Quality Engineer
Smiths Group · Cookeville, TN
- Level
- Engineer
- Team
- Quality
- Degree
- Preferred
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- 11 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
An engineer-level quality role at Smiths Group (industrial) in Cookeville, TN. Develop, review, and maintain process flow diagrams, PFMEAs, control plans, inspection plans, test plans, and other quality planning records.
- They ask for
- degree preferred
- Tools it names
- Root cause, SPC, FMEA, PPAP, Control plans, MSA / Gage R&R
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 9, 2026
Quality Engineer roles in Tennessee: typical posted base $80k–$110k.
Median of the low and high ends of 7 live postings that list pay, out of 38 quality engineer openings in Tennessee, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Tennessee plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 37 other live quality postings in Tennessee.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- Not stated
Typical $80k–$110k, from 7 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Root cause 55%
- ✓ FMEA 45%
- Lean 42%
- ✓ Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 37%
- ✓ SPC 34%
- Six Sigma 34%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
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 Smiths Group
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?
- 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.
Full description from Smiths GroupAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Position summary
The Quality Engineer is responsible for product and process quality throughout the product life cycle, with a strong emphasis on quality planning, manufacturing readiness, defect prevention, and customer satisfaction. This role leads cross-functional quality planning activities, develops and maintains core quality documents, analyzes process and product performance, and drives effective corrective and preventive actions. The Quality Engineer also serves as a key quality contact for assigned OEM customers, ensuring clear communication, timely responses, and alignment with customer-specific requirements.
requirements
to internal teams.
- ✓Coordinate timely responses for customer requests, including PPAPs, FAIs, RMAs, corrective action requests, deviations, source inspections, audits, and regulatory or restricted-substance inquiries.
- ✓Lead or support customer complaint investigations, containment activities, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and verification of effectiveness.
- ✓Prepare and present clear technical updates, quality data, investigation findings, and action plans during customer meetings and reviews.
- ✓Coordinate customer visits, audits, and quality reviews, and ensure commitments and action items are completed by agreed due dates.
- ✓Escalate significant customer, product, or compliance risks to Quality Leadership and affected functions.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Quality Planning and Product Launch Support
- •Lead quality planning activities for new products, product transfers, design changes, process changes, and supplier changes from concept through production release.
- •Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales, and Operations to identify product and process risks and define appropriate controls before release.
- •Develop, review, and maintain process flow diagrams, PFMEAs, control plans, inspection plans, test plans, and other quality planning records.
- •Define critical-to-quality characteristics, acceptance criteria, sampling requirements, measurement methods, validation needs, and documentation requirements.
- •Coordinate PPAP, FAI, and other customer approval submissions, including dimensional results, capability studies, material certifications, test data, and supporting records.
- •Assess the quality impact of engineering change requests and process changes, and ensure required verification, validation, training, and customer approval are completed before implementation.
- •Facilitate production readiness reviews and verify that quality requirements, inspection methods, gauges, work instructions, and control documents are in place before launch.
OEM Customer Quality and Technical Support
- •Serve as the primary quality interface for assigned OEM customers and build professional, responsive working relationships with customer quality and engineering contacts.
- •Review and interpret customer drawings, specifications, quality manuals, portals, and customer-specific requirements; communicate applicable
Product, Process, and Corrective Action
- •Monitor and analyze production, inspection, test, scrap, rework, warranty, and customer complaint data to identify trends, emerging risks, and improvement opportunities.
- •Lead structured problem-solving and root cause investigations using appropriate quality tools, and implement sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
- •Perform or coordinate product inspections, dimensional verification, reliability testing, and laboratory testing to confirm compliance with specifications and customer requirements.
- •Apply statistical methods, SPC, process capability analysis, measurement system analysis, and other quality tools to evaluate process performance and reduce variation.
- •Partner with Manufacturing and Engineering to resolve production issues, prevent recurrence, improve first-pass yield, and reduce the cost of poor quality.
- •Maintain accurate quality records, reports, approvals, and objective evidence in accordance with document-control and retention requirements.
Supplier and Quality System Support
- •Support supplier qualification, PPAP review, incoming quality planning, and supplier corrective actions to ensure purchased materials and components meet requirements.
- •Participate in supplier, internal, and customer audits as assigned and support closure of resulting actions.
- •Provide training and technical guidance to manufacturing and quality personnel on control plans, inspection requirements, quality standards, and newly released processes.
- •Support continuous improvement activities and promote a culture of prevention, accountability, and customer focus.
- •Perform other duties as assigned by Quality Leadership.
- •Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, Quality, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent relevant education and manufacturing quality experience may be considered.
- •Experience in a manufacturing quality engineering role, preferably supporting OEM customers in HVAC, appliance, industrial, or related markets.
- •Working knowledge of quality planning and core quality tools, including process flow diagrams, PFMEA, control plans, PPAP, FAI, SPC, MSA, capability studies, and structured root cause analysis.
- •Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, tolerances, test requirements, and customer quality documentation.
- •Strong analytical, problem-solving, project-management, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple customer and launch priorities.
- •Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical information clearly and professionally with OEM customers and cross-functional teams.
- •Proficiency in data analysis, report preparation, and Microsoft Office applications.
- •Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain accurate records, protect confidential customer information, and appropriately escalate risk.
- •Ability and willingness