Senior Supplier Tooling Engineer – Plastics & Molds

Slate; Troy (MI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Slate is seeking a Senior Supplier Tooling Engineer-Plastics in Troy, MI to lead vendor tooling programs for injection-molded plastics and soft trim. You will own tool qualification, runoff readiness, PPAP, and issue resolution, guiding SQEs and coordinating with Purchasing.

You will mentor juniors, manage multiple tooling programs in a fast-paced launch environment, and safeguard tooling budgets and timelines while ensuring production-readiness across programs.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in supplier tooling, tool engineering, or supplier quality with hands-on mold, die, fixture design, and runoff in automotive/high-volume manufacturing.
• Excellent communication and supplier relationship skills; hold tooling vendors accountable while maintaining partnerships.
• Deep experience across tooling types including injection-molded plastics.
• Identify tooling root causes for dimensional/cosmetic/process issues; drive corrective action (8D, 5-Why, Ishikawa).
• Strong understanding of tooling program metrics: tool trial status, milestones, first article acceptance, capacity verification.

Responsibilities

• Manage Slate’s vendor tooling program across all commodity types from tool award to production runoff and PPAP.
• Track tool build status, milestones, and conduct tool trials and first article inspections.
• Oversee tooling asset register and coordinate engineering change at tool level; support capacity verification and budgeting.

Skills

Engineering Degree

Tooling Design

GD&T Reading

CMM Data

Vendor Management

Automotive Mfg

Education

Bachelor’s in Engineering

Tools

Mold Design

Die Design

Capability Studies

Job description

Slate is seeking a Senior Supplier Tooling Engineer-Plastics in Troy, MI to lead vendor tooling programs for injection-molded plastics and soft trim. You will own tool qualification, runoff readiness, PPAP, and issue resolution, guiding SQEs and coordinating with Purchasing.

You will mentor juniors, manage multiple tooling programs in a fast-paced launch environment, and safeguard tooling budgets and timelines while ensuring production-readiness across programs.