Supply Chain Engineer, Mechanical

Amca•El Segundo, CA

2d•$100,000 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Supply Chain Engineer has two primary areas of ownership: supplier quality and product ownership for build-to-print customer contracts. The engineer qualifies external suppliers and ensures the quality and reliability of machined, fabricated, formed, and other externally sourced hardware by containing and dispositioning defects and driving corrective actions to root cause. As product owner, the engineer takes a customer technical data package and delivery commitment from contract award through first article and rate production, translating requirements into an executable schedule and coordinating engineering, procurement, production, suppliers, and the customer. The role covers machining, castings, forgings, sheet metal and fabrication, injection molding, soft goods, and finishing or special processes such as heat treat, plating, coatings, welding, and nondestructive testing. The engineer is expected to apply manufacturing and quality methods, hold suppliers to requirements, make and maintain customer commitments, and develop repeatable standards and documentation as the company scales. The position is based onsite in El Segundo, California, five days per week; remote work is not considered. Travel of up to 25% to supplier facilities, company factories, and customer sites is required. Extended hours may be needed to support production and resolve critical issues. The annual salary range is $100,000–$180,000. The role requires access to ITAR-controlled information, so applicants must be U.S. persons as defined by ITAR.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related engineering discipline.
At least 2 years of professional or internship experience in a quality, manufacturing, process, program, or supply chain engineering role.
Demonstrated ability to read engineering drawings, including GD&T.
Working knowledge of at least one primary mechanical process, such as CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, casting, forging, or injection molding.
Demonstrated ownership of a project or program with a firm external commitment, including building the schedule, driving people outside the reporting line, and being accountable for the outcome.
Comfort communicating directly with customers and suppliers about technical, quality, and schedule commitments.
Based in El Segundo, California, and able to work onsite five days per week; remote work is not considered.
Ability to travel up to 25% to supplier facilities, company factories, and customer sites.
Willingness to work extended hours as needed to support production and resolve critical issues.
Valid driver's license.
Must be a U.S. person within the meaning of ITAR because the position requires use of ITAR-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

Aerospace, defense, or other regulated hardware industry background.
Technical program management, product owner, or new product introduction experience in a hardware environment.
Build-to-print or contract manufacturing experience, including technical data package review and requirements flow-down.
Deep technical experience in one or more of machining, castings, forgings, sheet metal, injection molding, or soft goods.
NADCAP special process familiarity across heat treat, chemical processing, coatings, welding, and nondestructive testing.
AS9100 or comparable quality management system experience, AS9102 first article experience, and supplier approval process experience.
Metrology and inspection experience, including CMM programming or interpretation of dimensional results.
Experience with prime contractor and government requirements, including FAR/DFARS flow-downs, contract quality clauses, and government source inspection.
Experience with root cause analysis, FMEA, SPC, design of experiments, and lean manufacturing concepts.
Experience owning schedules in a formal tool and reporting program status to leadership and external customers.
Proficiency working with large data sets, including SQL, for supplier and program performance analysis.

Responsibilities

Serve as product owner for assigned build-to-print contracts, accountable from award through first article to rate production.
Break down customer technical data packages and contracts into requirements matrices covering drawing notes, specifications, quality clauses, tests, inspections, marking, packaging, and delivery; flow requirements to the responsible teams and suppliers.
Build and own program schedules, including long-lead raw material and forgings, tooling, first article, qualification, and delivery; drive cross-functional execution and escalate risks early and specifically.
Serve as the primary technical interface to customers for status, manufacturability questions, deviations and waivers, and source inspection; maintain configuration control against drawing revisions and manage program cost against the quote.
Own supplier-caused defects end to end, including containment, scope assessment, removal of affected parts from production, disposition, return to vendor, and closure.
Run material review and nonconformance processes with quality, engineering, and production for issues identified at suppliers, incoming inspection, or on the production floor.
Issue supplier corrective and preventive action requests, assess responses on technical merit, and verify effectiveness.
Lead root cause investigations into dimensional, material, and process escapes, including print interpretation disputes, setup and fixturing errors, tool wear, heat treat and plating deviations, and raw material nonconformance.
Reduce vendor-caused defects reaching company factories over time.
Evaluate and onboard machine shops, fabricators, foundries, forge houses, molders, and special process houses through capability assessments, quality system reviews, and onsite audits against AS9100, NADCAP, and program requirements.
Own AS9102 first article inspection and production readiness for new and transitioning parts, including ballooned drawings, inspection plans, and dimensional and CMM reporting.
Define supplier technical requirements and confirm compliance before production release, including drawing and GD&T interpretation, AMS and MIL material specifications, and special process callouts.
Provide onsite technical support for supplier machining strategy, tooling, fixturing, process control, and inspection approach; drive supplier improvement plans to measurable outcomes.
Analyze supplier quality and delivery data to identify systemic gaps and develop targeted projects at specific suppliers.
Identify and mitigate supply-chain risks, including sole-source exposure for complex machined and formed parts, special process capacity constraints, long-lead raw materials and forgings, and tooling ownership and transferability.
Work with design, test, and build engineers to understand design intent and translate it into supplier requirements; read and interpret drawings, GD&T, and military and aerospace specifications.
Develop standards and documentation that make supplier quality and program execution repeatable as the company scales.
Meet contractual first-article and delivery milestones, prevent customer escapes and uncommunicated schedule slips, demonstrate measurable reduction in vendor-caused defects reaching factories, and close corrective actions with objective evidence.