Supplier Quality & Manufacturing Engine

Travel: Frequent travel to China, including regular visits to manufacturers, vendors, and test labs

Employment type: Full-time

Department: Hardware / Engineering

Location: Vancouver, BC

Meta Optima is looking for a Vancouver-based Supplier Quality & Manufacturing Engineer to support the production and prototyping of our hardware products with manufacturing partners in China.

This role exists to improve production quality, reduce batch‑to‑batch and unit‑to‑unit variation, strengthen technical communication with Chinese manufacturers and vendors, and ensure production follows Meta Optima’s approved specifications, BOMs, drawings, work instructions, test procedures, and change‑control processes.

The ideal candidate has strong supplier‑quality discipline, practical manufacturing experience, fluent Mandarin, strong professional English, and the ability to work closely with both a Canadian engineering team and Chinese manufacturing partners.

• Travel to China to support prototype builds, pilot builds, production runs, factory reviews, and shipment inspections.
• Verify that production follows approved BOMs, drawings, work instructions, fixtures, software/firmware versions, and inspection criteria.
• Identify and document quality issues affecting mechanical assembly, moving assemblies, device mounting, cable routing, power/charging, cosmetic quality, calibration, packaging, and end‑of‑line testing.
• Detect and escalate unauthorized part substitutions, process changes, rework methods, or configuration changes.
• Support supplier qualification, component sample review, and local vendor communication.

• Create, maintain, and execute incoming inspection and production inspection checklists.
• Lead or witness first‑article inspection for new builds, changed components, changed processes, or new suppliers.
• Verify end‑of‑line testing is completed and documented for each unit.
• Review test logs, calibration records, serial numbers, photos/videos, and inspection evidence.
• Recommend shipment hold/release based on objective acceptance criteria.

• Document defects by batch, serial number, severity, suspected root cause, and corrective action.
• Support factory‑side root‑cause analysis using 8D, CAPA, or equivalent methods.
• Verify corrective actions in later builds.
• Track repeat defects and escalate unresolved or recurring issues.
• Provide clear evidence to Meta Optima’s hardware and quality teams.

• Maintain build‑configuration summaries for production batches.
• Confirm that units are built to the approved revision of hardware, firmware, work instructions, packaging, and test procedures.
• Track proposed supplier, BOM, fixture, tooling, firmware, software, or process changes.
• Escalate any undocumented change or deviation before it affects production quality.

• Communicate directly with Chinese manufacturers, vendors, and test labs in Mandarin.
• Translate technical requirements and issues between English and Mandarin.
• Produce concise English reports for Meta Optima.
• Produce Mandarin technical summaries for manufacturers or vendors when needed.
• Join meetings with Meta Optima, manufacturers, vendors, and labs.
• Help turn factory‑side issues into clear engineering actions and business risks.

• Based in the Vancouver area and able to travel frequently to China.
• Fluent Mandarin and strong professional English.
• 5+ years of experience in supplier quality, manufacturing engineering, quality engineering, or production engineering.
• Experience with electromechanical products.
• Experience working with contract manufacturers.
• Able to read BOMs, drawings, assembly instructions, inspection plans, and test procedures.
• Experience with incoming inspection, first‑article inspection, production testing, nonconformance reporting, root‑cause analysis, and CAPA/8D.
• Strong documentation discipline.
• Comfortable challenging manufacturers professionally and documenting issues clearly.
• Able to work independently during overseas supplier visits.
• Eligible to travel…