Staff Supplier Quality Engineer - Special Processes

Mainspring Energy · Menlo Park, CA

Level: Senior
Team: Quality
Travel: 50%
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 10+ years
Industry: Industrial
Posted: 30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A senior quality role at Mainspring Energy (industrial) in Menlo Park, CA. Automotive, aerospace, or industrial power generation background preferred.

They ask for: 10+ years · degree required
Tools it names: Root cause, SPC, FMEA, PPAP, Control plans, GD&T
Day to day: about 50% travel

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Quality Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $100k–$149k.

Median of the low and high ends of 89 live postings that list pay, out of 189 quality engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 188 other live quality postings in California.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: More than usual (10+ vs 5+)

Skills these teams ask for most

✓ Root cause 77%
✓ FMEA 54%
✓ Supplier quality 49%
Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 46%
✓ AS9100 43%
✓ ISO 9001 39%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for Machining, Welding, Painting / coating, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

It asks for 10+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

1
Pick 2–3 people on the Quality team at Mainspring Energy
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Which standards drive the work here: ISO 13485, IATF 16949, AS9100?
- How much of the job is customer complaints versus prevention?
- The posting says about 50% travel. Between which sites?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: Mainspring Energy in Menlo Park

14 other open roles at this site.

Vice President, Electrical Engineering · Reliability · Director+
Sustaining Controls Engineer · Controls
Senior Reaction Controls Engineer · Controls · Senior
Senior/Staff Materials Process Engineer · Process · Senior
Senior Materials and Process Engineer · Process · Senior
Staff Materials and Process Engineer · Process · Senior

All 15 roles at Mainspring Energy →

Full description from Mainspring EnergyAs posted on their careers site.Show

Responsibilities

◆Build and maintain trust-based relationships with assigned suppliers, serving as the primary quality point of contact and representing Mainspring's quality expectations clearly and consistently across cultures and geographies, including APAC and international suppliers as we scale
◆Own the supplier quality gate from New Product Introduction (NPI) through steady-state production, including control plan development, PPAP review and approval, and process capability studies (Cp/Cpk) for assigned suppliers
◆Issue and drive closure of Supplier Corrective Action Requests (SCARs) using structured root cause analysis methodology (8D), holding suppliers accountable to corrective action timelines and validating effectiveness
◆Review and approve material and process deviation requests from suppliers, coordinating with Materials & Process Engineering and Design Engineering as required
◆Conduct supplier process audits and site visits to assess compliance to control plans, quality system requirements, and Mainspring standards
◆Own incoming inspection disposition and NCR management for assigned suppliers, making timely and defensible quality decisions to keep production moving
◆Maintain SPC monitoring and control plan updates in steady-state production, escalating negative trends before they become escapes
◆Act as subject matter expert and internal resource for the SQE team on special processes, providing guidance on qualification approaches, audit methodology, and deviation disposition

requirements

✓You have coached or mentored less experienced quality engineers and are comfortable being the person others come to when the problem is hard or the answer is not in the playbook

Qualifications

✓Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or Materials Engineering, or a related technical field required
✓Minimum 7–10 years of Supplier Quality Engineering experience, with demonstrated progression into roles with independent ownership of supplier qualification programs
✓Proven experience as a quality decision-maker on PPAP approvals, deviation dispositions, and Supplier Corrective Action Report (SCAR) closure for complex components or assemblies
✓Experience coaching or mentoring less experienced quality engineers, formally or informally
✓Deep working knowledge of at least two special processes (welding, coating, heat treatment, brazing, NDT, or electronics/PCBA) at the level of auditing supplier process controls, not just awareness
✓Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with Design Engineering, Materials & Process, and Supply Chain to drive quality outcomes without direct authority over those teams
✓Ability to travel 25–50%, including international travel to APAC suppliers

Show full description ↓

About Mainspring

Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:

Pragmatic Optimism

Excellence without Ego

Proactive Collaboration

Job Overview

Mainspring Energy is scaling production of a first-of-its-kind linear generator, a fundamentally new approach to power generation with the potential to replace combustion turbines globally. As we transition from development into volume manufacturing, supplier quality is a critical lever. This role owns the quality gate for a portfolio of suppliers producing complex components and special process parts from NPI qualification through steady-state production. You will operate with significant autonomy, serve as the subject matter expert on special processes for the broader SQE team, and work cross-functionally with Design Engineering, Materials & Process, and Supply Chain to build quality into the supply chain from the start, not through inspection. This is a senior individual contributor role with real accountability and real scope.

The Ideal Candidate

•You have successfully launched into volume production complex components and assemblies using advanced quality planning through product development, prototype into mass production
•You can thrive in structured and unstructured environments and are not dissuaded at the prospect of making hard decisions about what is important and urgent against a backdrop of limited resources
•You have effectively used your background in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) per ANSI Y14.5 to interpret manufacturing drawings and make independent disposition decisions. You have working knowledge of advanced measurement systems including CMM and laser scanning
•You have deep working knowledge of three or more special processes: welding, coating, heat treatment, cladding, thermal spray, electronics/PCBA manufacturing or precision machining at the level of auditing supplier process controls, reviewing process FMEAs, and approving PPAPs. Automotive, aerospace, or industrial power generation background preferred
•You have used data collection, analysis, and dashboarding to inform effective decision making
•You have a working knowledge of ISO 9001, AS9100 or IATF 16949 quality management system