Redwood Materials loses COO in layoffs and restructuring

Chris Lister, Redwood Materials’ chief operating officer, is leaving the battery recycling company to retire, TechCrunch has learned — and he’s not the only executive to leave recently.

Lister, a former vice president who led Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory operations, has been with Redwood since late 2023. He started as the company’s chief supply chain officer and was quickly promoted to the role of chief operating officer (COO) in 2024. The promotion moves him closer to Redwood founder and CEO JB Straubel on the organizational chart. He was Tesla’s chief technology officer for many years and currently serves on the automaker’s board of directors.

Redwood Materials recently informed employees that Lister was leaving the company, according to an employee authorized to speak anonymously about the announcement. The company confirmed Lister’s departure to TechCrunch on Thursday. “We wish him the best in his retirement,” a spokesperson said in an email.

News of Lister’s departure comes just days after TechCrunch revealed that Redwood Materials recently laid off about 10% of its workforce, or about 135 people.

These layoffs were part of a restructuring Straubel told employees in an email seen by TechCrunch earlier this week. He said the shuffle will help support the growth of the company’s energy storage business. Redwood recently signed an agreement with automaker Rivian and artificial intelligence company Crusoe to provide recycled batteries that can be used as grid storage.

Other executives have also left Redwood in recent months.

Bradley Mayhew, Redwood’s vice president of integrated supply chain and a former Tesla employee, left the company earlier this month, according to LinkedIn. Redwood’s vice president of mechanical engineering, Guillermo Urquiza, another former Tesla employee, left in March. Carlos Lozano, the company’s vice president of manufacturing, left Panasonic for a leadership role earlier this year, according to LinkedIn.

Mayhew, Urquiza and Lozano did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Redwood declined to comment specifically on their departures, but noted that Mr. Straubel said in an email to all employees that the company was looking to reduce management.

Strobel also told employees in a message that “parts of the company have expanded faster than we should have,” and that he is “more excited than ever about our future development in building the world’s most integrated, cost-effective, and critical materials and energy storage business.”

“We believe we can deliver important projects with smaller, more focused teams,” he wrote. “We have successfully adapted to changes in the market that have driven many of our competitors into bankruptcy.”