Supplier Quality Engineer

Role summary

Supplier Quality Engineer is a role at Proper Voltage (remote). Posted 2026-08-06. Experience level: 2-5.

Job title

Supplier Quality Engineer

Company

Proper Voltage

Location

Remote

Work arrangement

remote

Category

Software Engineering

Experience level

2-5

Date posted

2026-08-06

Job description

Job Overview

The Supplier Quality Engineer owns Proper Voltage's reactive supplier quality function: incoming inspection, first article inspection, supplier corrective action, and day-to-day quality liaison with our supply base and our contract manufacturer. This is the role that catches a quality problem, contains it fast, and drives it to root cause.

This role reports to the Supplier Quality Manager, who owns the proactive side of the function (supplier qualification, PPAP, APQP, audits, supplier development). Together, this team covers both sides of the quality equation: preventing supplier issues before they happen and containing them fast when they do.

We are building this function now because the operational workload is real. The supplier base is growing across all commodity categories, hardware programs are moving from prototype into production, and the cost of a quality escape scales with volume. This role is the front line of that function.

Scope

This role starts as an individual contributor reporting to the Supplier Quality Manager. Commodities in scope include the full BOM across our hardware programs: custom mechanical components (CNC aluminum, sheet metal, thermal plates, busbars), electrical components (active, passive, connectors, cables, wire harnesses), packaging, and cells.

Most of your work happens at the intersection of our contract manufacturer's production line and our direct supplier relationships. You will spend meaningful time on-site with our contract manufacturer, running incoming inspection, working line quality escalations, and coordinating with their quality team.

Product-level quality (design quality, product reliability, warranty engineering, customer quality escapes) lives in the engineering organization. This role covers external supply base and incoming quality. The two functions partner closely, especially when a component-driven issue surfaces after assembly.

Who is this role for

You have hands-on incoming inspection and supplier quality experience in a hardware or industrial product environment. You've run first article inspections, written and closed supplier CAPAs, and made real accept/reject calls on incoming material under time pressure.

You are comfortable being the person on the line when something looks wrong. You know how to contain a quality issue before it propagates, communicate the impact clearly to sourcing and engineering, and drive a supplier to root cause rather than a surface-level fix.

You are detail-oriented and process-minded, but you don't need a mature quality system to be effective. You're comfortable building your own inspection checklists, tracking logs, and escalation criteria while the broader quality function is still being built out around you.

You are comfortable working across a CM-based manufacturing model where we hold direct supplier relationships and our CM handles line assembly. You understand the coordination cost of that model, including dual communication paths and clear escalation criteria.

You operate well in early-stage environments where the playbook is still being written. You ask for what you need from your manager rather than waiting to be told, and you're comfortable being one of the first people building a function.

This role is not a fit if

Your quality experience has been primarily documentation and compliance driven without hands-on inspection or supplier interaction.

You need a mature QMS platform, defined work instructions, and established escalation paths before you can be effective. You will help build these.

You're looking for a role without regular on-site presence at a manufacturing facility.

You would find a startup operating tempo frustrating.

What you'll do

Incoming and line quality

Run incoming inspection across mechanical, electrical, and cell components. Make accept/reject calls against defined criteria and escalate ambiguous cases quickly.

Own first article inspection for new suppliers and new part revisions. Confirm parts match the current approved design before they enter production.

Serve as the quality interface with our contract manufacturer's line. Coordinate on line quality issues, hold-and-review decisions, and containment actions.

Track and report quality metrics: defect rates, containment time, CAPA closure rates, and supplier quality trends.

Supplier CAPA and containment

Own the supplier corrective action process for day-to-day quality events. Drive suppliers to root cause and verify corrective actions actually resolve the issue.

Contain quality escapes fast: identify affected inventory and work in process, coordinate hold decisions, and prevent bad material from reaching the next build stage.

Serve as the day-to-day quality liaison with our cell supplier and other critical component suppliers. Escalate complex or repeat issues to the Supplier Quality Manager.

Cross-functional partnership

Partner with the Materials Program Manager on part shortage and shortfall decisions that involve quality holds.

Partner with sourcing on supplier performance issues that have commercial implications.

P artner with engineering on design or specification questions that surface during inspection or a quality investigation.

Required Qualifications

3+ years in supplier quality, incoming quality, or quality engineering in a hardware or industrial product environment.

H ands-on experience with incoming inspection, first article inspection, and supplier CAPA processes.

Comfort making real-time accept/reject decisions on incoming material with incomplete information.

Ability to read mechanical and electrical drawings and specifications well enough to verify conformance.

Ability to operate independently and build process where none exists yet.

Willingness to spend regular time on-site at a manufacturing facility.

Preferred Qualifications