Supplier Quality Manager
$180,000–$200,000 year
Remote
Job Summary
Design and run the supplier qualification process, including PPAP requirements and first article inspection protocols, across mechanical, electrical, and cell suppliers. Build and execute the APQP program for new product introductions while establishing the supplier audit calendar and scorecard program to drive development conversations. Lead root cause investigations on high-severity quality events and manage the end-to-end CAPA process, with specific focus on cell supplier quality and lot-level release recommendations. Partner with engineering, sourcing, and the contract manufacturer's quality team on component-level decisions and specification clarity. Manage the Supplier Quality Engineer through onboarding and coaching, while building the growth plan for the supplier quality function as production ramps. This role builds the proactive quality discipline from scratch in a hardware environment, requiring hands-on factory floor experience and early-stage program creation.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years in supplier quality, quality engineering, or a hybrid quality and manufacturing role with direct supplier development ownership
- Industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering, or equivalent hands-on manufacturing background
- Time on factory floors
- Direct experience building or scaling supplier quality programs from an early stage
- PPAP, APQP, supplier audit programs, scorecards, and supplier development projects built and run personally
- Hands-on experience with process discipline tools (SPC, DMAIC, control plans, process capability studies, root cause analysis) applied to real supplier problems
- Experience holding supplier quality relationships in a CM-based manufacturing model where components are directly sourced
- Direct people management experience
- Ability to coach an SQE and grow the function
Desired Qualifications
- Experience in battery, energy storage, power electronics, or other hardware-adjacent categories
- Cell supplier quality experience
- Lithium-ion, sodium-ion, or other battery chemistry supplier engagement
- ASQ certifications (CQE, CSSBB, CMQ/OE) or equivalent formal quality credentials
- Asia supplier development experience with on-site engagement
- Early-stage startup experience building quality functions from zero
- Automotive, aerospace, or medical device background where supplier quality discipline was structural to the business
- Salt Lake City or Carlsbad, CA preferred
- Open to fully remote for the right candidate
- Regular travel to our contract manufacturers and occasional supplier travel (domestic and Asia)
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