Supplier Quality Engineer

POSITION PURPOSE

Improve the quality and overall customer satisfaction of Home Depot private branded products including returns to store reduction, damage or damage markdown reduction, improving online reviews and ratings, and reduce customer care complaints. Develop and validate factory and product assessments, tests, and inspections in coordination with suppliers, foreign sourcing offices, and service providers. Ensure optimal execution of process controls for The Home Depot and related companies so that factories used and products manufactured meet or exceed product specifications and relevant national, state, and local laws. Ensure compliance to all relevant requirements from Standard Operating Procedures, contracts, supplier buying agreements, and purchase orders. Monitor the implementation of six sigma, Lean, continuous improvement and corrective/preventive action plans throughout each process.

MAJOR TASKS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Resolve quality issues by identifying problems, examining solution options, implementing action plans, and providing resources including issues of capability, tolerancing, and materials/handling related issues.

• Effectively communicate and reinforce THD PB commitment to quality improvement efforts

• Deploy Advanced Product Quality Planning activities to determine appropriate use of process controls with suppliers during pilot and mass production.

• Develop Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Control plans, Measurement system analysis

• Facilitate and promote use of six sigma, Lean, and statistical tools and DMAIC methodology

• Develop / validate test and inspection plans designed to assure quality of factories and products based on a review of all applicable safety standards (such as American National Standards Institute or Underwriters Laboratories), industry trends, and historical performance data.

• Support management in the review and resolution of issues with suppliers, factories, service providers, merchandising, store operations, distribution, safety, customers, and other related supply chain components as required.

• Analyze and interpret assessment, test, and inspection results, determine root cause of failures and non-conformities, and drive continuous improvement and best practices.

• Big data, excellent data analysis toolset knowledge, SQL, Visual Basic, Use of excel pivot tables and analytics use

• Point of contact for supplier activities directed toward process control and quality assurance of sourced products.

• Work with suppliers to establish a structured approach for consistency and adherence to quality procedures and requirements.

• Work closely with service providers on surveillance audits (quality system assessment, process capability analysis and during-process inspection, etc.) for suppliers and sub-tier suppliers through quality tools to qualify them and drive their continuous improvement.

• Follow up on non-conforming results from supplier audits, during-process inspection, pre-shipment inspection, quality complaints from internal customers, product returns, and safety recalls.

• Support Product Engineering on pre-purchase testing, provide on-site technical guidance to suppliers and monitor them to assure product and process compliance with engineering requirements.

• Support Sourcing team with new product launches through new factory pre-qualification prior to on-boarding.

• Tracking, management and reporting for the assigned quality initiative programs.

• Work closely with the US QA team to manage service providers and ensure compliance to relevant requirements from Company Integrity Policy, QA Standard Operating Procedures, and MSA.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or other technical field of study such as chemistry or material science

• International operations experience, supported by foreign language skills (oral and written)

• Operational experience in a manufacturing or engineering environment

• Experience with engineering standards development, review, and enforcement

• Experience with multi-project management

• Experience working with cross-functional teams

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & COMPETENCIES

• Continuous improvement program development and execution (e.g., Six Sigma or Lean Manufacturing)

• Computer skills sufficient to retrieve, manipulate, analyze, and interpret data

• Communication Skills – oral (English and local language), written, and presentations. Chinese language capability is preferred.