then it is whether you can source the components to build it at volume, then it is whether the systems inside your customers' warehouses are secure.
A search partner who only knows your engineering org cannot help when the bottleneck moves to sourcing. Breadth across a client is worth as much as depth in one function.
RELATED WORK
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