Supplier Development Engineer

Supplier Development and Performance Improvement

- Lead supplier-development initiatives to improve supplier quality, delivery, cost, capacity, certifications, process development, and compliance.

- Identify underperforming suppliers and establish structured improvement plans with defined key performance indicators.

- Support the development and qualification of key suppliers’ capability and capacity in support of strategic initiatives.

- Drive supplier continuous-improvement projects using Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies.

- Provide supplier-development support for assigned Category Management and Divisional team initiatives.

- Act as a key escalation resource for supplier-performance issues and support critical root-cause corrective-action activities when required.

Supplier Assessment, Qualification, and Onboarding

- Conduct supplier assessments, audits, capability evaluations, and PPAP reviews to support new supplier approvals and onboarding.

- Support supplier onboarding, qualification, and development programs.

- Evaluate supplier capability, process readiness, certifications, and compliance against company requirements.

- Ensure suppliers meet applicable company standards, regulatory requirements, quality-system expectations, and sustainability goals.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Partner with Procurement to support sourcing strategies and supplier segmentation.

- Work collaboratively with Procurement, Quality, Engineering, Category Management, and Divisional teams to support supplier-development priorities.

- Support Product Development Lifecycle activities, including supplier-readiness activities and globalization/localization projects.

- Maintain clear, open, two-way communication with relevant internal stakeholders and suppliers.

- Build strong, collaborative relationships with strategic and critical suppliers.

Supplier Risk and Supply Continuity

- Identify and mitigate supplier-related risks, including quality, supply continuity, financial, and regulatory risks.

- Support business-continuity and supply-chain-resilience planning.

- Contribute to proactive supplier-risk mitigation and supplier performance management activities.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or a related field.

- Minimum 8 years of experience in supplier development, supplier quality, procurement, manufacturing, or a related discipline.

- Demonstrated leadership capability, including experience leading initiatives, influencing stakeholders, or managing supplier-development activities.

- Strong knowledge of supplier performance management, supplier capability improvement, and continuous-improvement practices.

- Well versed in Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)

- Experience conducting supplier audits, assessments, capability evaluations, and supplier-improvement projects.

- Strong communication, negotiation, relationship-management, and stakeholder-management skills.

- Ability to work effectively in a cross-functional environment involving Procurement, Quality, Engineering, and business teams.

- Ability and willingness to travel to supplier sites as required.

Preferred Experience

- Lean or Six Sigma experience; Green Belt or Black Belt certification is preferred.

- Familiarity with ISO standards, quality systems, and regulatory environments.

- Experience supporting supplier quality, supplier qualification, supplier onboarding, and first-article sample activities.

- Experience with Product Development Lifecycle supplier-readiness activities.

- Experience supporting globalization, localization, sourcing, supplier-segmentation, or supply-chain-resilience initiatives.

- Experience in manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, electronics, industrial, or comparable supplier-intensive environments.

- Experience developing and implementing supplier-performance improvement plans with measurable KPIs.