Job Overview

The Supplier Quality Manager owns Proper Voltage's proactive supplier quality function. This role builds the discipline that keeps supplier problems from reaching our contract manufacturer's line: qualification audits, PPAP, APQP, supplier scorecards, and supplier development programs across mechanical, electrical, and cell suppliers.

This role reports to the Director of Supply Chain and works closely with the VP of Supply Chain, the sourcing team, engineering, and our contract manufacturer's quality team. A Supplier Quality Engineer will report to this role to handle reactive quality events (incoming inspection, supplier CAPAs, first article inspection). Together, this function covers both sides of the quality equation: preventing supplier issues before they happen and containing them fast when they do.

We are building this function now because the operational workload is real. The supplier base is growing across all commodity categories, hardware programs are moving from prototype into production, and the cost of a supplier quality escape scales with volume. This role is the anchor for building the function before production scale compounds the risk.

Scope

This is a hands-on manager role. You will own the proactive supplier quality function personally in the near term, with one direct report (SQE) landing within the first quarter after you start. The team may grow further as production ramps and volume drives additional coverage needs.

Commodities in scope include the full BOM across our hardware programs: custom mechanical components (CNC aluminum, sheet metal, thermal plates, busbars), electrical components (active, passive, connectors, cables, wire harnesses), packaging, and cells. Cell supplier quality is a specific and technically demanding portion of this role.

The supplier base spans North America and Asia. Most supplier engagement happens virtually or through our contract manufacturer's facility in Salt Lake City. On-site supplier development visits (domestic and Asia) will be part of the role, though heavy Asia travel is not the primary mode.

Product-level quality (design quality, product reliability, warranty engineering, customer quality escapes) lives in the engineering organization. This role covers external supply base quality. The two functions partner closely, especially on component-driven quality issues where the boundary is fuzzy.

What this role is for

You have real supplier quality experience in a hardware or industrial product environment, and you also have industrial engineering or manufacturing background. You have been on factory floors. You understand what suppliers actually do to make parts, not just how to audit them. You can look at a process and know what will drift, where the variation lives, and what capability studies would tell you.

You have built supplier quality programs from scratch, not just administered mature ones. You have set up PPAP requirements, run APQP with a supplier through a new product introduction, established a supplier audit calendar, and stood up a scorecard program that suppliers actually respond to. You know how to make quality programs stick with suppliers who would prefer to skip them.

You are comfortable with process discipline (SPC, DMAIC, root cause analysis, process capability studies, control plans) and you have used these tools to solve real problems, not just to check boxes. When something goes wrong at a supplier, you can lead the investigation and the corrective action from technical root cause through verification.

You are comfortable in early-stage environments where the playbook is still being written. You are energized rather than slowed by ambiguity. You will build the tools, templates, and cadence yourself in the near term rather than inheriting mature systems.

You are comfortable working across a CM-based manufacturing model where we hold direct supplier relationships and our CM handles line quality. You understand the coordination cost of that model and you have operated inside it before.

This role is not a fit if

Your supplier quality experience is primarily audit-and-compliance driven without hands-on manufacturing or industrial engineering background.
You need a mature QMS platform in place to be effective. In the near term, you will build the systems (with support from a systems and process manager as that role comes online).
You are looking for a pure strategic quality role without operational execution. This role is hands-on for the foreseeable future.
You would find a startup operating tempo frustrating. This role moves fast, with real supplier work on the table today.

What you'll do

Proactive supplier quality

Design and run the supplier qualification process across mechanical, electrical, and cell suppliers. Own PPAP requirements, first article inspection protocols, and qualification criteria that suppliers must meet before parts enter the BOM.
Build and run the APQP program with suppliers on new product introductions across our hardware programs. Partner with engineering and sourcing to translate design intent into supplier quality requirements.
Establish the supplier audit calendar. Conduct on-site and remote audits against defined criteria. Track audit findings through corrective action to closure.
Build and run the supplier scorecard program. Define metrics that matter, hold suppliers to them, and use scorecards to drive supplier development conversations.
Lead supplier development projects. Work with underperforming suppliers on process capability, control plans, and improvement plans. Serve as key input into overall supply base strategy as set by the Director of Supply Chain.

Reactive supplier quality (with SQE)

Own the supplier CAPA process end to end. Lead root cause investigations on high-severity or repeat supplier quality events. Coach the SQE on execution.
Own cell supplier quality specifically. Partner directly with our cell supplier on quality issues, process changes, and lot-level release recommendations. Build the technical partnership and the escalation path.
Set the framework for incoming inspection, first article inspection, and line quality escalations. SQE runs the day-to-day; you set the standards and the review cadence.

Cross-functional partnership

Partner with engineering (product quality team, cell engineering, mechanical, electrical) on component-level quality decisions, design change impact, and specification clarity.
Partner with sourcing (Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemistry Procurement Managers) on supplier selection, qualification logistics, and commercial escalation when quality issues create commercial impact.
Partner with our contract manufacturer's quality organization on line quality, incoming inspection interface, and joint supplier interactions.

Team building

Manage the Supplier Quality Engineer as they onboard and take ownership of reactive quality execution. Support their development and unblock their work.
Build the case for additional headcount as production ramps and quality workload grows. Own the growth plan for the supplier quality function.

Required Qualifications

8+ years in supplier quality, quality engineering, or a hybrid quality and manufacturing role with direct supplier development ownership.
Industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering, or equivalent hands-on manufacturing background. Time on factory floors is required, not optional.
Direct experience building or scaling supplier quality programs from an early stage. PPAP, APQP, supplier audit programs, scorecards, and supplier development projects built and run personally.
Hands-on experience with process discipline tools (SPC, DMAIC, control plans, process capability studies, root cause analysis) applied to real supplier problems.
Experience holding supplier quality relationships in a CM-based manufacturing model where components are directly sourced.
Direct people management experience. Ability to coach an SQE and grow the function.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in battery, energy storage, power electronics, or other hardware-adjacent categories.
Cell supplier quality experience. Lithium-ion, sodium-ion, or other battery chemistry supplier engagement.
ASQ certifications (CQE, CSSBB, CMQ/OE) or equivalent formal quality credentials.
Asia supplier development experience with on-site engagement.
Early-stage startup experience building quality functions from zero.
Automotive, aerospace, or medical device background where supplier quality discipline was structural to the business.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary of $180,000 to $200,000, plus equity.
Health, dental, and vision insurance.
Flexible PTO with a generous holiday policy.
Salt Lake City or Carlsbad, CA preferred. Open to fully remote for the right candidate. Regular travel to our contract manufacturers and occasional supplier travel (domestic and Asia).

Ready to work on power systems that matter? Let's talk.

Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

Recruiting agencies: Proper Voltage does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions. Please do not contact any employees directly unless you have an existing engagement with the company.

About Proper Voltage

Proper Voltage is unlocking the next generation of battery technology across robotics, data centers, and defense.

We're building intelligent battery systems that make advanced chemistries (sodium-ion, lithium-titanate, lithium-silicon) work in products that were never designed for them. Humanoid robots can upgrade power systems without redesigning their entire platform. Data centers get safer, cheaper backup power. Drones and autonomous vehicles get higher energy density without lengthy integration cycles.

If you want to work on hard engineering problems that matter this is the place.

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