Customer Quality Specialist

Technique is looking for a Customer Quality Specialist (Caterpillar) to join our team at our Jackson, Michigan facility. This position reports to the Director of Quality, with a dotted-line relationship to Sales and Commercial. The Customer Quality Specialist owns all Caterpillar portal communication, quality liaison activities, quality documents, supplier performance evaluations, corrective actions, PPM management, PPAP execution in ETQ Reliance, and the SQEP scorecard and roadmap for the Caterpillar account.

The role also partners closely with Technique’s Caterpillar sales representative and Estimating team to connect the right internal expertise to Caterpillar conversations and help win and retain CAT business.

The ideal candidate brings 5+ years of hands‑on quality lab experience, including dimensional inspection, GD&T application, CMM and metrology, capability studies (Cpk/Ppk), and gage R&R. Direct experience with PPAP execution – preferably to Caterpillar, Cummins, John Deere, or an IATF 16949 automotive OEM – and working knowledge of ETQ Reliance or a comparable enterprise QMS are strongly preferred. Experience leading 8D/RCCA/CAR responses and comfort moving fluidly between the shop floor, customer video calls, and internal commercial reviews round out the profile.

• Own portal communication and quality liaison – Serve as the single owner of all Caterpillar portal communication, ETQ Reliance interactions, and quality‑system correspondence. Act as the primary day‑to‑day liaison for Caterpillar buyers, SDEs, SQEs, and quality teams, consolidating relationships that today are spread across multiple Technique contacts.
• Maintain Caterpillar quality documents – Own all Caterpillar quality documents on Technique’s side – control plans, inspection criteria, PFMEAs, and submission packages – and keep them current as Caterpillar specs and Engineering Standards change.
• Manage supplier performance evaluations – Receive and interpret Caterpillar supplier performance evaluations, build response plans, and own follow‑through to close gaps.
• Support Estimating and Sales – Provide Caterpillar‑specific requirements knowledge to Estimating – flow‑down interpretation, recurring spec callouts, special‑process expectations, and packaging and routing standards – so quotes are built with the right context the first time. Maintain a Caterpillar requirements library to eliminate re‑engineering the same questions on every RFQ.
• Connect Caterpillar to internal expertise – Partner with Technique’s assigned Caterpillar sales representative and the Estimating team to route the right Caterpillar conversations to the right internal people:
  Engineering for design‑for‑manufacturing questions, Quality Engineering for capability concerns, Operations for process‑route feasibility, and Supply Chain for special‑process sourcing.
• Identify business opportunities – Surface new programs, expanded scope on existing parts, and quality wins worth highlighting to CAT buyers, and bring them to Sales and leadership.
• Manage quality flow‑down – Translate Caterpillar Engineering Standards and print‑level requirements into Technique‑side documentation, driving Quality Engineering and Operations to update work instructions, control plans, and inspection criteria. Own the interpretation of ambiguous flow‑downs, including direct engagement with Caterpillar SDEs/SQEs for clarification. Maintain version control of Caterpillar specifications referenced on active parts and flag spec revisions when issued.
• Execute PPAP in ETQ Reliance – Own the PPAP workflow inside ETQ Reliance for every Caterpillar part – staging, evidence collection, review, submission, and closure of interim approval conditions. Coordinate cross‑functional inputs: PFMEA and control plan from Quality Engineering, dimensional and capability data from Inspection, material and special‑process certs from Supply Chain, and PSW sign‑off. Drive first‑pass PPAP approval as a measured metric.
  
  Manage PPAP revalidations and re‑submissions triggered by ECNs, process changes, or sub‑tier supplier changes.
• Lead corrective actions end‑to‑end – Own all Caterpillar corrective actions…