West- Supplier Quality Engineer-1st

NTN Bearing Corporation; Columbus (IN); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

NTN Driveshaft in Columbus, Indiana, seeks a Supplier Quality Engineer to manage direct material quality, drive continuous improvement, and lead root-cause analysis with suppliers. The role requires auditing, PPAP oversight, and collaboration across production, engineering, and quality teams.

Travel to supplier sites may be necessary, and strong communication skills are essential. Ideal candidates hold a Bachelor’s degree with 1–3 years of related experience, familiarity with ISO 9001/IATF

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 1–3 years of quality experience preferred.
• Auditor experience using process approach and ISO/IATF CQI standards preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication, cross-functional collaboration, and independent work ability.
• Ability to prepare documentation and present to senior management.

Responsibilities

• Owns product quality for direct material suppliers and investigates supplier quality issues.
• Led continuous improvement projects and drives a zero-defect mentality.
• Communicates with suppliers on quality issues, new programs, and audits.
• Conducts investigations, records issues, and initiates containment actions.
• Champions root-cause analysis and corrective actions with suppliers.
• Monitors PPAPs, process changes, and annual supplier validations.
• Performs supplier audits and risk assessments to minimize critical-process risk.
• Tracks supplier performance and ensures timely corrective actions.
• Willingness to travel to suppliers as required.

Skills

ISO 9001

IATF 16949

CQI

8D

PFMEA

DFMEA

PPAP

Data analysis

Cross-functional

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

#26-0557

Columbus, Indiana, USA Job Description

NTN Driveshaft, a world leader in constant velocity technology for the automotive industry, is currently seeking a qualified Supplier Quality Engineer for our Columbus, Indiana operations. NTN currently has 2000 employees working in our Columbus operation and customer demand for our product is growing rapidly. NTN Driveshaft manufactures Constant Velocity Joints (CVJs) for all of the major automotive companies. These customers include Honda, Ford, Toyota, GM, Chrysler and most other automotive OEMs.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Responsible for product quality for direct material suppliers, including investigating, analyzing and resolving supplier quality issues by conducting audits, analyzing defect trends, and leading continuous improvement projects.
• Develops long-term supplier relationships and Drives “Zero Defect” mentality within the supply base.
• Communicates with suppliers for quality issues, new programs, and maintenance audits.
• Conducts investigations, records issues, contains product, and initiates clean points for supplier quality issues.
• Champions problem solving and root cause analysis activities with suppliers to prevent recurrence of non-conformances.
• Reviews, processes, and tracks progress of supplier new PPAPs, process changes, special acceptances, and annual PPAPs.
• Conducts and tracks progress on risk based product and process supplier audits to assess root cause/countermeasures after quality issues, approve new suppliers, minimize risk for critical processes, and ensure compliance to NTN and automotive standards.
• Leads supplier performance improvement projects in an effort to increase supplier capability to consistently meeting NTN Driveshaft requirements.
• Works with purchasing to ensure supplier performance is regularly reported and that appropriate and timely corrective actions are implemented.
• Must be able to travel to suppliers as required.
• Interacts with all internal departments, (production, engineering, quality), as well as suppliers and customers.
• Other duties as assigned: sorting, product measurements, training, internal improvements, etc

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with one to three years of relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred.
• Auditor experience using the process approach and strong understanding of ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and CQI requirements preffered.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, ability to work well cross-functionally, and function independently of direct supervision.
• Ability to prepare documentation and present to Senior and Executive Management.
• Strong project management skills.
• Knowledge of various quality system methodologies, 8D, 5 Why’s, DFMEA, PFMEA, Control Plans, AIAG-PPAP and etc.
• Strong computer skills, experience with Microsoft Office.
• Strong problem solving skills, including ability to collect data, establish facts, draw conclusions, and recommend effective corrective action.
• Ability to organize, plan, allocate resources, and prioritize in order to meet multiple overlapping and competing deadlines.
• Ability to work under strict timelines to meet deadlines.