Supplier Quality Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Supplier Quality Engineer

Location: Palo Alto, California

Job Type: Contract W2

Job Description:

Manage quality performance for an assigned group of suppliers and serve as a key point of contact for supplier quality matters.

Monitor supplier performance using quality data, dashboards, scorecards, and key performance indicators. Communicate emerging risks, performance concerns, and improvement priorities to suppliers and internal stakeholders

Investigate supplier-related issues affecting incoming inspection, manufacturing, installation, and field service. Coordinate rapid containment and risk-mitigation activities to protect production, customers, and patients.

Lead or support root cause investigations and Supplier Corrective Action Requests using structured problem-solving methods such as 8D, 5 Whys, Ishikawa diagrams, and statistical analysis.

Review supplier corrective actions to confirm that root causes have been identified, appropriate actions have been implemented, and recurrence has been effectively prevented.

Support Qnote/NCR and Material Review Board activities involving supplier-provided components. Help minimize production disruption, blocked inventory, scrap, rework, warranty costs, and field impact.

Work with suppliers to improve manufacturing processes and implement appropriate quality controls, including PFMEA, Control Plans, Statistical Process Control, Measurement System Analysis, process capability analysis, Cpk/Ppk, and process validation.

Support Quality at the Source (“light” PPAP) by helping suppliers move from reliance on inspection toward prevention, process control, and data-driven validation.

Participate in New Product Introduction and design-transfer activities. Partner with Engineering and suppliers to review drawings, specifications, tolerances, critical attributes, manufacturability requirements, and inspection strategies.

Support supplier readiness through First Article Inspection, PPAP, APQP, inspection planning, and other qualification activities based on product and process risk.

Review Supplier Change Notifications involving materials, manufacturing processes, equipment, tooling, sub-tier suppliers, quality systems, or manufacturing locations.

Coordinate with Engineering, Procurement, Manufacturing, Regulatory Affairs, Service, and other stakeholders to evaluate supplier changes and ensure required qualification and validation activities are completed before implementation.

Conduct or participate in supplier audits, process assessments, supplier qualifications, and for-cause investigations. Document findings and track corrective actions through effective closure.

Partner with Service and other functions to review field-performance and warranty data, identify supplier-related trends, and drive appropriate investigations and corrective actions.

Analyze non-conformance, scrap, rework, warranty, and operational data to identify opportunities to reduce defects and Cost of Poor Quality.

Participate in cross-functional forums to support timely decisions and resolution of supplier-related issues.