Manager, Supplier Capability and Quality

Caterpillar Inc.•Griffin, GA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Caterpillar's Electric Power Division (EPD) is seeking a leader to drive supplier capability, quality, and readiness across a global supply base supporting critical power solutions. This role leads the Supplier Development Engineering (SDE) function and is responsible for building and advancing supplier capability to support new product introduction, production stability, and long-term strategic growth. As a key member of the Procurement Solutions organization, this role operates at the intersection of Procurement, Engineering, Quality, and Operations—ensuring suppliers are technically capable, operationally ready, and aligned with enterprise standards. You will shape how suppliers are onboarded, developed, and managed while influencing sourcing decisions and driving measurable improvements in quality and performance. This is a high-impact role for a leader who thrives in complex, cross-functional environments and is passionate about developing supplier ecosystems that enable business success.

Requirements

Extensive experience and knowledge of business process improvement best practices and ability to use methods for identifying, evaluating, introducing and implementing more efficient approaches to performing business related activities.
Working knowledge of techniques and processes for inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data; ability to discover useful information, draw logical conclusions, and support decision-making. Ability to connect supplier performance to cost, delivery, and production outcomes.
Extensive experience and understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.
Working knowledge and understanding of the importance of being able to leverage external resources when required and ability to build and use effective working relationships within own department and across department, functional, and geographic reporting lines. Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives across Procurement, Engineering, Quality, and Operations
Working knowledge of the principles and tools used in cost-benefit analysis; ability to analyze the purpose and scope of a producer, product, process, or project in terms of cost and benefits.
Experience with root cause analysis and supplier recovery execution.
Working knowledge of category management within an organization's goods and services sector; ability to use this knowledge to analyze and improve the end-to-end procurement process and maximize business profitability.
Proven leadership experience in Supplier Development Engineering, Supplier Quality, or Manufacturing Engineering, with ownership of supplier capability and performance including audits, assessments, PPAP/readiness, and improvement plans.
Experience influencing supplier selection, sourcing decisions, or supplier strategy

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, or related field
Experience supporting new product introduction (NPI) or supplier launch environments
Experience with global supply bases and multi-site operations

Responsibilities

Lead the SDE team, providing direction on strategy, capability development, workforce planning, and performance management
Establish clear roles, expectations, and standard work to build a high-performing supplier development organization
Lead the end-to-end supplier onboarding and readiness lifecycle, including capability validation, audits, PPAP/readiness gates, and launch execution
Develop and implement frameworks for supplier assessments and capability improvement plans
Ensure suppliers are prepared to meet quality, capacity, and delivery expectations across programs
Partner with Supplier Quality, Engineering, and Operations to identify risks and drive corrective actions across the supply base
Lead structured problem-solving, root cause analysis, and supplier recovery plans
Establish mechanisms to monitor, measure, and improve supplier quality and operational performance
Collaborate with Procurement, Commercial, and Engineering stakeholders to align supplier capability with sourcing strategies
Provide input into supplier selection, sourcing locations, and investment decisions based on technical and operational readiness
Serve as a key connector between suppliers and internal teams, driving alignment and accountability
Establish and govern the operating model across SDE, Supplier Quality, Engineering, and factory teams
Clarify ownership, escalation paths, and intervention strategies to ensure effective execution
Improve transparency through data, analytics, and system integration
Lead initiatives to enhance processes, tools, and systems supporting supplier development and readiness
Drive adoption of data-driven insights, standardization, and automation to improve efficiency and outcomes