Plant Supplier Quality Engineer (Automotive)

Job Title: Plant Supplier Quality Engineer (Automotive)
Location: Hayward, CA (Onsite) - Prefer Local or someone willing to relocate to Hayward, CA
Interview mode - web- zoom

Job Description:

The Plant Supplier Quality Engineer will be a critical member of the company s Supplier Quality team, focused on protecting the assembly line and ensuring that all incoming supplier-provided components meet quality specifications at the point of use. This role is responsible for immediate containment, robust problem solving, and driving cross-functional corrective actions for non-conforming material within the assembly plant. The ideal candidate will be proactive, energetic, detail-oriented, and able to thrive in a fast-paced, high-volume manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities:

• Assembly Line Protection & Containment: Act as the first responder to all supplier material quality issues identified on the assembly line, in receiving, or in pre-assembly inspection areas. Immediately implement containment activities (e.g., sort, rework, scrap, Stop Shipment) to prevent line disruptions.
• Non-Conformance Management (NCM): Own the in-plant disposition of non-conforming materials. Raise and manage Non-Conformance Reports, ensuring proper segregation, identification, and disposition of affected parts.
• Problem Solving & Corrective Action: Lead Corrective Actions for in-plant supplier quality issues, partnering directly with the Manufacturing, Vehicle Engineering, and the Supplier Quality Engineer that manages the supplier site.
• Assembly Process Support: Work closely with Manufacturing and Vehicle Systems Engineering to assess the immediate impact of part quality issues on the assembly process. Identify and support changes to assembly operations/work instructions required due to temporary supplier deviations.
• Part Quality Metrics: Be responsible for analyzing and reporting the in-plant supplier quality metrics, including line fallout rates, non-conformance trends, and containment effectiveness to leadership.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify systemic quality risks based on in-plant failures and collaborate with the SQE team to improve upstream processes (APQP, PPAP) and prevent recurrence.

Qualifications:

• Minimum Bachelor s degree in Mechanical, Industrial Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in a Plant Quality, Manufacturing Quality, or Supplier Quality role within a high-volume manufacturing environment (Automotive, Aviation, or similar industries are preferred).
• Demonstrated experience in a production plant environment with a strong understanding of assembly line operations and the impact of material quality on production flow.
• Expertise in Problem-Solving Techniques: Proven experience using structured methodologies such as 8D, Six-Sigma (Green/Black Belt preferred), Fish Bone Analysis, 5 Whys, and statistical analysis.
• Strong Core Quality Tool Knowledge: Working knowledge of Process Flow Diagrams, Process FMEAs, Control Plans, Statistical Process Control (SPC), and Measurement System Analysis (MSA).
• Familiarity with supplier quality processes such as APQP and PPAP is beneficial, with a focus on evaluating their effectiveness based on in-plant performance.
• Solid knowledge of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) for rapid part assessment.
• Fully literate in Microsoft computer applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.