Senior Staff Customer Quality Engineer

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.