Automotive Supplier Quality Engineer - IATF 16949 and PPAP Lead

Job Description

Job Description

Step into a day in this role

Morning starts with a quick scan of quality dashboards, digging into PPM trends and scrap drivers. By mid-morning you are debriefing an internal IATF 16949 audit and aligning actions. After lunch, you are on a customer call closing the loop on an 8D, then head to the floor to validate a new gage and verify a control plan change. Later in the week you assemble a Level 3 PPAP, guide a PFMEA workshop, and coach production on a new inspection instruction for a launch part.

Reporting to the Quality Manager, you serve as a hands-on champion of our quality management system for a Tier 1 automotive environment. Compliance to ISO 9001, TS 16949, and IATF 16949 is the top priority. You are the primary interface to customers for quality topics and a key problem-solver for production issues.

• Create, maintain, and improve quality standards, procedures, and work instructions to meet internal, customer, and regulatory expectations.
• Own corrective action from intake to closure, applying 8D, 5 Whys, and other root-cause tools; communicate timely responses to internal and external stakeholders.
• Serve as the customer point of contact for quality activities, escalations, and status updates.
• Prepare accurate, on-time PPAP submissions and supporting evidence packages.
• Participate in internal and external audits to ISO 9001, TS 16949, and IATF 16949, ensuring continual readiness.
• Facilitate continuous improvement projects that drive defect prevention and process capability.
• Develop and update control plans that reflect current risk, controls, and measurement strategies.
• Build and maintain PFMEAs and process flow diagrams with cross-functional teams.
• Support supplier evaluation and development activities to strengthen incoming quality.
• Collaborate with project engineers on new program development and quality planning consistent with ISO requirements.
• Author inspection work instructions and define measurement methods for new and changed parts.
• Perform capability studies and establish statistical monitoring where needed.
• Assess process robustness and recommend actions to stabilize performance.
• Apply geometric dimensioning and tolerancing to ensure conformance and measurement alignment.
• Define gaging and metrology requirements to support production verification.
• Participate in new project reviews and pre-production meetings; clearly communicate quality risks and controls to production teams.
• Provide recommendations for disposition of nonconforming material and participate in MRB decisions.
• Support the overall quality management system to meet company, customer, and regulatory requirements.
• Report and analyze quality KPIs and partner with operations to drive performance improvements.
• Take on additional responsibilities as business needs evolve.

• Bachelor's degree plus at least 3 years of quality experience in manufacturing, or a comparable blend of education and experience.
• Automotive industry background strongly preferred.
• Hands-on involvement in implementing or sustaining an ISO 9001 quality management system preferred.
• Working knowledge of ISO TS 16949 and IATF 16949 requirements.
• Direct experience in plastic injection molding is required.
• History of customer-facing problem resolution on quality matters.
• Excellent communication, organization, problem solving, and follow up.
• Meticulous attention to detail and a collaborative approach within diverse teams.
• Proficiency with MS Office and related computer systems.