Senior Supplier Quality Engineer

Zoox; Foster City, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 228,000; Full time

Job summary

Zoox is seeking a Senior Supplier Quality Engineer in Foster City, CA to ensure world-class performance of seating and interior components. The role focuses on supplier selection, manufacturing readiness, and process validation across a broad set of interior materials.

The ideal candidate has 8+ years in supplier quality or automotive manufacturing, with hands-on NPI, Six Sigma, and robust knowledge of seating and interior trim processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Materials, or a related engineering field.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Vehicle Interiors Engineering to select suppliers based on capability, capacity, and quality maturity.
• Collaborate with suppliers on design reviews to ensure manufacturability of seats and interior trim parts.
• Lead supplier industrialization from design through production ramp-up, incl. tooling transitions.
• Support tooling, foam molds, sew fixtures, gauges, and process qualifications on site.
• Drive APQP and support PPAP through start of production with validation.

Skills

Structured problem-solving

Six Sigma

8D

DOE

Pareto analysis

Fishbone analysis

Is/Is-Not analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical/Industrial/Materials engineering

Tools

PFMEA

Control plans

SPC

MSA

Process capability

Process flow diagrams

Job description

The Senior Supplier Quality Engineer will play a key role in ensuring world-class performance of the Zoox prototype and production Seating and Vehicle Interiors supply base, and drive continuous improvement. The ideal candidate will be entrepreneurial, driven, energetic, detailed, and team-oriented, with deep hands-on knowledge of seat systems and interior trim manufacturing.

Candidates with experience across seating and interior commodities — seat structures and mechanisms, foam-in-place and molded foam, cut-and-sew and trim covers, door trim, headliners, and carpet — and a strong working understanding of manufacturing processes such as injection molding, foam molding, cut-and-sew, lamination and wrapping, welding and stamping of seat frames, and electromechanical sub-assembly will be highly preferred.

In this role, you will:

• Partner with Vehicle Interiors Engineering, Design, and Strategic Sourcing to select suppliers based on manufacturing capability, capacity, and quality maturity.
• Collaborate with suppliers on design reviews to ensure seats and interior trim parts are manufacturable, and explore new production techniques and materials where needed.
• Lead the supplier industrialization process from design through production ramp-up, including soft tooling to hard tooling transitions.
• Support suppliers with tooling, foam molds, sew fixtures, gauges, and process qualifications; witness and approve tooling and process buy-offs on site.
• Drive the APQP process and support PPAP through start of production, including dimensional, material, appearance, and performance validation.
• Own craftsmanship and appearance quality for occupant-facing surfaces — grain, gloss, color and material matching, gap and flush, seam quality, stitch integrity, and trim fit — and establish master and boundary sample processes with suppliers.
• Ensure supplier compliance with seating safety and interior material requirements, including occupant safety performance, flammability, and durability testing.
• Assess supplier readiness for vehicle builds and help manage production risk ahead of each build phase.
• Train suppliers on Zoox quality systems and review prototype and production part quality documentation.
• Lead root cause and corrective action efforts (8D) for supplier quality issues, and support Manufacturing, Quality, and Vehicle Engineering with analysis and disposition of suspect supplier material.
• Monitor and report supplier quality metrics to drive ongoing improvement across the seating and interiors supply base.
• Use lean and quality tools to improve yield, first-time-through quality, and cycle time throughout the supply base.
• Improve Zoox supplier quality processes such as supplier assessments, supplier management, part approval, and corrective actions.
• Be ready for up to 40% domestic and international travel, sometimes on short notice.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Materials, or a related engineering field.
• 8+ years of experience in quality, supplier quality, or manufacturing — ideally in automotive.
• Direct experience with seating and/or interior trim commodities and their supply base.
• Hands-on experience launching new products (NPI) and creating or improving quality systems.
• Experience with manufacturing processes such as injection molding, foam-in-place and molded foam, cut-and-sew, lamination and wrapping, stamping and welding, and electromechanical assembly.
• Skilled in structured problem-solving methods such as Six Sigma, 8D, Pareto analysis, DOE, fishbone, and Is/Is-Not.
• Familiar with core quality tools: process flow diagrams, PFMEA, control plans, SPC, MSA, and process capability studies.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with seat safety and regulatory requirements, and with seat and trim durability and abuse testing.
• Experience with soft trim materials — leather, textiles, TPO/PVC skins, foams and adhesives — and with material and appearance approval processes.
• Experience with seat comfort and craftsmanship evaluation, including CMF (color, material, finish) alignment with Design.
• Familiarity with seat electronics and mechanisms such as occupant detection sensors, heaters, motors, recliners, and tracks.
• Experience with tooling and fixture validation.
• Certifications such as CQE, ASQ Quality Auditor, or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt.

$190,000 - $228,000 a year

Base Salary Range

There are three major components to compensation for this position: salary, Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights. A sign-on bonus may be offered as part of the compensation package. The listed range applies only to the base salary. Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Zoox is considering for this position.

Zoox also offers a comprehensive package of benefits, including paid time off (e.g. sick leave, vacation, bereavement), unpaid time off, Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, Amazon RSUs, health insurance, long-term care insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, and life insurance.