Sourcing Engineer

Engineering Services Coordinator – Sourcing, Compliance & Documentation

Location: [Insert Location/Remote/Hybrid status]

Department: Engineering

Reports To: Chief Engineer

Employment Type: Full-Time

Role Purpose

This critical role accelerates our product development capacity by owning component sourcing coordination, supplier relationship management, Bill of Materials (BOM) creation/maintenance, Engineering Change Notice (ECN) processing, and technical documentation across all product lines.

Your most immediate strategic impact will be focused on our high-priority outdoor electric patio heater development project. Beyond this initiative, you will provide the vital coordination and documentation backbone for the entire engineering team, freeing up our design engineers to focus on core design work. This is a highly collaborative role perfect for a technical coordinator who loves bringing order to the product lifecycle and bridging the gap between design, compliance, and production.

Team & Collaboration

You will report directly to the Chief Engineer and work hand-in-hand with our Project Engineers on component selection and sourcing for active projects. You will also serve as a key internal interface, partnering with Operations on production engineering documentation and with Purchasing on supplier coordination.

Core Responsibilities

• Sourcing Coordination: Own component sourcing for new product development across all product lines, with a heavy immediate focus on the electric heater development project.

• BOM & Data Management: Develop, maintain, and structure Bills of Materials (BOMs) for both new and existing products. Maintain part number masters and ensure new components are correctly classified.

• Engineering Changes: Process Engineering Change Notices (ECNs) and ensure all engineering data and documentation flows accurately through ERP and PLM systems.

• Supplier Relations: Own technical relationships with suppliers for engineering-critical components (such as heating elements, thermostats, electrical controls, sensors, gas valves, fans, and motors) based on technical input from Project Engineers.

• Compliance & Certification Support: Own the organization of submission packages and supporting documentation for compliance agencies (including CSA, UL, and ETL). Assist Project Engineers with tracking test plans and test data.

• Technical Writing: Develop clear installation manuals, service manuals, product labels, marketing brochures, and parts lists by transforming raw technical content provided by the design team.

• Supply Chain Resilience: Actively identify alternate component sources to optimize product costs and build supply chain resilience.

• Project Tracking: Track engineering project documentation status and provide clear visibility on timelines and bottlenecks to the Chief Engineer.

Position Requirements

Must-Have Qualifications (Firm Filters)

• Education: Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial preferred).

  Note: We intentionally value Associate-level candidates with deep practical, hands-on application, technical coordination, or agency field experience for this specialized coordination role.

• Experience: 3+ years of industry experience in engineering coordination, applications engineering, sourcing engineering, compliance agency field engineering, or technical project management within a manufacturing environment.

• Career Track: Total work experience exceeds 4 years (this should not be your first job post-graduation).

• Systems & Documentation: Direct experience managing BOMs and ECNs within ERP/PLM environments, combined with strong written technical communication skills.

• Specialized Domain Knowledge: Must possess at least one of the following background paths:

  1. Electric heating supplier ecosystem knowledge (direct experience at an electric heating OEM).

  2. Compliance agency field engineering background (e.g., working directly for or closely with CSA, UL, or ETL).

  3. Applications engineering experience at a heating, appliance, or industrial component supplier.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications (Strong Assets)

• Target Competitor/Supplier Exposure: Direct experience working at an electric heating, element, or thermal solutions manufacturer.

• Direct Agency Background: Direct past employment as a field engineer for CSA, UL, or ETL.

• Technical Deep Dives: Heating element design or specification experience, or familiarity with PLC/controls programming.

• Operations & Logistics: Experience with supplier negotiations, Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001), or exposure to Lean Manufacturing/continuous improvement.

• Software Specifics: Specific experience utilizing MAX ERP systems.

• Languages: Bilingual capabilities to aid in international supplier coordination.