Redwood Materials COO Chris Lister retires following promotion and company restructuring

Redwood Materials chief operating officer Chris Lister is leaving the company to retire, TechCrunch reported. Lister has been with Redwood Materials since late 2023, starting as chief supply chain officer before his promotion to chief operating officer in 2024. He previously served as a vice president leading operations at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory.

Redwood Materials informed employees that Lister was retiring, according to an unattributed employee. The retirement comes amid broader changes at Redwood Materials, including layoffs of around 10% of its workforce, or roughly 135 employees, as part of a recent restructuring, TechCrunch reported.

JB Straubel, the founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, told employees about the restructuring in an email.

Straubel, who was Tesla’s longtime chief technology officer and currently sits on Tesla’s board, stated that the restructuring will help support the company’s growing energy storage business. Redwood Materials has signed deals with automaker Rivian and artificial intelligence company Crusoe to provide refurbished batteries for grid storage.

Other executives have also left Redwood Materials recently.

Bradley Mayhew, the vice president of integrated supply chain and a former Tesla employee, departed earlier this month, according to LinkedIn. Guillermo Urquiza, Redwood’s vice president of mechanical engineering and another former Tesla employee, left the company in March, TechCrunch reported.

Carlos Lozano, the vice president of manufacturing, exited earlier this year for a leadership role at Panasonic, according to LinkedIn.

In his all-staff email, Straubel stated that he is trying to reduce layers of management at Redwood Materials.