
Supplier Development Engineer (aviation)
We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.
As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.
When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.
Job Description
Overview
The Supplier Development Engineer is responsible for developing, industrializing, and improving the performance of the equipment supply base. This role strengthens supplier capability, ensures robust production processes, and mitigates risks through proactive quality and industrial engineering methods.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead supplier industrialization activities for new equipment, components, and complex mechanical assemblies.
- Assess and develop supplier manufacturing capabilities, capacity, special processes, and long‑term maturity.
- Drive APQP processes with suppliers, including PFMEA, control plans, process flow diagrams, and PPAP deliverables.
- Perform comprehensive supplier assessments covering quality systems, process robustness, lean maturity, and risk levels.
- Partner with suppliers on continuous improvement initiatives (5S, Kaizen, SPC, waste reduction, layout optimization).
- Guide suppliers through Production Readiness Review (PRR), First Article Inspection (FAI), and ramp‑up phases.
- Implement tools to monitor supplier capability (Cp/Cpk), process variation, and yield performance.
- Collaborate cross‑functionally with procurement, engineering, and program management to ensure suppliers meet technical and delivery requirements.
- Drive closure of industrialization risks and follow up on supplier improvement roadmaps.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent technical field.
- Strong background in aerospace manufacturing, equipment industrialization, or supply chain engineering.
- Solid command of AMDEC/FMEA, APQP, PPAP, MSA, SPC, 8D, and lean principles.
- Proven ability to evaluate and develop manufacturing processes at suppliers.
- Strong communication, negotiation, and supplier‑coaching abilities.
Location: on-site in Little Rock, AR
Salary Range: $85K-$105K
The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience
ALTEN Technology is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our Policy is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual’s age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or veteran status.
Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.
Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.
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