Supplier Quality Manager

Komatsu Mining Technologies is hiring a seasoned Supplier Quality Manager to lead the quality program for supplier-produced parts and to manage the Quality Management System as it relates to supplier activities. The role is based onsite in Minto, Australia, and requires close collaboration with Operations, Supply Chain and Engineering to ensure outsourced products meet exacting standards.

This senior position suits a quality professional with a strong background in supplier quality management within manufacturing, ideally in equipment or heavy industry. The person in this role will own onboarding, supplier development, first article processes, audits, and the regulatory and corrective-action work that keeps the supplier network aligned with Komatsu’s requirements.

Komatsu is a global leader in manufacturing construction, mining, forestry and industrial heavy equipment. Founded in 1921, the company operates in more than 140 countries and employs more than 60,000 people. The opportunity sits within a business that combines reliability, innovation and a long-standing commitment to quality.

Supplier Quality Leadership for Australian Operations

In this role, day-to-day activity centers on deploying and monitoring the Quality Management System with a strong focus on supplier quality. The manager coordinates resources and processes to ensure supplier-produced components meet defined quality criteria within an integrated approach, guiding supplier selection and qualification across a regional network. The role also drives regional standardization of supplier quality practices and leads actions such as supplier audits, corrective and preventive actions, and root-cause investigations through the PDCA cycle. Maintaining regulatory compliance for Komatsu Mining Technologies products, acting as an ambassador for Komatsu Way principles, and overseeing the First Article process are core parts of the job. Monitoring supplier performance metrics, including defect and process variations, helps improve product reliability and customer satisfaction. The position requires developing objectives through Komatsu Success Factors to ensure regional and global alignment, and providing timely supplier quality reporting to management on a weekly, monthly and quarterly cadence.

The Right Candidate for This Role

Must have a bachelor’s degree in applied science, engineering or a related field, and at least five years of quality management or assurance experience in manufacturing, ideally in equipment manufacturing within a medium to heavy industry setting. The candidate should possess strong knowledge of supplier quality systems, audits, certification and accreditation requirements, and a track record of improving quality across operations and supplier networks. Clear communication and influencing skills across senior, technical and operational stakeholders are essential, along with proven people leadership and the confidence to lead change and own outcomes.

Nice-to-have attributes include familiarity with regulatory and statutory requirements for Komatsu products and a demonstrated ability to align supplier quality activities with broader regional or global quality objectives. Experience in leading supplier standardization efforts and working across cross-functional teams to drive results is advantageous.

Advice For Applicants For This Role

Start your resume with a concise summary that foregrounds your five-plus years of supplier quality leadership in manufacturing, with emphasis on onboarding, supplier development, 1st Article processes, audits, and CAPA. Make sure the top lines show you’ve led regional supplier quality work and can partner with operations, engineering and supply chain.

When you describe your must-have capabilities, include concrete examples of how you’ve applied PDCA cycles, conducted root-cause investigations, and managed corrective and preventive actions across supplier networks. Bring evidence of how you stayed aligned with regulatory requirements and how you influenced outcomes with stakeholders at different levels.

For interview prep, be ready to discuss how you would deploy and monitor a supplier-focused Quality Management System in a regional context, how you would handle First Article inspections and supplier recovery scenarios when scrap, rework or warranty arise, and how you would report progress to management using a regular reporting cadence. You should also be prepared to talk about your approach to embedding Komatsu Way principles in supplier interactions.

Ask a thoughtful question that reflects the role’s scope, such as how Komatsu Success Factors guides regional and global supplier quality objectives and what the first year looks like for regional standardization efforts in supplier quality.

For more about Komatsu, please visit their site at https://www.komatsu.com/.