Supplier Industrialization Engineer

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Build the supplier industrialization function from the ground up: define the SI playbook, stage-gate requirements, supplier readiness criteria, and the full PPAP/qualification process (control plans, pFMEA, MSA/Gage…
• Own industrialization end-to-end for PCBAs, electronic assemblies, and tactile sensing components, from supplier selection through process development, qualification, launch, and ramp
• Engage with electrical, mechanical, and firmware engineering from the design phase: drive DFM/DFA/DFT reviews, influence component selection, stack-ups, panelization, and test strategy early enough to actually change…
• Identify, assess, and select suppliers: lead technical audits of manufacturing capability, quality systems, process maturity, and capacity; make clear-eyed calls on who can scale with us and who can't
• Travel to supplier sites (CMs/CEMs, PCB fabs, sensor manufacturers) to develop processes, validate lines, resolve issues, and verify manufacturing readiness firsthand
• Lead new product introduction at supplier sites: process development and validation, SMT line bring-up, test correlation, yield improvement, and launch readiness for each build stage (EVT/DVT/PVT to production)
• Develop and execute the supply chain readiness plan to scale electronics from tens of prototype units to hundreds and thousands of production units, including tooling, test fixtures, and capacity planning
• Establish supplier quality management: incoming quality criteria, SPC deployment, root-cause/corrective action (8D/RCCA) on process and field failures, and ongoing supplier performance reviews

Job requirements

• You've built or significantly shaped an SI, SQE, or NPI function before. You know what it means to operate without a playbook because you've written one, not just followed it
• 7+ years in supplier industrialization, supplier quality, NPI, or manufacturing engineering in hardware-intensive industries such as robotics, consumer electronics, automotive, or aerospace
• Working knowledge of IPC standards and PCB fabrication processes; experience with flex and rigid-flex circuits or sensor integration (tactile, force, capacitive, camera modules) is a strong plus
• Fluent in the industrialization toolkit: PPAP, APQP, pFMEA, control plans, SPC, MSA/Gage R&R, DOE, capability analysis (Cpk), 8D/RCCA
• Hands-on experience taking products through the prototype-to-production transition, including EVT/DVT/PVT builds, tooling and test fixture qualification, run-at-rate, and ramp
• Engineering degree (Electrical, Mechanical, or similar) and the ability to read schematics, layouts, and drawings well enough to hold your own in design reviews with the engineers who made them
• Experience auditing and developing suppliers directly, including CMs/CEMs and component manufacturers worldover
• Comfortable operating as both architect and operator: setting up systems one day, debugging a PCBA failure at a supplier the next