Job Title: STA Engineer
Location: Dearborn, MI-Hybrid
Travel: May need to travel locally to suppliers.
Job Type: Full Time, Contract, W2
Expected hours per week: 40 Hours
Schedule: 7:30am-4:30pm
Pay: $46.00-55.00/hr
Job Description:
We are seeking an experienced Supplier Technical Assistance (STA) to support automotive interior suppliers and ensure manufacturing readiness, quality performance, capacity, delivery, and successful product launches.
This is a highly hands-on, supplier-facing position where you will work directly at manufacturing facilities to assess production processes, troubleshoot quality concerns, drive corrective actions, and ensure suppliers can meet production requirements without disrupting vehicle assembly.
The ideal candidate will have strong automotive manufacturing experience with interior commodities, combined with hands-on knowledge of APQP, PPAP, stamping, welding, thermoforming, and/or related manufacturing processes.
Travel: Up to 70% to supplier manufacturing locations
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary technical interface between the organization and assigned suppliers.
- Ensure suppliers meet expectations for launch readiness, quality, capacity, warranty performance, and on-time delivery.
- Lead and support Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) activities throughout product development and launch.
- Manage and support Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) deliverables according to program timing.
- Conduct manufacturing feasibility and production-readiness assessments at supplier facilities.
- Provide on-site technical leadership during critical supplier manufacturing and quality issues.
- Lead containment, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and preventive actions.
- Troubleshoot manufacturing issues involving tooling, equipment, processes, and component quality.
- Drive solutions designed to prevent supplier-related production disruptions or vehicle losses.
- Work cross-functionally with engineering, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, supplier leadership, and other stakeholders.
- Monitor supplier performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
- Support supplier development activities to improve long-term manufacturing and quality capabilities.
- Analyze supplier performance data to identify trends and support future sourcing and quality decisions.
- Ensure compliance with applicable automotive quality systems and standards.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field.
- 3–5+ years of experience in advanced manufacturing, manufacturing quality, advanced quality, process engineering, supplier quality, manufacturing launch, or related engineering functions.
- Experience supporting automotive interior commodities or directly transferable manufacturing processes.
- Hands-on experience working in a manufacturing/plant-floor environment.
- Strong working knowledge of APQP and PPAP.
- Experience performing root-cause analysis, problem solving, corrective action, and manufacturing process troubleshooting.
- Ability to work directly with suppliers and cross-functional engineering teams.
- Ability and willingness to travel frequently to supplier facilities, up to 70%.
Desired Interior Commodity Experience
Experience supporting one or more of the following is highly desirable:
- Cross Car Beams (CCB)
- Automotive carpets
- NVH/acoustic insulators
- Heat shields
- Wheel arch liners
- Interior structural components
- Related automotive interior assemblies
Desired Manufacturing Process Experience
Stamping
Experience with equipment or processes such as:
- Progressive dies
- Transfer dies
- Single-station dies
- Blanking and piercing tools
- Hydraulic/mechanical stamping presses
- Servo presses
- Die spotting and die tryout
Welding
Experience with processes such as:
- Resistance welding
- Spot welding
- Projection welding
- MIG welding
- Robotic welding cells
- Ultrasonic plastic welding
- Vibration welding
- Hot plate welding
- Laser welding
- Weld fixtures and jig design
Thermoforming
Experience with:
- Vacuum forming
- Pressure forming
- Twin-sheet thermoforming
- Forming molds and tooling
- Trim fixtures
- IR/convection heating ovens
Preferred Qualifications
- Automotive OEM or Tier 1/Tier 2 supplier experience.
- Previous Supplier Quality, Supplier Development, STA, Manufacturing Quality, or Launch Quality experience.
- Strong automotive interior commodity knowledge.
- Experience supporting new vehicle or component launches.
- Knowledge of Q1 requirements and automotive quality standards.
- Six Sigma and/or Lean Manufacturing certification.
- Strong understanding of tooling and manufacturing equipment.
- Excellent communication, technical problem-solving, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Benefits: 80 hours paid time off, and medical insurance contributions, dental vision and our 401k retirement savings plan.
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