Supplier Engineer

Supplier Engineer

This sustaining supplier engineering role focuses on ensuring suppliers meet ISI requirements for quality, delivery, and service. The candidate will partner with suppliers, commodity supplier engineers, and cross-functional Intuitive teams to resolve supplier-related supply continuity issues. The candidate is responsible for assessing supplier-requested changes, negotiating timelines, and qualifying changes with immediate impact on supply continuity.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with commodity supplier engineers to resolve emerging technical issues affecting near-term supplier deliveries.
• Leads root-cause analysis, defines corrective and preventive actions, and creates long-term implementation plans.
• Provides daily updates on supplier-related shortages during production and inventory status meetings.
• Part qualification including pFMEAs, FAIRS, Cpk, Control Plans
• Partner with global supply chain and design engineering to respond to raw material shortages.
• Drive suppliers to continually improve their business and manufacturing process performance to meet Intuitive Surgical's requirements for supplier excellence including ship to stock programs using a collection of best practices in project management, Six Sigma, Lean, SPC and negotiation
• Utilize data-driven decisions to evaluate supplier part cost, delivery, quality, capacity and capability. Apply metrics to measure real improvement and judge required intervention or change at the supplier or in a commodity.
• Provide effective and timely supply base health information to management
• Prepare and deliver supplier communications as required by working with suppliers on scorecard creation of QBRs, Supplier Summits, etc.
• Deliver the following Quality deliverables: pFMEA, Special Process Validations, FAI, and Cpk by leading suppliers through the pFMEA development, judging process validation requirements and signing-off on protocols as ISI rep, judging process capability with supplier as well as judging FAI suitability.
• Develop the supplier business continuity / disaster recovery plans by managing suppliers to create plans, judge plans for risks and negotiate with suppliers to reduce risks. Identify and investigate opportunities for cost reduction and/or quality improvement by judging opportunities and creating strategies to seize those opportunities, completes research and provides data-driven plans to management.
• Review, analyze and close customer complaints, manufacturing variance requests, and first article inspections by judging risk analyses and justifications, determining corrective and preventive actions at suppliers, looks for opportunities with suppliers to eliminate recurrence.

Qualifications

Skills, Experience, Education, & Training:

• BS degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
• Minimum 3 years related experience in Supplier Engineering/Development/Quality or related field
• Excellent Project Management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including presentations to executive level management
• Excellent Interpersonal skills and team building skills
• Experience in implementing Lean/6 Sigma/SPC Programs
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills along with good judgment
• Demonstrable knowledge in evaluating and challenging supplier technical, quality, and business capabilities
• Knowledge of a wide range of manufacturing processes including understanding of key input variables for quality, cost and capacity (specialization can be in metal fabrication, plastics, electronics, and/or contract manufacturing) is a plus
• Excellent knowledge of 21 CFR part 820 and ISO 13485
• Significant computer experience using Windows, Word, Excel, Access and ERP Information Systems, preferably SAP
• Proven ability to motivate suppliers
• Experience in a high-volume medical device company is a plus
• Ability to read and interpret detailed mechanical drawings and communicate technical information
• Ability to travel to suppliers on an as needed basis – domestic and international