Product Procurement Engineer

Caterpillar•Decatur, IL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Caterpillar is seeking a Product Procurement Engineer to support world-class product quality, supply continuity, supplier collaboration, and cost competitiveness across our manufacturing supply base. In this role, you will manage part development and quality feedback loops for New Product Introduction (NPI), Continuous Product Improvement (CPI), and New Source Introduction (NSI) activities while working closely with suppliers, design control engineers, value chain engineering, supply chain partners, and procurement category teams. This role is ideal for a procurement, supplier quality, supply chain, or manufacturing engineering professional who enjoys solving complex technical and commercial problems, improving supplier performance, and helping ensure parts are delivered at the right quality, total cost, and timeline. You will help advance APQP, PPAP, cost management, VAVE, supplier readiness, design for manufacturability, and supply network optimization for critical components and product programs. As a Product Procurement Engineer, your work will directly support a competitive, resilient, and high-performing supply network that enables Caterpillar to deliver durable products, operational excellence, and customer value.

Requirements

Interpersonal Relationships: Ability to establish credibility, build productive working relationships, influence key individuals, resolve differences, and contribute across teams.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Ability to gather, analyze, and apply data to make organizational decisions aligned with business priorities; includes designing KPIs and evaluating challenges related to integrating data into decisions.
Supplier Management - Manufacturing: Ability to manage supplier transactions, research suppliers, resolve supplier issues, and ensure quality and delivery expectations are met.
Analytical Thinking: Ability to define problems, compare alternatives, identify patterns, assess stakeholders and impacts, and use logic to reach conclusions.
Effective Communications: Ability to adapt messages to the audience, communicate upward and outward, employ persuasion appropriately, and keep discussions focused.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Ability to evaluate alternatives, quantify costs and benefits, recommend measurement approaches, and align analysis with organizational goals and benchmarks.
Strategic Sourcing: Ability to apply sourcing methods, market research, data analysis, purchasing budget review, and continuous improvement practices in a procurement environment.
Supply Chain Management: Ability to understand supply chain systems, analyze trends, integrate supplier transactions, and support continuous improvement across the supply chain.

Nice To Haves

Degree or equivalent experience desired.
Experience supporting New Product Introduction (NPI), Continuous Product Improvement (CPI), or New Source Introduction (NSI).
Experience with APQP, PPAP, supplier readiness, supplier quality, manufacturing quality, or part development.
Experience partnering with design engineering, value chain engineering, procurement category teams, suppliers, logistics, packaging, or supply chain teams.
Experience with VAVE, cost modeling, design for manufacturability, should-cost analysis, supplier capability assessments, or total cost analysis.
Experience applying structured problem solving, root cause analysis, quality feedback loops, or lessons learned across a supplier base.
Experience in manufacturing, heavy equipment, automotive, industrial products, machining, castings, fabrications, hydraulics, powertrain, electronics, or engineered components.
Ability to influence without direct authority across procurement, engineering, operations, manufacturing, quality, and supplier organizations.
Strong comfort with data, metrics, dashboards, supplier performance reporting, cost analysis, and business case development.

Responsibilities

Manage Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and cost management activities from concept through Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) to deliver parts at the right quality, total cost, and timeline.
Collaborate cross-functionally with suppliers, packaging, transportation, business resources, supply chain, design control engineering, value chain engineering, and procurement category teams to support product readiness and supply execution.
Implement product supply strategies aligned with category management strategies to create a competitive advantage through a world-class supply network.
Manage quality feedback loops to ensure lessons learned from quality defects are applied across the supply base.
Drive Value Analysis and Value Engineering (VAVE) through cost modeling, design for manufacturability, and supplier capability analysis.
Use data-driven decision making to design KPIs, evaluate opportunities and challenges, oversee data gathering and analysis, and influence decisions with reliable information.
Apply analytical thinking to define problems, compare alternatives, identify meaningful data patterns, assess business impact, and develop practical solutions.
Build productive relationships with suppliers, internal stakeholders, and technical teams to resolve issues, align priorities, and improve supply network performance.
Support supplier management by researching alternative vendors, participating in supplier selection, resolving routine supplier issues, and ensuring purchases meet delivery and quality expectations.
Support strategic sourcing activities by using data analysis, market research, purchasing budget review, continuous improvement, and sourcing standards to strengthen procurement outcomes.
Contribute to supply chain management by recognizing supply chain systems, identifying trends, integrating supplier transactions, and supporting part-specific supply chain improvement.