Career Area:

Procurement

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Role Definition Assesses the supplier quality and ensures that all the products are free from defects and are in compliance with manufacturing specifications and legal standards.

Responsibilities:

• Ensuring the quality of supplies by conducting tests and assessments on incoming supplies to identify any quality issues; Developing supplier inspection, testing, and evaluation mechanism.
• Generating reports on supplier quality, by monitoring their defect rates and areas that can lead to potential flaws; Guiding suppliers to reduce these defect rates.
• Researching the potential vendors, assessing their manufacturing environment, practices, and procedures; Conducting supplier quality control audits to ensure compliance with organizational and federal policies and standards.
• Supporting suppliers in improving their performance through process enhancements, implementing process controls, and developing quality assurance plans.

Degree Requirement
Degree or equivalent experience desired

Skill Descriptors
Effective Communications: Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.

Level Extensive Experience:

• Reviews others' writing or presentations and provides feedback and coaching.
• Adapts documents and presentations for the intended audience.
• Demonstrates both empathy and assertiveness when communicating a need or defending a position.
• Communicates well downward, upward, and outward.
• Employs appropriate methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement.
• Maintains focus on the topic at hand.

Problem Solving: Knowledge of approaches, tools, techniques for recognizing, anticipating, and resolving organizational, operational or process problems; ability to apply knowledge of problem solving appropriately to diverse situations.

Level Extensive Experience:

• Ensures capture of lessons to be learned from a problem-solving effort.
• Organizes potential problem solvers and leads problem resolution efforts.
• Uses varying problem-solving approaches and techniques as appropriate.
• Contributes to standard practices for problem-solving approaches, tools, and processes.
• Analyzes and synthesizes information and devises alternative resolution strategies.
• Develops successful resolutions to critical or wide-impact problems.

Process Improvement: Understanding and insight into evaluating current product quality and production methods and ability to maintains focus on the continuous improvement of processes, products and services.

Level Extensive Experience:

• Streamlines the critical workflow for executing key processes.
• Sets priorities for addressing process problems that limit performance.
• Develops methods for improving and establishing controls for critical processes.
• Monitors external sources for applicable new methods and controls.
• Analyzes findings from improvement cycles to ensure success of interventions.
• Coaches others to develop the skills to improve processes.

Quality Orientation: Knowledge of quality management methods, tools, and techniques; ability to create and support an environment that meets the quality goals of the organization.
Level Expert:

• Promotes quality as a corporate value and source of pride.
• Establishes guidelines for organizational quality programs based on strategic intent.
• Leads the organization to incorporate concepts such as sustainability and fair trade into corporate policies on quality.
• Shapes a culture of quality in which groups with disparate responsibilities share knowledge to improve outcomes.
• Recognizes outstanding achievement in quality standards.
• Contributes to best practices in quality.

Production Part Approval Process (PPAP): Knowledge of Production Part Approval Processes (PPAP) elements, submissions, and objectives; ability to determine whether a supplier can manufacture products that meet the quality requirements and standards of their customers consistently.
Level Expert:

• Develops a monitoring system to ensure that PPAP implementation adheres to global standards and internal guidelines.
• Establishes internal best practices, guidelines, and procedures for implementing PPAP.
• Leads evaluation of accuracy and effectiveness of documented processes versus actual operations.
• Monitors industry and other organizations for innovations and emerging applications related to PPAP and product quality control.
• Oversees all production projects implementing PPAP for quality control and evaluates their performance; introduces necessary interventions to improve their efficiency.
• Promotes the use of emerging tools for implementing PPAP.

Manufacturing Standards, Procedures and Policies: Knowledge of organizational standards, procedures and policies in manufacturing activities; ability to plan, guide, and monitor manufacturing processes for compliance.

Level Extensive Experience:

• Ensures communication vehicles are effectively informing affected areas and personnel.

• Consults on development and implementation of cross-functional standards.

• Participates in the development of organizational policies and practices.

• Develops and uses control and monitoring mechanisms for adherence.

• Collaborates with other functions on establishing and documenting joint standards.

• Participates in defining architectural principles and standards for organization.

• Supplier Management

• MFG: Knowledge of processes and methods to effectively manage business relationships and transactions with suppliers of raw materials or product components; ability to apply related knowledge, experience and skills into real practice.

Level Extensive Experience:

• Facilitates supplier partnering arrangements that share risk and reward.
• Monitors supplier performance; works to resolve discrepancies between performance and agreements.
• Develops quality standards and controls for suppliers.
• Builds and maintains partnerships with multiple and/or large suppliers.
• Evaluates issues and terminates supplier relationships as appropriate; works with legal departments.
• Ensures the fulfillment of report and record-keeping requirements.

Supplier Evaluations and Certification: Knowledge of supplier evaluations and certification; ability to identify the methods, tools and documentation for evaluating, selecting and certifying vendors, suppliers and partners.
Level Expert:

• Leads discussions on the case studies of effective and ineffective processes and what can be learned from each.
• Designs systematic protocols and procedures for supplier evaluations & certification in the organization.
• Establishes organizational standards, metrics and best practices for supplier evaluations & certification in the organization.
• Advocates the development of new technologies and tools for supplier evaluations and certification.
• Creates a system to document the performance and quality of existing suppliers and products.
• Predicts the future trends of supplier evaluations & certification.

Relocation is available for this position.

Posting Dates:

March 12, 2026 - March 19, 2026

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply

Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community.