The Role

As the Lead, Supplier Development Engineer within the Supply Chain organization at K2 Space, you will be responsible for defining and implementing supplier development strategies for the company. In this role, you will build and lead a team that owns supplier development to ensure quality standards are met and enable high-rate production. You will lead the charge on defining process that continuously evaluates suppliers, working with them to develop their process and improving their ability to support the company's needs. This role will have high visibility and impact across the organization. You will work closely with engineering, manufacturing, and procurement teams to grow and mature suppliers into strategic partners in support of company critical missions.

Responsibilities

• Build the supplier development engineering team and define processes to achieve short term build targets and a ramp to high-rate production.
• Assess supplier capabilities, technologies, and their ability to successfully execute manufacturing requirements.
• Manage Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), rate, and reliability campaigns to enable production.
• Lead containments, issue ticket resolution, and supplier corrective action efforts.
• Evaluate supplier quality performance and drive improvements, using scorecards and audits, to ensure compliance to quality standards.
• Define and oversee a standardized qualification process for suppliers from development tier to flight tier.
• Provide program leadership necessary inputs to ensure that product quality, delivery, and cost achieve business and customer expectations.
• Interface with responsible engineering, production teams, and procurement to define production roadmaps aligned with company goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 3+ years in a quality, reliability, supply chain, or engineering role
• Strong understanding of quality standards and tools (ISO 9001, AS9100, PPAP)
• Experience managing vendors, suppliers, and strategic technical partners
• Ability to travel up 25-50% of the time

Nice to Have

• 1+ years in a management role
• Expert level knowledge in mechanical commodities such as machined parts, mechanisms, and composites and/or avionics commodities such as harnessing and PCBs/PCBAs
• Knowledge of Lean concepts
• Experience in a new product introduction environment
• Experience in root cause and corrective action activities
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with data analytics and SQL

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $130,000 - $175,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks