Customer Quality Engineer

As Customer Quality Engineer (CQE), you are responsible for ensuring customer quality requirements are met and for leading the resolution of customer quality issues across the product lifecycle. You serve as the primary quality liaison between customers and internal cross‑functional teams, driving root cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives. You play a critical role in maintaining customer satisfaction, compliance with quality standards, and sustained product and process performance. You will be on-site at the Oak Creek, WI facility and report to the Quality Assurance Site Manager.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer quality issue resolution, including driving compliance to our QMS and utilization of ETQ and owning final response and closure of RCA and acting as the escalation point for high‑severity or critical customer issues, internal or external, to support overall customer satisfaction.

• Manage customer claims, quality concerns and complaints by ensuring timely containment, RCA, PA verification, response and closure utilizing recognized methodologies or customer specific required methodologies (e.g., 8D, 5 Whys, Fishbone, Is Is Not).
• Ensure root causes are evidence-based and corrective and preventative actions address systemic failure modes while being implemented with the highest sense of urgency and focused to be robust, effective, and sustainably implemented, including for similar technologies or processes. 

• Provide clear, timely, and professional communication regarding issue status, risks, and resolution plans to manage customer expectations during investigations, escalations, recovery activities, and lead customer audits with support of the QA Manager.

• Build and sustain collaborative working relationships with customer plant leadership as well as engineering organizations who support quality and production processes.
• Proactively identify potential quality risks and coordinate preventive actions aligned with the PPG plant quality management system.

• Ensure all customer‑specific requirements are clearly understood, documented, and integrated into internal processes and represent voice of customer for related MOC and promote compliance with applicable quality management system requirements, including customer‑specific requirements (CSRs) and IATF standards and PPG internal standards(APQP, FMEA, LPA).

• Partner with Manufacturing, Process Engineering, Supply Chain, Sales, Planning, Technical Laboratories, and Customer Service, and Continuous Improvement teams to resolve issues and implement improvements to continuously improve customer satisfaction as reported on customer scorecards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Quality, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced, customer‑focused environment.
• The person who will be successful in this role is comfortable driving cross-functional teams without direct authority while creating an atmosphere of collaboration, respect, and a continuous improvement.
• Strong judgment and decision making skills, with the ability to evaluate data, assess risk, and make sound, timely decisions in a customer facing environment.

• Automotive industry and coatings experience including working knowledge of IATF 16949.
• Experience supporting customer and third‑party audits.

• Office and manufacturing floor environment.
• 10-15%  travel may be required to customer or supplier locations.

About us: 

PPG: WE PROTECT AND BEAUTIFY THE WORLD® 

Through leadership in innovation, sustainability and color, PPG helps customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than does any other company. To learn more, visit www.ppg.com and follow @PPG on X. 

The PPG Way 2030  

We are customer champions 

Proactive. Bold. Trustworthy. Everything we do starts with our customers. We listen, move fast and don’t stop until we solve their biggest challenges. When our customers win, we all grow. 

We act with purpose and speed 

Agile. Data-driven. Empowered. We take smart risks to stay ahead of the competition. We work proactively with agility, using quality data to develop solutions that create value.  

We are excellent operators 

Productive. Collaborative. Accountable. No matter our role, we identify problems, take ownership and always bring solutions. We are both proactive and responsive to drive continuous improvement and deliver results. We support our frontline, the faces of PPG to our customers.   

We compete to win 

Future-focused. Driven. Ambitious. We are passionate about growing our business and winning with our customers. We deliver results, embrace new technologies and leverage agility and speed as strengths. 

We are PPG proud 

Strong. United. Passionate. We work safely, act with integrity and value our diverse perspectives. We celebrate achievements and take pride in the positive impact we create together to protect and beautify the world. 

At PPG we use AI in the hiring process to make the process more efficient. AI tools do not make hiring decisions. You can learn more by going to  https://careers.ppg.com/us/en/candidate-resources.  

PPG provides equal opportunity to all candidates and employees. We offer an opportunity to grow and develop your career in an environment that provides a fulfilling workplace for employees, creates an environment for continuous learning, and embraces the ideas and diversity of others. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, pregnancy, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, disability status, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.  

If you need an adjustment due to a disability, please email [email protected]. 

PPG pay ranges and benefits can vary by location which allows us to compensate employees competitively in different geographic markets. PPG considers several factors in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, qualifications and education, licensure and certifications, and other organizational needs. Other incentives may apply.  
Our employee benefits programs are designed to support the health and well-being of our employees. Any insurance coverages and benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.  Benefits will be discussed with you by your recruiter during the hiring process. 

PPG values your feedback on our recruiting process. We encourage you to visit Glassdoor.com and provide feedback on the process, so that we can do better today than yesterday.