Failure Analysis Supervisor

Lead the safe, accurate, timely receipt, control, triage, testing coordination, investigation flow, and disposition of customer, warranty, 0-km, and escalated internal returned parts. The supervisor ensures traceability, disciplined records, effective cross-functional problem solving, and clear status communication to Customer Quality, plant quality, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, warranty teams, and customer-facing representatives.

The Test Engineering team is a global team that is responsible for designing and implementing production test strategies. This team of engineers is empowered to lead and drive teams through failure investigations and overcoming manufacturing barriers to ensure quality products are delivered while exceeding customer satisfaction.

• Own daily Parts Return Center (PRC) operations, including receipt, identification, system logging, labeling, segregation, storage, movement, and final disposition of returned parts.
• Maintain end-to-end traceability and detailed records for each return, including customer claim information, product identification, condition received, photographs, test data, repair or teardown findings, investigation status, and disposition evidence.
• Prioritize workload based on customer impact, safety or regulatory risk, production exposure, aging, response commitments, and escalation level.
• Assign and coordinate incoming work across technicians, engineers, laboratory resources, and subject matter experts; hold clear ownership and due dates.
• Coordinate bench-level testing, troubleshooting, teardown, disassembly, non-destructive inspection, and component-level analysis appropriate to the product and available capability.
• Ensure returned material is protected from damage, contamination, loss, commingling, or unauthorized disposition; maintain defined quarantine and controlled-access practices.
• Partner with Customer Quality and plant quality to support investigation reports, weekly status reviews, 8D deliverables, customer portal responses, and closure evidence.
• Initiate or support structured problem solving using 8D, DMAIC, 5 Whys, Shainin Red X, or other approved methods; ensure technical conclusions are evidence-based.
• Coordinate acquisition, analysis, and management of returned parts and warranty claim data with plant and corporate warranty stakeholders.
• Monitor investigation aging, response timeliness, repeat failures, no-trouble-found trends, containment status, and countermeasure validation; escalate barriers promptly.
• Lead routine operating reviews with Customer Quality, warranty, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, laboratory, and product/process SMEs.
• Ensure customer-specific requirements, product specifications, internal business processes, and applicable automotive quality standards are reflected in return-center controls.
• Support customer, quality-system, process, and internal audits by providing controlled records, data, traceability, and objective evidence of compliance.
• Develop team capability through standardized work, coaching, cross-training, lessons learned and documented best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement in flow, visual management, turnaround time, data quality, workplace organization, equipment readiness, and investigation effectiveness.

• Create a team culture built on safety, urgency, accuracy, disciplined execution, and respectful challenge.
• Establish regular touchpoints to review open issues, progress, risks, and actions; use shared tracking to provide transparent status.
• Define escalation paths for unresolved, high-risk, overdue, or customer-critical returns.
• Clarify the handoff between the return center, Customer Quality lead, and product/process SME: the center controls the part and evidence flow, Customer Quality leads customer alignment, and the SME provides technical depth for root-cause confirmation.
• Facilitate cross-functional root-cause sessions and ensure corrective and preventive actions have accountable owners and target dates.
• Promote knowledge sharing between quality and technical teams and capture lessons learned for reuse.

• Intake & control Verify shipment and claim information; assign unique identification; record condition received; preserve chain of custody. Complete intake record and traceable location
• Triage & priority Assess urgency, exposure, requested analysis, capability, and required stakeholders. Priority, owner, due date, investigation path
• Analysis coordination Route parts to qualified resources; ensure approved test methods, equipment readiness, and evidence capture. Test data, images, teardown notes, findings
• Problem solving Connect findings to structured root-cause activity; challenge unsupported conclusions; track containment and corrective actions. Evidence-based investigation and action status
• Communication Provide routine and escalation updates; support customer portal entries and quality review content. Accurate status, risks, decisions, next steps
• Closure & disposition Confirm required approvals, record retention, countermeasure validation, and authorized disposition. Closure evidence and disposition record Performance Measures
• Safety and material-control compliance
• Return intake accuracy and traceability completeness
• On-time triage and investigation response
• Open-case aging and overdue-action management
• Investigation quality and evidence completeness
• Repeat-failure and no-trouble-found trend visibility
• Customer portal and status-report timeliness
• Corrective-action effectiveness and timely closure
• Team cross-training, standardized-work adherence, and continuous-improvement delivery

• 2+ years experience supervising or coordinating a technical, quality, warranty, laboratory, returns, repair, or manufacturing support operation.
• Automotive, electronics, electromechanical, or similarly controlled manufacturing experience.
• Working knowledge of structured problem solving and root-cause tools such as 8D, DMAIC, 5 Whys, or equivalent.
• Ability to interpret product specifications, drawings, work instructions, test results, and quality records.
• Strong organization, material-control discipline, data accuracy, and written communication skills.
• Ability to work across Customer Quality, plant quality, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, warranty, laboratory, and customer-facing teams.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint; ability to prepare charts, pivot tables, lookups, investigation summaries, and operating-review content.
• Ability to work independently, make sound priority decisions, and escalate risk with clarity.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, quality, operations, supply chain, or a related discipline; equivalent technical and leadership experience may be considered.
• Experience with ISO 9001, IATF 16949, VDA requirements, or equivalent automotive quality systems.
• Experience with automotive core tools, including APQP, PPAP, SPC, MSA, FMEA, and control plans.
• Experience with SAP or a similar enterprise system and customer quality portals.
• Electronics troubleshooting experience, including PCBs, SMT components, soldering, schematics, and common electrical test equipment.
• Lean, Six Sigma, ASQ, Red X, or related quality/problem-solving certification.