Supplier Development Engineer - Plastics & Molding, Supply Chain Management

What you’ll do:

Responsible for developing supplier manufacturing capability, capacity, scalability, and operational readiness to support current and future business requirements. Lead structured supplier development activities to identify and close systemic manufacturing, process, capacity, and operational gaps. Provide proactive supplier development support for business growth, new product launches, supplier transfers, capacity expansion, and strategic supplier initiatives. Partner with Supplier Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, COE, and suppliers to drive measurable and sustainable improvement in supplier capability and performance. 

Essential Functions:
Supplier Development & Capability Improvement

• Lead structured supplier development activities to identify and close manufacturing, process, capacity, and operational capability gaps.
• Establish development plans with clear objectives, actions, owners, timing, and measurable outcomes.

Manufacturing & Process Capability

• Assess supplier manufacturing processes and drive improvement using process capability analysis, Lean methodologies, structured problem solving, material flow, process controls, and applicable advanced quality tools.
• Assess supplier capability and manufacturing controls for injection molding, compression molding, and related polymer conversion processes, including material preparation and handling, mold and tooling condition, molding parameters, temperature and pressure control, drying and moisture management, regrind controls, equipment capability, dimensional and material testing, process capability, traceability, process validation, and change management to ensure consistent material and product performance.

Capacity & Scalability Readiness

• Assess supplier production-rate readiness and capacity against current and future business requirements.
• Identify constraints and risks and drive mitigation, recovery, or expansion plans to demonstrate sustainable capacity.

Growth, Launch & Transfer Readiness

• Proactively assess and develop supplier readiness to support business growth, new product introductions, supplier transfers, localization, volume increases, and capacity expansions.
• Identify supplier risks early and drive mitigation actions before they impact operations.

Technical Supplier Recovery

• Lead the supplier-development workstream when supplier quality, delivery, or operational performance issues are driven by deeper manufacturing, process, capacity, or systemic capability gaps.
• Partner with the SQE and appropriate cross-functional resources while maintaining defined responsibilities through the RASIC.

Essential Functions:

Supplier Assessment & Risk Identification

• Participate in Supplier Site Assessments and other risk-based supplier assessments as required.
• Evaluate manufacturing capability, operational maturity, process controls, capacity, and readiness, and drive supplier-development actions resulting from identified gaps.

APQP & Supplier Readiness Support

• Support APQP and supplier-readiness activities by evaluating manufacturing capability, capacity, scalability, and operational risks and driving development actions within the SDE scope.

Continuous Improvement & Problem Solving

• Coach and support suppliers in structured problem solving, Lean, 8D, root-cause analysis, process capability, material management, and other applicable methodologies to achieve sustainable performance improvement.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Partner with Supplier Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, COE, and other stakeholders in accordance with established standard work and RASIC responsibilities.
• Support critical supplier situations based on business risk and technical need.

Verification & Sustainability

• Establish measurable success criteria for supplier-development engagements.
• Verify that development objectives have been achieved, improvements are effective, and capability is sustained before closing the development activity.
• Work directly with suppliers where Quality or Delivery performance, or business risk demands robust corrective action and improvement.
• Utilize expertise and a wide range of tools to identify and lead improvement actions including Problem Solving, Auditing, Material Management, and Load & Capacity planning.

Qualifications:

Required Basic Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, or related technical discipline.
• Minimum five (5) years of experience in Manufacturing Engineering, Supplier Development, Supplier Quality, Operations, or Supply Chain, including experience with injection molding, compression molding, insert molding, over molding, or related thermoplastic and thermoset manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrated knowledge of polymer material characteristics, resin preparation and moisture control, mold design and tooling condition, machine and auxiliary equipment capability, fill/pack/hold and cooling parameters, temperature and pressure control, cavity balance, regrind and contamination management, dimensional stability and cosmetic requirements, molding defect analysis, process capability and validation, traceability, and manufacturing process controls. 
• No relocation benefit is offered for this position. Only candidates currently residing within the immediate geographical area (within 50 miles) of Beachwood OH, Charlotte NC, Jackson MI (Detroit Metro), Menomonee Falls WI, Moon Township PA, or Raleigh NC will be considered for this position. Active-Duty Military Service member candidates are exempt from the geographical are limitation.
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes and supplier-development methodologies.
• Demonstrated experience assessing manufacturing capability and driving supplier improvement.
• Working knowledge of APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, SPC, and structured problem solving.
• Experience with capacity analysis and production-rate readiness.
• Knowledge of Lean / Continuous Improvement methodologies.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making skills.
• Ability to influence and lead supplier improvement without direct authority.
• Ability to lead cross-functional activities across multiple sites and functions.
  
  

Preferred Requirements:

• Lead Auditor qualification.
• Lean / Six Sigma certification.
• Experience with supplier transfers, NPI, capacity expansion, and industrialization.
• Experience working across multiple sites, regions, and cultures.
• Advanced technical or business degree.

Additional Information:

• Demonstrates strong technical and business judgment when assessing supplier risk.
• Works independently and effectively in supplier-facing environments.
• Builds effective relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Demonstrates urgency appropriate to business risk while maintaining structured problem solving.
• Communicates complex supplier issues clearly to technical, operational, and leadership audiences.
• Demonstrates strong project-management and execution discipline.
• Able to prioritize multiple supplier-development activities based on business impact and risk.
• Comfortable working in a matrix organization with cross-functional accountability.
• Significant supplier-site travel may be required.
• Up-to 50% travel.
  
  

DIMENSIONS:

Primary SDE Measures:

• Supplier capability gaps closed.
• Capacity/scalability risks mitigated.
• Supplier development plans completed against committed timing.
• Manufacturing/process capability improvement.
• Growth, launch, and transfer readiness achieved.
• Sustainability of supplier improvements.
  
  

Business Impact Indicators

• Improvement in supplier quality and delivery performance resulting from development activity.
• Reduction in recurring/systemic supplier issues.
• Reduction in supplier-related operational disruptions.
• Improved supplier maturity and production readiness.