Sr. Technical Specialist - SQE

Job Summary:
The Supplier Quality Engineer - Technical Specialist concentrates his/her product specific quality and technical skills to develop complex suppliers and products that can meet customer requirements; requires strong partnerships with the external supply base, with supply chain teams and with engineering to achieve results
Key Responsibilities:
Build strong relationships with all critical partners to improve quality and business outcomes, including: external suppliers, external customers, and internal customers and stakeholders, such as Purchasing, Manufacturing and Engineering; coach and mentor Cummins professionals on how to strengthen the soft skills required to develop effective relationships.
Support the cross-functional development of external supply base strategies and the cross-functional supplier selection process for any given component; experience and skills will be utilized to support increasingly complex products. Provide manufacturing consultation to external suppliers in order to design a Right First Time manufacturing process that enables conformance to the engineering print, engineering standards and customer specific requirements; experience and skills will be utilized to support increasingly complex products.
Apply industry common Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) processes, Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) tools, and Cummins specialty tools to develop zero defect components within the external supply base; coach and mentor Supplier and Cummins professionals on how to improve effectiveness of APQP execution; experience and skills will be utilized to support increasingly complex products.
Embrace continuous improvement in the external supply base by leading complex product and process focused projects that utilize industry proven methodologies, such as lean and six-sigma.
Conduct external supplier audits in support of supplier risk mitigation, supplier readiness, and supplier performance improvement; coach and mentor Cummins professionals on how to improve auditing effectiveness.
Lead increasingly complex quality improvement plans within the external supply base in order to improve supplier performance. Ensure resolution of increasingly complex external supplier related quality challenges, by leading root cause analysis, by supporting development of corrective actions and by verifying the effectiveness of corrective actions; coach and mentor Supplier and Cummins professionals on how to improve effectiveness of problem resolution.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree or above in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Mechatronics, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering, Quality Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Typically 8 or more years of relevant experience in Supplier Quality, Manufacturing Quality, Product Engineering, Process Engineering, or Supplier Development.
Strong knowledge of supplier quality systems and core quality tools, including:
APQP
PPAP
PFMEA
Control Plan
MSA
SPC and process capability
7Step/8D and structured root-cause analysis
Relevant experience with fuel-system, turbocharger, pump, precision-machined, or other complex mechanical components.
Solid understanding of precision machining, assembly, cleanliness control, functional testing, leak testing, and critical-characteristic management.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate supplier manufacturing capability, process controls, technical risks, quality systems, and production readiness.
Experience leading supplier development, new product introduction, localization, capacity expansion, dual-source, or supplier-transfer projects.
Ability to lead APQP, design and process reviews, source release, PPAP, Safe Launch, supplier audits, and corrective-action activities.
Strong project management skills, including milestone planning, risk management, action tracking, prioritization, and cross-functional coordination.
Strong technical problem-solving, data analysis, and decision-making capability.
Ability to lead complex supplier quality issues involving product performance, dimensional variation, material, manufacturing process, cleanliness, assembly, or test-system concerns.
Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to influence suppliers and internal teams without direct authority.
Good written and spoken English, with the ability to lead technical discussions, prepare quality status reports, and communicate effectively with global stakeholders.
Ability and willingness to travel to supplier, manufacturing, and customer locations based on business needs.
Preferred Qualifications
Direct supplier-quality or manufacturing experience with one or more of the following:
Fuel injection systems
Fuel pumps
High-pressure fuel pumps
Fuel injectors
Common rail or fuel delivery components

Work arrangement
Yes