Senior Supplier Engineer

Company Description

At Intuitive, we are united behind our mission: we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. Through ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints.

As a pioneer and market leader in robotic-assisted surgery, we strive to foster an inclusive and diverse team, committed to making a difference. For more than 25 years, we have worked with hospitals and care teams around the world to help solve some of healthcare's hardest challenges and advance what is possible.

Intuitive has been built by the efforts of great people from diverse backgrounds. We believe great ideas can come from anywhere. We strive to foster an inclusive culture built around diversity of thought and mutual respect. We lead with inclusion and empower our team members to do their best work as their most authentic selves.

Passionate people who want to make a difference drive our culture. Our team members are grounded in integrity, have a strong capacity to learn, the energy to get things done, and bring diverse, real world experiences to help us think in new ways. We actively invest in our team members to support their long-term growth so they can continue to advance our mission and achieve their highest potential.

Join a team committed to taking big leaps forward for a global community of healthcare professionals and their patients. Together, let's advance the world of minimally invasive care.

Job Description

Primary Function of Position
Responsible for ensuring suppliers meet Intuitive requirements for delivery, quality, and cost. Drive suppliers to continuously improve business and manufacturing processes. Execute detailed projects with suppliers to implement changes and improvements affecting quality, capacity, cost, supply chain risk management, and those drivers with sub-tier suppliers. Guide Design Engineering in providing DFM/DFA input to Sustaining and NPI component designs.

 

The ideal candidate possesses a broad level of experience in the manufacturing processes of mechanical components (e.g. machined metal/plastic parts, metal castings, molded plastic parts) and electro-mechanical components (e.g. motors, brakes, sensors), along with the skills to select and develop suppliers.

Essential Job Duties

• Work relentlessly with suppliers to build and own a vision to improve quality, identify and execute cost reductions, capacity improvements, and risk mitigations.
• Manage supplier changes including manufacturing process changes, capacity optimization, facility changes, and new equipment qualification.
• Drive changes to Intuitive requirements as necessary by initiating and managing changes to specifications and drawings through the change order process.
• Investigate, analyze, close, and prevent recurrence of manufacturing variance requests for purchased components from suppliers.
• Monitor supplier performance and initiate improvement activities, including the ownership of CAPAs for supplier variances from symptom through root cause analysis, to corrective action, and preventive action.
• Prepare and deliver supplier communications as required by independently working with suppliers on scorecard creation.
• Generate key metrics for the cross-functional engineering team and suppliers, and continually drive for timely achievement of those metrics.
• Drive suppliers to continually improve their business and manufacturing process performance to meet Intuitive’s requirements for supplier excellence using a collection of best practices in project management, Six Sigma, SPC and negotiation by leading these efforts without managerial guidance at several suppliers simultaneously.
• Select the correct manufacturing process and supplier for the part, considering metrics such as long-term fit with Intuitive, commodity specialization, capacity, and total cost of ownership.
• Perform DFx by engaging the cross-functional engineering team and suppliers early in the development cycle to obtain valuable feedback on manufacturability, opportunities for improved assembly at Intuitive, and design improvements prior to production.
• Develop supplier production readiness based on forecast, supplier capacity, quality performance, and process capability.
• Complete project and part qualification deliverables include: Process FMEA, Process Capability Analysis, FAIR, Process Validations, Inspection Reports, and Gage R&R.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

• Demonstrable knowledge and experience in a wide variety of manufacturing processes with respect to quality, cost, and capacity; specialization can be in machined metal/plastic parts, metal castings, molded plastic parts, motors, brakes, sensors.
• Excellent project management and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present effectively to upper management.
• Excellent ability to handle challenging technical and interpersonal situations with suppliers.
• Practical knowledge of Part Qualification, Process FMEAs and Process Validations.
• Ability to read and interpret detailed mechanical drawings containing GD&T to be able to communicate technical information regarding manufacturing and inspection.
• Significant computer experience using Microsoft suite, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software, and ERP software (e.g. SAP).

Required Education and Training

• BS degree in Engineering or equivalent, Master’s degree preferred.
• 8 or more years of related experience in Manufacturing Engineering, Process Engineering, Supplier Quality, or a related field.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience at a medical device company or capital equipment company in a different industry.
• CAD experience with 3D modeling tools is a plus, preferably SolidWorks.
• Proficiency in 21 CFR Part 820 and ISO 13485.

Additional Information

Due to the nature of our business and the role, please note that Intuitive and/or your customer(s) may require that you show current proof of vaccination against certain diseases including COVID-19.  Details can vary by role.

Intuitive is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees, and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type, without regard to race, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, age, religion, protected veteran or disability status, genetic information or any other status protected under federal, state, or local applicable laws.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.

Preference will be given to qualified candidates who do not reside, or plan to reside, in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Tennessee.

We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay, incentives, benefits, and equity. It would not be typical for someone to be hired at the top end of range for the role, as actual pay will be determined based on several factors, including experience, skills, and qualifications. The target salary ranges are listed.