Supplier Development Engineer - Heat Treatment

Eaton Corporation•Raleigh, NC

2d•$113,000 - $165,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Eaton’s Corporate Sector is hiring a Supplier Development Engineer specializing in heat treatment. This hybrid remote/in-office position may be based at facilities in Beachwood, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit or Jackson, Michigan; Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin; Moon Township, Pennsylvania; or Raleigh, North Carolina. Supplier-site travel of up to 50% may be required. Candidates generally must live within 50 miles of a listed facility; active-duty military service member candidates are exempt from this geographic limitation. Relocation benefits are not offered. The role develops supplier manufacturing capability, capacity, scalability, and operational readiness to meet current and future business needs. It leads structured development activities to identify and close manufacturing, process, capacity, and operational gaps, and proactively supports business growth, new product introductions, supplier transfers, localization, volume increases, capacity expansion, and strategic supplier initiatives. The engineer works with Supplier Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, COE, suppliers, and other stakeholders to drive measurable, sustainable improvement. Responsibilities include assessing manufacturing and process capability, production-rate readiness, operational maturity, and supplier risk; developing mitigation and recovery plans; supporting APQP and supplier readiness; coaching suppliers in problem solving and continuous improvement; and verifying that improvements are effective and sustained before closing development activities. The role also leads supplier-development workstreams when deeper capability gaps contribute to quality, delivery, or operational problems, in coordination with SQE and other resources under established RASIC responsibilities. The expected annual salary range is $113,000–$165,000. Actual salary may depend on skills, experience, qualifications, market, and business considerations. Eaton does not offer employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. Eaton provides health and welfare benefits, retirement benefits, and programs for paid and unpaid time away from work; specific programs and options may depend on eligibility factors.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, or another related technical discipline from an accredited institution.
At least five years of experience in Supplier Development, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or a related field.
Experience with heat treatment and thermal processing of metallic materials.
Knowledge of annealing, hardening, quenching, tempering, carburizing, and related thermal processes; furnace qualification and controls; temperature uniformity and instrumentation; atmosphere and quench controls; material loading and handling; hardness, microstructure, and mechanical property requirements; metallurgical testing; process validation; traceability; and manufacturing process controls.
Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes and supplier-development methodologies.
Knowledge of Lean and continuous-improvement methodologies.
Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making skills.
Ability to influence and lead supplier improvement without direct authority and to lead cross-functional activities across multiple sites and functions.
Sound technical and business judgment when assessing supplier risk.
Ability to work independently and effectively in supplier-facing environments and build effective supplier and stakeholder relationships.
Ability to communicate complex supplier issues clearly to technical, operational, and leadership audiences.
Strong project-management and execution discipline; ability to prioritize multiple supplier-development activities based on business impact and risk.
Comfort working in a matrix organization with cross-functional accountability.
No employment immigration sponsorship or support is available for this position.
Candidates generally must be within 50 miles of a listed facility; active-duty military service member candidates are exempt. No relocation benefit is offered.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree from an accredited institution.
Lead Auditor qualification.
Lean or Six Sigma certification.
Experience with supplier transfers, NPI, capacity expansion, and industrialization.
Experience working across multiple sites, regions, and cultures.
Experience with APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, SPC, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
Experience with capacity planning, industrialization, and production-readiness assessments.

Responsibilities

Lead structured supplier-development activities to identify and close manufacturing, process, capacity, and operational capability gaps; establish plans with objectives, actions, owners, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
Assess supplier manufacturing processes and drive improvements using process capability analysis, Lean methodologies, structured problem solving, material flow, process controls, and applicable advanced quality tools.
Assess supplier capability and controls for circuit breakers and protection devices, particularly bi-metal materials and thermal trip systems, including materials, forming, joining, thermal response, calibration, testing, traceability, validation, and change management.
Assess supplier production-rate readiness and capacity against current and future requirements; identify constraints and risks and drive mitigation, recovery, or expansion plans.
Develop supplier readiness for business growth, new product introductions, supplier transfers, localization, volume increases, and capacity expansions; identify and mitigate risks early.
Lead the supplier-development workstream when quality, delivery, or operational problems stem from manufacturing, process, capacity, or systemic capability gaps, in partnership with SQE and other resources under RASIC responsibilities.
Participate in Supplier Site Assessments and other risk-based assessments; evaluate manufacturing capability, operational maturity, process controls, capacity, and readiness, and drive development actions for identified gaps.
Support APQP and supplier-readiness activities by evaluating manufacturing capability, capacity, scalability, and operational risks and driving development actions within the SDE scope.
Coach and support suppliers in structured problem solving, Lean, 8D, root-cause analysis, process capability, material management, and other applicable methodologies.
Partner with Supplier Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, COE, and other stakeholders in accordance with standard work and RASIC responsibilities; support critical supplier situations based on business risk and technical need.
Set measurable success criteria for supplier-development engagements; verify that objectives are achieved, improvements are effective, and capability is sustained before closing activities.
Lead improvement actions using tools including problem solving, auditing, material management, and load and capacity planning.
Travel to supplier sites as needed, potentially up to 50%.