I. IDENTIFICATION
LOCATION: Delta
JOB TITLE: Supplier Quality Engineering Supervisor
FAMILY: Quality
II. ROLE
The SQE Supervisor leads the site Supplier Quality Engineering function and is accountable for the effective control, improvement and escalation of supplier-related quality performance. The role ensures that purchased products, materials and special processes conform to contractual, engineering, regulatory and Quality Management System requirements before they adversely affect production or the customer.
Working closely with Operations, Procurement, Programs, Engineering, Planning, Inspection and the broader Quality organization, the Supervisor translates supplier-quality priorities into clear team assignments, timely containment, effective root-cause and corrective actions, robust supplier qualification and sustained performance improvement. The role is both a people leader and a hands-on technical escalation point.
The position owns the supplier-quality process and technical recommendations within delegated authority. It supports but does not replace Procurement's commercial ownership, Engineering's design authority, Operations' production ownership or the Quality Manager's overall accountability for the site Quality Management System.
The expected salary range for this position is $90,000–$100,000 per year. Placement within the range will be determined based on the successful candidate’s qualifications, experience, and other job-related factors.
III. MISSIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
TEAM LEADERSHIP AND SUPPLIER QUALITY PERFORMANCE
- Lead, supervise, coach and develop the Supplier Quality Engineering team, establishing clear responsibilities, priorities, performance expectations and accountability.
- Conduct regular team meetings, one-on-ones and performance reviews; provide timely feedback, recognize strong performance and address performance or conduct concerns in coordination with Human Resources.
- Assess technical capability and training needs; maintain role-specific qualification and competency plans for Supplier Quality Engineers and other assigned Quality personnel.
- Mentor Quality, Inspection and Production personnel on supplier-quality requirements and problem-solving methods while respecting each function's reporting line and decision authority.
- Build a collaborative, disciplined and respectful team environment and maintain effective succession and coverage plans for critical activities.
- Establish and maintain a risk-based supplier quality surveillance plan aligned with program, customer, product and production priorities.
- Monitor and analyze supplier quality data, including defects, escapes, repeat nonconformances, disruption, cost of poor quality and corrective-action performance; identify adverse trends and initiate action before customer or production impact occurs.
- Lead periodic supplier quality reviews and communicate clear performance expectations, recovery actions, owners, due dates and escalation thresholds.
- Ensure supplier-quality issues are acknowledged, contained, investigated and resolved within required internal and customer response times.
- Partner with Procurement and Supplier Performance Management to integrate quality, delivery and business-risk information into supplier strategies and escalation decisions.
- Maintain accurate and timely supplier-quality records, dashboards and management reports, ensuring traceability and data integrity.
SUPPLIER CONTROL, QUALIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT
- Lead the response to supplier-related nonconformances, production disruptions and customer escapes, including immediate containment, risk assessment, communication and recovery planning.
- Ensure Supplier Corrective Action Requests (SCARs), 8D reports and other corrective-action records contain verified root causes, appropriate corrective and preventive actions, objective evidence and effective closure criteria.
- Coordinate with Engineering, Material Review Board, Inspection, Operations and Programs on the disposition and control of nonconforming supplier product.
- Verify corrective-action effectiveness through data review, audits, first-piece verification or other appropriate methods; share lessons learned and prevent recurrence across similar parts, suppliers and programs.
- Support supplier selection and qualification through technical capability assessments, quality-system evaluations, risk reviews and audit recommendations.
- Plan, lead or assign supplier audits and surveillance activities; ensure findings are clearly documented, risk-ranked, corrected and closed on time.
- Oversee supplier First Article Inspection and applicable production-part approval activities, including AS9102 FAI and customer-specific requirements.
- Support Advanced Product Quality Planning, manufacturing readiness, process validation, control-plan and PFMEA reviews for new products, transfers and significant supplier changes.
- Monitor special-process controls and supplier accreditation status, including Nadcap requirements where applicable; escalate lapses or changes that may affect conformity.
- Participate in production, program and supplier recovery meetings, presenting concise facts, risk assessments, decisions required and action status.
- Coordinate supplier-quality priorities with Operations and Inspection to protect production flow without compromising product conformity or traceability.
- Provide Procurement and Programs with objective quality input for supplier business reviews, recovery plans and sourcing decisions.
- Represent the organization professionally in communications with suppliers, customers, auditors and corporate leaders, including during urgent or high-pressure situations.
- Lead or sponsor improvement projects that reduce supplier defects, escapes, inspection burden, rework, scrap, disruption and total cost of poor quality.
- Apply structured problem-solving, statistical methods and Lean / Six Sigma principles to improve process capability and supplier performance.
- Standardize effective practices, visual management and escalation routines across the team; ensure improvements are documented and sustained.
- Promote prevention and risk reduction through PFMEA, control plans, capability analysis, lessons learned and early supplier engagement.
IV. SAFETY, COMPLIANCE & GOVERNANCE
- Formulate, document, implement and maintain supplier-quality policies, procedures, work instructions and controls in alignment with the site Quality Management System and delegated authority.
- Ensure supplier-quality processes comply with AS9100, ISO 9001, applicable regulatory requirements, contractual obligations and customer-specific requirements.
- Maintain working awareness of Transport Canada, FAA, defence and other regulatory requirements applicable to the site's products and contracts.
- Support internal, customer, certification and regulatory audits; provide objective evidence and ensure assigned corrective actions are completed and verified on time.
- Review new or revised customer and contractual quality requirements and coordinate implementation with the responsible functions.
- Serve as the site's supplier-quality focal point for customers, suppliers, auditors and corporate quality leadership, escalating material compliance risks promptly.
