Supplier Development Engineer

Seismic Recruitment; Peterlee; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

Seismic Recruitment is supporting a world-wide manufacturer of construction and mining products in recruiting a Supplier Development Engineer for Peterlee. The role is a full-time onsite contract initially of 24 months, with travel up to 30% to UK suppliers.

You will lead quality improvements for Fabrications and Welding, own supplier audits, PPAP/APQP processes, and drive defect reduction across Europe. Expect detailed quality metrics, report generation, and close collaboration with suppliers

Qualifications

• 5+ years working with suppliers with strong manufacturing/quality systems knowledge.
• Fabrications experience including welding, painting, assembly, machining.

Responsibilities

• Manage supplier quality, technical performance, delivery metrics, and issue resolution.
• Own assigned suppliers to ensure production continuity and quality.
• Conduct supplier tests and assessments on incoming supplies.
• Generate reports on supplier quality and defect rates.
• Support suppliers with process improvements and QA plans.
• Travel up to 30% for UK and occasional Europe visits.

Skills

Supplier quality

Technical performance

Root cause analysis

Problem solving

Process improvement

Communication skills

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Supplier Development Engineer

Peterlee SR8 (working full time onsite, unless visiting suppliers)

Initial 24 month contract - likely to extend for the right person

36.5 hours a week; Mon - Thurs 8am-16.30, Fri 8am-12.30 lunchtime finish!

Up to £31.51 PAYE hourly rate plus holiday and pension contribution OR Umbrella hourly rates up to £42.77 - depending on experience

Our client is a worldwide manufacturer of construction and mining products. They’re looking for a Supplier Development Engineer who has Fabrications and Welding experience, on an initial 24 month contract basis which is likely to extend for the right person. You’ll assess supplier quality and ensure that all the products are free from defects and are following manufacturing specifications and legal standards.

What will the Supplier Development Engineer do?

• A diverse SDE role for the Fabrication and Tubes category, for suppliers across Europe
• Responsible for supplier quality, technical performance, delivery metrics, and issue resolution
• Full ownership of assigned suppliers, ensuring production continuity and quality standards
• Ensuring the quality of supplies by conducting tests and assessments on incoming supplies to identify any quality issues; Developing supplier inspection, testing, and evaluation mechanism.
• 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
• Research potential vendors, assess their manufacturing environment, practices and procedures; Conduct supplier quality control audits to ensure compliance with policies/standards
• Support suppliers in improving their performance through process enhancements, implementing process controls, and developing quality assurance plans
• Some travel required: up to 30% Mainly UK supplier visits. Occasional travel to Europe.

What skills and experience does the Supplier Development Engineer need?

• 5 years’ experience working with suppliers. You’ll have high technical knowledge in manufacturing & quality systems + Fabrications (e.g. Metals, welding, painting, assembly, machining)
• Welding understanding and how it works is key. Desirable: machining and painting processes and technical standards experience
• Strong written and verbal communication skills dealing with both internal and external partners
• Attention to detail, route cause analysis expertise, problem solving and process improvement
• Knowledge and understanding of Quality Management & Metrics: supplier audits, PPAP, APQP, PPM, Engineering specifications, Supplier quality tools
• Corrective Action Management experience: Gap identification, Root cause analysis, Corrective action implementation
• Supplier Assessments & Audits: Conducting supplier audits, developing inspection processes, Establishing quality gates
• PC literate: used to using MS Office suite – you’ll be trained on our client’s software.

The above represents a summary of the contract assignment. A full description of this contract assignment is available. A full explanation of this rate and all deductions will be explained in a key information document (KID) supplied to registered candidates