Quality / Manufacturing Engineer — Castings

Over 30 years, SQA Services has been a leading provider of managed supplier quality services, offering audits, assessments, remote surveillance, corrective actions, remediation, inspections, and engineering solutions to manufacturers across all industries. We deliver these services by deploying a network of highly skilled associates based throughout the United States and in over 90 countries worldwide, ensuring rapid on-site support at your supplier locations. Our associates are expert quality assurance professionals with extensive experience and local expertise, enabling us to represent our clients on demand and with greater speed and efficiency than our competitors.

Serve as SQA’s commodity subject matter expert and assessment lead for a two-day, on-site readiness assessment of a first-time casting supplier. Working alongside an SQA Technical Lead for FAI and metrology, you will lead the Requirements Consumption Review, the failure-mechanism-driven commodity assessment, and the PPAP readiness review, and author the final report identifying gaps and their risk to specification and on-time delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the on-site assessment as the castings commodity SME, including the opening meeting, daily out-briefs, and closing meeting with the supplier and client.
• Facilitate the Requirements Consumption Review (RCR) with the supplier’s cross-functional team and client (virtual), covering contract review, product definition, build plan, inspection and test, CAPA, general workmanship, and tooling / property management.
• Walk the casting process flow step by step - pattern and gating, melt and chemistry, pouring and solidification, heat treatment, cleaning and finishing, weld repair, NDT, and shipment - identifying credible failure mechanisms and evaluating the prevention and detection controls in place (reverse-PFMEA approach).
• Evaluate QMS effectiveness as applied to the part, including MRB, nonconformance handling, corrective action, traceability, and continuous improvement.
• Where PPAP is required, assess the supplier’s readiness to execute a compliant PPAP: APQP planning, process flow, PFMEA, control plan, capability studies, and submission process.
• Evaluate schedule feasibility and capacity against quoted lead times and identify risks to on-time delivery.
• Consolidate findings with the Technical Lead into a gap register, rating each gap by risk and state of control, and recommend actions for the client and supplier.
• Escalate any observation posing an immediate risk to conformance or schedule to SQA within one business day.
• Author the Supplier Readiness Assessment Report for SQA technical review within the required timeline and support the client readout.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, metallurgical / materials, manufacturing, or industrial engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and at least 10 years of directly related experience.
• Minimum 7 years of hands-on quality or manufacturing engineering experience in metal casting operations (sand, investment, or permanent mold).
• Demonstrated working knowledge of casting failure mechanisms (porosity, shrinkage, inclusions, hot tears, cold shuts, misruns, dimensional distortion) and the process controls that prevent them.
• Working knowledge of casting NDT methods (RT, PT, MT) and of chemical and mechanical property verification, including test bars and coupons.
• Hands-on experience developing or reviewing PFMEAs and control plans, and executing or reviewing PPAP / APQP per AIAG requirements.
• Prior experience leading supplier audits or assessments, with lead auditor training or certification to ISO 9001 or AS9100.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
• Strong technical writing skills; able to produce clear, evidence-based reports on deadline.
• Able to travel to and work on site at the supplier facility for the full two-day assessment, including shop-floor access with required PPE.