Quality Engineer in Automotive job description
A Quality Engineer in Automotive keeps the parts and processes of an automotive component plant within drawing and customer requirements. The role covers inspection, problem solving and customer complaints.
Why the role exists
Vehicle makers expect suppliers to deliver consistent parts and to act quickly on defects. The quality engineer sets up checks, studies process data, runs root cause analysis and handles customer complaints. In an Indian tier supplier, he or she works with production, the tool room, the gauge room and the customer's quality team.
What the person does
- Prepare and update control plans, inspection standards and check sheets for each automotive part.
- Check first piece approvals, in-process audits and final inspection results on the shop floor.
- Investigate rejections and customer complaints with the 8D method and agree corrective actions with production.
- Study process data such as capability and trend charts, and ask for action before parts go out of limits.
- Take part in new part development, including sample submission and the customer's approval steps.
- Work with the gauge room and tool room on instrument accuracy, checking fixtures and tool wear.
- Conduct supplier visits and incoming material checks for raw material and bought-out parts.
- Prepare for customer and system audits and close audit findings with named owners and dates.
Skills and tools
- Control plans, failure mode analysis, measurement system analysis and SPC charts
- Problem solving with 8D, why-why analysis and fishbone diagrams
- Reading drawings, tolerances and geometric dimensioning symbols
- Use of measuring instruments, gauges and, where available, a coordinate measuring machine
- Working knowledge of quality system practices followed by automotive customers
- Spreadsheet skill for charts, trend data and reports
- Clear written reports for customers and clear talk with operators on the line
- Patience in following up actions across production, maintenance and purchase
Education and experience
Preferred, never a bar: equivalent experience counts.
- Diploma or degree in mechanical, production or automobile engineering preferred, or equivalent experience in an automotive plant
- Experience in a tier supplier or vehicle maker quality department is useful
- Training in core quality tools or quality system practices preferred, as the employer sees fit
- Ability to handle customer complaints and audits, or equivalent experience
How the work is judged
- Customer complaints received and the speed and quality of the response to each
- Internal rejection and rework trends in the lines the engineer covers
- On-time closure of corrective actions and audit findings
- Approval of new part samples at the first or second submission
- Accuracy of inspection records and measurement systems under the engineer's control
Where the role can lead
- Senior Quality Engineer or Quality Lead for a plant
- Supplier quality engineer or customer quality role at a vehicle maker
- Quality Head responsible for systems, audits and customer relations
Interview questions to ask
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and score them against written anchors, so the decision rests on the work and not the impression.
- A customer reports a dimension out of tolerance on a batch already delivered. What are your first steps?
- Describe an 8D report you led. How did you find the root cause and prove the fix worked?
- How do you decide which characteristics on a part need the closest control in the control plan?
- Production wants to continue running because deliveries are late, but a trend is drifting. What do you do?
- How do you check that a measurement system is good enough before trusting inspection data?
- Tell me about a customer audit you faced and how you closed the findings.
Hiring tips for this role
- Ask for a real complaint the candidate handled, with what was found, what changed and how it was checked. Strong engineers explain cause and proof, not only forms.
- Test drawing reading and a simple capability or trend problem on paper. Many candidates know the names of tools but cannot apply them to data.
- Check people skill. The role needs firm but fair dealings with production, so ask how the candidate handled pushback from a busy shop floor.
- Match the sector fit. A casting, machining, wiring harness or plastics plant has different defects, so look for experience close to your process.
Questions about hiring a quality engineer in automotive
The engineer sets inspection standards, monitors process data, investigates defects and customer complaints, supports new part approval and prepares for audits. The goal is parts that meet the customer's drawing every time.
Control plans, failure mode analysis, measurement system analysis, statistical process control and 8D problem solving are the common ones. Ask for examples of use rather than just names, and match them to your customers' needs.
Usually no. Quality tends to report to its own head so that checks stay independent of production pressure. Your own structure can differ, but decide it deliberately and write it into the role.
GullyHR supports permanent hiring. We agree the job description with you, screen candidates for quality tool and problem solving experience, and support the offer. You make the final choice and set the terms.
Hiring a quality engineer in automotive?
GullyHR runs talent acquisition for permanent roles. We agree the job description with you, find and screen candidates against it, and support the offer through to joining. We recruit permanent employees. We do not supply contract or temporary staff.