- Escalate significant supplier, product-safety, compliance or customer risks through the established management and quality channels without delay.
- Comply with all Company policies, the Code of Ethics, delegation-of-authority requirements and applicable laws, regulations, contracts and customer requirements.
- Actively support the Quality Management System and the continual improvement of product conformity, process effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
- Comply with and promote the requirements of the site's health, safety and environmental management systems, including ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 expectations; immediately report unsafe conditions, incidents and environmental concerns.
- Support product-safety, counterfeit-part prevention, foreign-object-damage prevention, configuration control, traceability and other applicable aerospace controls.
- Protect confidential, proprietary, personal and controlled information in accordance with Company policy and legal requirements.
- When interacting with union-represented employees, exercise supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the applicable collective agreement and consult Human Resources where interpretation or employee-relations support is required.
V. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)
Performance measures will be aligned annually with site and business priorities and may include:
- Supplier defect rate / PPM and trend by supplier, commodity and program.
- Supplier escapes and customer-impacting supplier nonconformances, including recurrence rate.
- On-time containment, SCAR / 8D response and corrective-action closure; verified effectiveness of closed actions.
- Supplier-related cost of poor quality, scrap, rework, inspection and production disruption.
- Completion and closure of supplier audits, surveillance plans and qualification actions.
- On-time FAI / product and process approval supporting production and program milestones.
- Supplier-quality backlog, aged nonconformances and response time to internal customers.
- Completion of team objectives, competency plans, required training and performance-development actions.
- Quality Management System audit results and on-time closure of findings assigned to Supplier Quality.
VI. AUTHORITY
Within approved procedures and delegated authority, the Supplier Quality Engineering Supervisor is authorized to:
- Assign and reprioritize work within the Supplier Quality Engineering team and escalate resource constraints.
- Require immediate containment, additional inspection, objective evidence, root-cause analysis and corrective action from suppliers when conformity or customer requirements are at risk.
- Initiate a quality hold or recommend stop-use, stop-work or stop-shipment action for suspect or nonconforming supplier product, with prompt escalation through the applicable approval process.
- Accept or reject supplier corrective-action responses and close actions when objective evidence demonstrates effective implementation, subject to applicable procedures.
- Recommend supplier approval, conditional approval, probation, development, escalation or disqualification based on documented quality risk and performance.
- Represent the site on supplier-quality matters with suppliers, customers, auditors and corporate functions.
- Escalate unresolved quality, product-safety, regulatory or ethical concerns independently through the appropriate quality and management channels.
- Authority boundary: The role does not independently approve engineering design changes, concessions / deviations, commercial remedies, purchase commitments or supplier termination unless such authority is formally delegated. These decisions remain with the authorized Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Program or business leader.
VII. DECISION MAKING RESPONSIBILITIES
- Assign and balance daily and medium-term workload based on production needs, supplier risk, customer impact and program priorities; monitor completion and remove barriers to execution.
- Challenge weak or recurrence-prone corrective actions and require additional analysis, containment or verification when evidence does not demonstrate sustainable resolution.
- Coordinate source inspection, receiving-inspection controls and supplier development actions based on performance and risk; reduce unnecessary inspection only when objective evidence supports the change.
VIII. REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Materials or a related technical discipline is preferred.
- An equivalent combination of technical education, professional certification and directly relevant aerospace or regulated-manufacturing experience may be considered.
- Minimum seven years of progressive experience in quality engineering, supplier quality, manufacturing quality or a closely related discipline within aerospace or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
- Minimum three years of formal people leadership, supervisory responsibility or substantial technical team-lead experience with demonstrated accountability for results.
- Demonstrated experience resolving complex supplier nonconformances, escapes and production-impacting quality issues.
- Experience conducting supplier or quality-system audits and interacting directly with suppliers, customers and senior leadership.
- Strong working knowledge of AS9100 and ISO 9001; familiarity with AS9102 First Article Inspection and AS9145 APQP / Production Part Approval Process is preferred.
- Working knowledge of Nadcap-controlled special processes and applicable customer, defence and regulatory requirements.
- Practical command of nonconformance control, MRB interfaces, SCAR / CAPA, 8D, 5 Why, cause-and-effect analysis and corrective-action effectiveness verification.
- Knowledge of PFMEA, control plans, SPC, process capability, MSA and other prevention-based quality tools.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications and technical requirements; knowledge of GD&T is preferred.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, spreadsheet analysis and electronic QMS / ERP systems; experience with data-visualization tools is an asset.
- ASQ CQE, CQA or CMQ/OE, recognized lead-auditor qualification, or Lean Six Sigma certification is an asset.
- People leadership, coaching, delegation and performance accountability.
- Sound judgment and timely decision-making based on risk, facts and objective evidence.
- Strong written, verbal and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with shop-floor teams, suppliers, customers, auditors and senior leaders.
- Structured problem-solving, analytical thinking and attention to detail.
- Ability to influence across functions, manage conflict professionally and maintain composure in a fast-paced, changing and results-oriented environment.
- High standards of integrity, product-safety awareness, confidentiality and professional conduct.
- Ability and willingness to travel to supplier, customer and company locations in Canada and internationally, as required by business needs.
- Must be legally entitled to work in Canada.
- Where job duties require access to controlled goods or technology, must consent to and successfully complete the applicable security assessment and maintain authorization under Canada's Controlled Goods Program.
- Must maintain any role-specific certifications, training and access authorizations required by the Company, customer or applicable regulation.
IX. GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- Comply with company policies, Code of Conduct, Safety and Environmental policies.
- Follow all safety requirements as explained during the onboarding
- Promote ethical behavior and customer focus.
- Support a collaborative, high-performance culture.
- Perform additional duties as required.
