Supplier Quality Engineer

Summary:

Ariat International is seeking a Supplier Quality Engineer to support apparel quality manufacturing India. This role will be based in India (Mid or North of India) and will play a crucial role in ensuring that the apparel products produced by our suppliers meet the highest quality standards. This role will work closely with garment suppliers at various stages of the product lifecycle to ensure robust quality management systems are in place, assist with challenges during product development, confirm successful product qualifications, conduct product inspections, lead root cause analysis and CAPA.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Supplier Quality Team to execute Supplier Quality Strategy with a goal of onboarding strong suppliers, driving process improvement, managing risks, and ensuring quality production (Factory Audits, Supplier Pre-Production Meetings, Sample Evaluations, Inspections, etc.).
• Review supplier performance and scorecards with suppliers to drive improvements.
• Lead supplier qualification plans/activities, issue resolution, supplier corrective actions.
• Advise on supplier selection through qualification and audit process.
• Develop positive relationships and work closely with HQ teams - Sourcing, Production, Tech Design and Quality.
• Provide quality engineering expertise.
• Execute supplier quality and performance strategy and system.
• Identify product quality risk and develop solution plans.
• Arrange and conduct in-line and final product inspections and provide advice and solutions on technical issues.
• Conduct supplier Quality Management System audits at new and current suppliers.
• Participate in and advise during supplier pre-production meetings to ensure Ariat Quality standards are understood and appropriate control plans are developed to meet standards.
• Provide QA advice on complex product items to factories before and during the manufacturing process.
• Check development and pre-production samples against specifications to ensure they meet standards.
• Provide technical advice and solutions on various product quality issues.

Requirements/Experience:

• At least 5 years of quality operations experience in the apparel industry
• Degree in Engineering, Apparel, Textiles, or other relevant discipline
• Quality Certifications are a plus (ex. six sigma, ASQ, etc.)
• Familiar with US product safety standards and regulations
• Strong written and verbal communication (English)
• Use computers and computer systems (hardware and software) in English to manage quality control information, including compiling, categorizing, calculating, auditing and verifying detailed information or data.
• Develop schedules and work plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish inspection/audit/production meeting goals.
• Maintain professional work standards when representing Ariat to outside resources.
• Ability to collaborate with suppliers to remediate quality problems and settle disputes and conflicts in a positive way.
• Able to travel frequently, with about 70% of the time on business travel.