Supplier Quality Engineer

The Supplier Quality Engineer supports supplier quality initiatives that enable the business to achieve operational and strategic supplier quality goals. This role is responsible for driving supplier quality improvement, ensuring compliance with quality standards, supporting supplier onboarding and performance monitoring, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to improve manufacturing processes and product quality across the supply base.

Key Responsibilities

• Build strong relationships with critical stakeholders including external suppliers, customers, and internal teams such as Purchasing, Manufacturing, and Engineering to improve quality and business outcomes.

• Support supplier quality planning and continuous improvement initiatives across assigned product categories or supplier segments.

• Apply industry-standard Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) processes, AIAG tools, and Cummins-specific quality tools to develop and improve supplier manufacturing processes.

• Participate in supplier audits to evaluate manufacturing process capability, identify risks, and ensure compliance with quality and safety requirements; lead low-complexity audits after certification.

• Support resolution of supplier-related quality issues through structured problem-solving and root cause analysis.

• Develop, implement, and verify corrective and preventive actions to ensure sustainable issue resolution.

• Drive continuous improvement projects using methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma to reduce defects and improve supplier performance.

• Support supplier performance improvement strategies by identifying systemic deficiencies and executing quality improvement plans.

• Work with suppliers and SQEs to identify critical product/process characteristics and define monitoring frequency.