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Senior Staff Customer Quality Engineer

Alameda, CA

About Us

We are Sila, a next-generation battery materials company. Our mission is to power the world’s transition to clean energy. To create this future, our team is building a better lithium-ion battery from the inside out today. We engineer and manufacture ground-breaking battery materials that significantly increase the energy density of batteries, while reducing their size and weight. The result? Smaller more powerful batteries that can unlock innovation in consumer devices and accelerate the mass adoption of electric cars to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We're tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time every day, and together we're redefining what's possible. Are you ready to be a part of a team committed to changing the world?

Who You Are

As a Customer Quality Engineer on the Corporate Quality team you will help create the next generation of battery materials by owning the customer-facing quality relationship for the company's product line. This role is the primary quality interface to our customers — managing qualification, complaint resolution, and ongoing performance — and is accountable for translating customer requirements into internal quality commitments that the manufacturing organization can execute against. You are someone who can effectively manage multiple responsibilities, are self-motivated and can work autonomously with minimal guidance.  You are comfortable with ambiguity and eager to create structure.  You have excellent verbal and written communication skills and are able to collaboratively solve problems and set others up for success.

Responsibilities and Duties  

  • Serve as the primary quality point of contact for customers, managing the relationship through qualification, launch, and steady-state production.
  • Lead PPAP/APQP submissions and approvals for new customer programs and specification/process changes. Coordinate cross-functionally with Manufacturing, R&D, and Plant Quality to ensure submissions meet customer requirements.
  • Own customer-specific requirements as assigned — interpreting, documenting, and ensuring they are correctly flowed down into internal specifications, control plans, and the QMS.
  • Lead customer complaint and RMA investigations. Coordinate 8D problem solving including containment, root cause analysis (5-Why, fault tree analysis, fishbone), corrective/preventive action, and customer-facing communication and closure.
  • Represent quality in customer program reviews and host/facilitate audits, and quality business reviews (QBRs). Prepare performance data (PPM, scorecards, corrective action status) for customer-facing reporting.
  • Partner with plant manufacturing quality (including QC/analytics lab) to translate customer requirements and findings into containment and corrective/preventive actions, and escalate issues that require engineering, supplier, or product-level resolution.
  • Maintain and continuously improve customer quality documentation and processes in alignment with ISO/IATF and APQP/PPAP requirements.
  • Track and report customer quality performance trends; identify systemic issues and coordinate preventive action ahead of customer escalation.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements 

  • Minimum of 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years experience; or equivalent experience.
  • Experience with battery materials, powder or particle-based products, or closely related chemical/materials manufacturing.
  • Demonstrated experience owning customer quality relationships, including PPAP/APQP submissions, CSR management, and complaint/RMA resolution.
  • Strong knowledge of IATF 16949 (or equivalent automotive/high-reliability QMS standards) and core quality tools: FMEA, control plans, 8D, SPC, MSA.
  • Strong cross-functional collaboration skills; ability to operate effectively across a governance/execution boundary with plant-based quality and manufacturing teams.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including direct experience presenting to customers in QBR or audit settings.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

  • Operate a computer and other office equipment, such as a laptop, copier/printer, etc in a fixed location

The starting base pay for this role is between $156,000 and $197,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses.  The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

#LI-PL1 #LI-Onsite

Working at Sila

We believe that building a diverse team at Sila helps us amplify our individual talents. We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment where good ideas are free to come from anyone. We are proud to celebrate diversity and all qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, national origin, or any other status protected by law.

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