Development Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Illinois

INTRODUCTION

You will work alongside cross-functional teams to drive Rivian quality requirements and manage our contract manufacturers quality performance ensuring seamless scaling of production. Your contributions will directly impact the performance and quality of Rivian service parts, ensuring successful launches for new programs as proper management on current ones. This role is located in Normal, IL and reports to the Service Engineering Quality Organization.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

- Engage with suppliers for industrialization and readiness for multiple automotive components.
- Support supplier selection and capability assessment for both greenfield (new plant) and brownfield (existing plant expansion) projects, ensuring alignment with program timelines and quality expectations.
- Drive APQP discipline and enforce PPAP requirements, ensuring suppliers meet dimensional, material, and performance validation before production approval.
- Develop and track industrialization project KPIs, including PPAP on-time approval, process capability (Cpk/Ppk), first-pass yield, and PPM targets to measure supplier readiness.
- Evaluate and validate supplier manufacturing processes by leading process audits, PFMEA reviews, control plan validation, and equipment capability/Run@rate assessments.
- Optimize supplier manufacturing scalability, ensuring production lines are capable of meeting increasing volume and quality expectations during ramp-up phases.
- Monitor supplier industrialization performance through KPIs such as on-time PPAP submission, process capability indices (Cpk/Ppk), defect rates (PPM), issue closure rate, and supplier corrective action effectiveness.
- Facilitate problem resolution using structured methodologies (focused problem solving) to address defects, process deviations, and launch roadblocks proactively.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, quality, and supply chain teams to drive VA/VE cost optimization, ensuring seamless design implementation into supplier manufacturing processes and technology while maintaining quality and performance standards.
- Up to 50% travel requirement.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, or other related field.
- 1-5+ years supplier quality engineering experience.
- Strong Knowledge of Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Corrective and Preventative Actions (CAPA) development, Lean manufacturing, Traceability requirements.
- Technical expertise of automotive components designs and manufacturing, including knowledge of safety and test requirements and appearance approval process.
- Knowledge of Geometric Design and Tolerancing (GD&T) and datum structures.
- Experience in Extrusion and fabrication commodities.
- VDA 6.3 credentials and understanding preferred.
- In depth knowledge of IATF16949:2016 and understanding of ISO14001. ISO9001 is also a preferred knowledge set.