Location: Shelbyville, TN
Salary: $80,000.00 USD Annually - $110,000.00 USD Annually
Description: Customer Quality Engineer
Direct Hire
Start Date - ASAP
Location: Shelbyville, TN
Work Arrangement: Onsite
Salary: $80,000 - $110,000
Position Overview We are seeking an experienced Customer Quality Engineer to support major automotive OEM customers, including Ford and GM programs. This individual will serve as a primary quality liaison between the customer and internal engineering, manufacturing, and supplier teams.
The Customer Quality Engineer will take ownership of customer quality concerns, lead root cause investigations, drive corrective actions, and support new product launches and production readiness activities. The ideal candidate brings a strong Tier 1 automotive manufacturing background, direct OEM customer interaction experience, and the ability to independently manage quality issues in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Key Responsibilities - Serve as the primary quality contact for assigned automotive OEM customers, including Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and other major automotive manufacturers.
- Manage customer complaints, quality concerns, escalations, and warranty-related issues from initial notification through permanent resolution.
- Lead containment activities, root cause investigations, and corrective action efforts using methodologies such as 8D, 5 Why, and other problem-solving tools.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams across engineering, manufacturing, supplier quality, and program management to resolve quality issues.
- Support Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), and new program launch activities.
- Participate in launch readiness reviews, product trials, validation activities, Safe Launch, SOP, and production ramp-up.
- Support engineering changes, process improvements, tooling and gauge validation, and customer part approval requirements.
- Monitor customer quality performance, including PPM, rejects, returns, warranty concerns, scrap, and customer scorecards.
- Develop, maintain, and present quality documentation, corrective action reports, control plans, PFMEAs, and other customer deliverables.
- Participate in customer meetings, audits, plant visits, and quality reviews.
- Proactively communicate quality risks, investigation progress, corrective action plans, and resolution status to customers.
Required Qualifications - 7+ years of automotive quality experience, preferably within a Tier 1 automotive supplier.
- Direct experience supporting Ford, General Motors, Honda or Nissan.
- Direct experience working with automotive OEM customers in a customer-facing quality role.
- Experience supporting automotive product launches, new program introductions, or production readiness activities.
- Strong working knowledge of APQP, PPAP, 8D, 5 Why, root cause analysis, containment, and corrective action processes.
- Demonstrated ability to lead customer quality concerns and coordinate cross-functional problem-solving activities.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical quality issues directly to customers.
- Ability to work independently, prioritize competing quality concerns, and drive issues through resolution.
Preferred Qualifications - Background in HVAC systems, thermal management, plastics, injection molding, or large assembly manufacturing.
- Experience supporting production launches, Safe Launch, run-at-rate activities, SOP, and production ramp-up.
- Familiarity with PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, SPC, GD&T, and IATF 16949 quality systems.
- Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or higher).
- Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) or Certified Quality Auditor (CQA).
Ideal Candidate Profile The successful candidate is a hands-on automotive quality professional who understands both the technical and customer-facing sides of manufacturing quality. They can confidently manage OEM relationships, lead structured problem-solving efforts, coordinate internal teams, and support new program launches.
This individual should be comfortable taking ownership of customer concerns with minimal supervision and driving issues from initial containment through verified permanent corrective action.
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