The Role

The purpose of this role is to manage supplier’s quality performance by ensuring suppliers are fit for purpose and validating alignment on product quality requirements to ensure product acceptance at point of use. The Supplier Quality Assurance Engineer will drive supplier input into REL design to ensure manufacturability, cost points and fit for purpose and identify and promote continuous improvement.

Accountabilities and Responsibilities

Supplier selection process

• Responsible for approving new suppliers proposed by SC team
• Validate supplier competence for commodity, auditing suppliers for both process control and product validation

Products / Process Industrialisation and Validation of: (PVI)

• Contribute to industrialisation reviews with Industrial Methods team/ SC team/ Design/ Manufacturing
• Organize PVI critical reviews at the suppliers
• Flow down quality requirements to suppliers and validate alignment in quality plans and inspection processes between suppliers and REL
• Approve supplier quality validation plans at point of quotation or part / process approval
• Validate and approve product/supplier combinations

Supplier Management

• Ensure the Quality Assurance Plan (System, Product, Transfer) has been compiled by the suppliers,
• Plan and implement the appropriate monitoring actions at the suppliers’ (system, products and processes, industrialization, and mass-production phase)
• Define and agree any appropriate staged inspection points and sign off approval to proceed
• Sign off any agreed site final inspection points to enable appropriate parts to be receipted at REL
• Coordinate the handling of system, process and product anomalies (Product non-conformances, concessions deviations and waivers)
• Decide whether to approve supplier waiver requests after analysis of the pertinence of the causal analysis and corrective actions, with the appropriate design lead
• Ensure corrective and preventive actions have been effectively implemented internally and at the supplier
• Coordinate all supplier related quality crises through to closure, and RCA completed
• Ensure that sub-tier suppliers are controlled by the supplier
• Ensure that the suppliers have control over their tools, WIP, final inspection, etc.
• Provide the elements making it possible to pass on non-quality costs to the suppliers
• Provide timely feedback to relevant REL teams after non-quality events have occurred and ultimately closed

Develop and Promote Improvement Plans

• Measure and communicate the suppliers’ quality performance level
• Represent quality at supplier performance reviews
• Create and analyze rating results, have supplier action plans implemented and measure their effectiveness

This is an overview of the duties and responsibilities of the role. A full job description will be made available to applicants.

Experience

Essential

• Technical background with ability to read detailed drawings
• Knowledge of a range of manufacturing techniques
• Ability to use quality and continuous improvement tools (Process FMECA, Risk analysis, Process Control, Causal analysis, RCA 8D)
• Know how to propose detailed objectives
• Ability to draw up a monitoring plan
• Know how to alert if processes should deviate from the procedures in force
• Detailed knowledge of inspection process
• Knowledge of the audit techniques (System, Process, Product, Service Quality)

Qualifications

Desirable

• A relevant degree-level qualification or equivalent experience

Skills and Behaviours

Essential

• Able to work with multiple complex stakeholders with competing interests and priorities
• Customer focused
• Strong interpersonal and people management skills
• Team building style with an inclusive style of leadership
• High-energy personality with the ability to thrive in a hard-working environment
• A disciplined, well documented, and well communicated approach
• Articulate and persuasive oral and written communication skills

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate behaviours consistent with Reaction Engines’ core values:

• Commitment
• Innovation
• Trust
• Quality
• Teamwork

This role attracts a competitive salary and excellent company benefits including 28 days annual leave (increasing to 30 days after 2 years’ service) plus public holidays, employee share scheme, employer matching company pension scheme, life assurance and a contribution towards onsite nursery childcare for children under 3 years of age.  We also offer dynamic working where employees split their time working from home and from our office in Culham.

Salary: £36,000 to £42,000, depending on experience

Contract: Permanent

Working Hours: 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Please send your Curriculum Vitae and covering letter to careers@reactionengines.co.uk quoting reference 057-2021 – Supplier Quality Assurance Engineer