Supplier Development Engineer

Career Area:

Procurement

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Role Definition
Assesses the supplier quality, identify the process gaps, defines the process requirements and ensures that all the products are free from defects and are in compliance with manufacturing specifications and legal standards.

Responsibilities
•  Ensuring the quality of supplies by conducting audits and establishing process expectations and standards. Specilization in large fabrications and with strong welding process foundation. 
•  Generating reports on supplier quality, by monitoring their defect rates and areas that can lead to potential flaws; Guiding suppliers to reduce these defect rates through process controls and improvements. 
•  Researching the suppliers' manufacturing environment, practices, and procedures; Conducting supplier quality control audits to ensure compliance with organizational and federal policies and standards.
•  Supporting suppliers in improving their performance through process enhancements, implementing process controls, and developing quality assurance plans.

Degree Requirement
Degree or equivalent experience desired

Skill Descriptors
Effective Communications: Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs.
Level Working Knowledge: 
•  Delivers helpful feedback that focuses on manufacturing practices and processes to improve the quality. 
•  Listens to feedback without defensiveness and uses it for own communication effectiveness.
•  Makes oral presentations and writes reports needed for own work.
•  Appropriate usage of technical terms when required.
•     Understanding the cultural differences and tweak the communication accordingly.

Problem Solving: Knowledge of approaches, tools, techniques for recognizing, anticipating, and resolving organizational, operational or process problems; ability to apply knowledge of problem solving appropriately to diverse situations.
Level Extensive Experience: 
•  Ensures capture of lessons learnt from the past.
•  Organizes the group of SMEs and leads problem resolution efforts.
•  Uses varying problem-solving approaches and techniques as appropriate.
•  Derive ECA, ICA and PCA with horizontal deployment.
•  Analyzes and synthesizes information and devises alternative resolution strategies.
•  Develops successful resolutions to critical or wide-impact problems.

Process Improvement: Understanding and insight into evaluating current product quality and production methods and ability to maintains focus on the continuous improvement of processes, products and services.
Level Extensive Experience: 
•  Define the process requirement to achieve the required quality in welding large fabrications. 

•       Identify process gaps and implement process improvements 
•  Develop methods for improving and establishing controls for critical processes.
•  Monitors manpower variation, skill matrix and process variations. 
•  Coaches others to develop the skills to improve processes.


Quality Orientation: Knowledge of quality management methods, tools, and techniques; ability to create and support an environment that meets the quality goals of the organization.
Level Extensive Experience: 
•  Collaborates to develop quality standards
•  Applies current best practices to modify standards and improve quality outcomes.
•  Monitors intangible measures of quality such as perceived quality to ensure operational outcomes are relevant to stakeholders.
•  Coaches supplier personnel, managers and welders in applying methodologies for quality assurance.

Production Part Approval Process (PPAP): Knowledge of Production Part Approval Processes (PPAP) elements, submissions, and objectives; ability to determine whether a supplier can manufacture products that meet the quality requirements and standards of their customers consistently.

Supplier Management - MFG: Knowledge of processes and methods to effectively manage business relationships and transactions with suppliers of raw materials or product components; ability to apply related knowledge, experience and skills into real practice.
Level Extensive Experience: 
•  Facilitates supplier partnering arrangements that share risk and reward.
•  Monitors supplier performance; works to resolve discrepancies between performance and agreements.
•  Develops quality standards and controls for suppliers.
•  Builds and maintains partnerships with multiple and/or large suppliers.
•  Evaluates issues and terminates supplier relationships as appropriate; works with legal departments.
•  Ensures the fulfillment of report and record-keeping requirements.

Supplier Evaluations and Certification: Knowledge of supplier evaluations and certification; ability to identify the methods, tools and documentation for evaluating, selecting and certifying vendors, suppliers and partners.
Level Extensive Experience: 
•  Conducts supplier audits and responsible for certification.
•  Develops a supplier improvement plan and continuously improves the suppliers' quality performance. 
•  Designs key aspects of and processes for evaluating a supplier's capabilities.
•  Analyzes and resolves supplier product quality problems.
•  Works with multiple evaluation, selection, and certification initiatives.

Relocation is available for this position.

Posting Dates:

March 11, 2025 - March 18, 2025

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO).

Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community .