Senior Manager of Supplier Quality Engineering

About the position

As the Senior Manager of Supplier Quality Engineering at Boston Dynamics, you will ensure that Boston Dynamics has a qualified and capable supply base to reliably manufacture products to meet our current and future requirements and business needs. Boston Dynamics is a world leader in mobile robots, tackling some of the toughest robotics challenges. For years, our awe-inspiring viral videos on YouTube have shown the world what remarkably capable robots can do. Now we are quickly becoming a recognized leader in automation solutions for industrial applications, logistics and warehouses.

Responsibilities

• Manage and mature the supplier quality organization, ensuring quality processes and framework are in place to effectively qualify new suppliers, develop supplier capability, take NPIs through launch, increase capacity, support systemic supplier improvement, and resolve major supplier performance issues.
• Ensure the quality of purchased parts through an established set of quality processes, practices, and industry best practices. Adapt current processes as needed to meet changing needs of the business.
• Drive and improve quality processes for the evaluation, selection, and monitoring of performance of suppliers.
• Establish and manage a comprehensive supplier quality management strategy aligned with short and long term business objectives.
• Manage and develop an effective team of supplier quality engineers, technicians and inspection personnel to carry out the supplier quality management strategy.
• Track and provide supplier quality performance metrics for quality review meetings with external suppliers and internal teams. Represent supplier quality team at internal leadership meetings, and ensure alignment with business KPIs.
• Provide support to design engineering teams to identify manufacturability and quality control best practices for our suppliers, working with Engineering (Design and Manufacturing Engineers) teams to define process parameters and criteria to ensure supplier process capability is effective to meet product and process requirements.
• Monitor manufacturing failure data, field service repairs and warranty returns, for supplier caused issues and drive effective RCCA.
• Communicate roles and responsibilities to suppliers and BD internal functions.
• Interface with design and supply-chain teams to prioritize supplier development needs to improve quality and cost, during supplier earlier engagement and evaluation, establish new supplier RFI- quality assessment framework.
• Assess new and existing supplier capabilities to meet product, cost, quality, capacity and fulfillment ensuring suppliers are able to meet requirements for performance, quality, cost and delivery.
• Develop positive relationships and work closely with sourcing, design and program management leaders to implement supplier/design changes, capacity studies, New Product Introductions, and transfers. Assist with new product launch by working with suppliers to ensure that key milestones are achieved.
• Provide technical expertise and leadership to sourcing and engineering of suppliers/commodities with respect to performance and quality.
• Provide leadership during investigations of major problems focusing on developing working relationships with suppliers and the supply chain with regard to product development and procurement of parts.
• Responsible for leading the solution for supplier component concerns, driving Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP).

Requirements

• BS Degree in Engineering required.
• 7 years experience in supplier quality and development, with 5+ years minimum in a management role.
• Experience with a wide range of components and subassemblies including precision machined parts, castings, cables, injection molded plastic parts, PCBAs, sheet metal, electro-mechanical parts (i.e. actuators, motors).
• Significant experience in quality system and process development, including establishment and management of performance measures.
• Demonstrated expertise in effective supplier and part qualifications, including APQP and PPAP.
• Experience implementing incoming part verification processes, practices and solutions.
• Minimum 2 years experience working with and managing ODM suppliers.
• Hands on knowledge of DFM, DFX and Total Cost of Ownership.
• QMS experience IATF:16949 (formerly ISO TS/16949), AS9100, or ISO13485.
• Experience in a fast moving, dynamic environment, being flexible to tailor quality solutions to meet business needs.