quality assurance supplier engineer

The Quality Assurance Supplier Engineer is responsible for ensuring that all materials, components, and products sourced from suppliers meet the company’s quality standards and regulatory requirements. This role bridges the gap between procurement and quality control, working closely with suppliers, internal stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to drive continuous improvement, reduce risk, and ensure compliance throughout the supply chain.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Assurance & Control:
- Develop and implement supplier quality assurance plans and inspection procedures.
- Conduct supplier audits and assessments to ensure compliance with ISO standards, internal requirements and sustainability and ethical standards.
- Evaluate supplier practices related to environmental impact, labor conditions, and corporate governance.
- Monitor and analyze supplier performance metrics (PPM, OTIF, NCRs, etc.).
- Investigate and resolve supplier quality issues using root cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions (CAPA).
- Collaborate with internal QC teams to align incoming inspection criteria and sampling plans.
- Maintain documentation related to supplier quality, including certificates, audit reports, and quality agreements.

Procurement Support:
- Work with the procurement team to evaluate and qualify new suppliers based on quality, cost, and delivery performance.
- Participate in supplier selection and onboarding processes.
- Support sourcing decisions by providing quality risk assessments and technical input.
- Ensure suppliers meet contractual quality requirements and specifications.
- Assist in negotiating quality-related terms in supplier contracts and agreements.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Liaise with R&D, production, and logistics teams to ensure supplier components meet design and operational requirements.
- Support new product introduction (NPI) by validating supplier capabilities and first article inspections (FAI).
- Lead or support supplier development initiatives and continuous improvement projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or a related field.

• 3–5 years of experience in supplier quality engineering, quality control, or procurement in a manufacturing or industrial environment.

• Strong knowledge of quality systems (ISO 9001, etc.) and tools (FMEA, 8D, SPC, etc.).

• Experience with supplier audits and quality agreements.

• Familiarity with procurement processes and supplier relationship management.

• Excellent communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.

• Proficiency in MS Office and quality management systems (QMS).

Nice to have

• Certification in Six Sigma, ASQ CQE, or similar.

• Experience in regulated industries (e.g., automotive, aerospace, medical devices).

• Multilingual capabilities for international supplier interactions.