Senior Supplier Quality Assurance Engineer

Job Description

Life at Elvie - Meaningful work. Exceptional people

Our mission is to take women’s technology out of the dark ages, creating revolutionary products that change lives throughout every phase of womanhood. It's a fascinating and challenging area that requires us to solve the problems that no one else has ever tackled before.

Our first product, Elvie Trainer, is an award-winning app-connected trainer that helps women strengthen their pelvic floor muscle via fun, five-minute workouts. It took the wellness industry by storm and is now available via the NHS Supply Chain.

Our second innovation: Elvie Pump, the world’s first silent hands-free, wearable breast pump, has received international praise, including being listed as one of TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 best inventions in 2019 and ‘Wearable design of the year’ at the Dezeen Awards.

Our 3rd & 4th innovation: Elvie Catch and Elvie Curve launched on 7th October 2020. Elvie Curve uses natural suction to gently express milk during let-down while feeding or pumping from the other breast. Many more products are in the pipeline, to help women through all life stages.

Elvie has received more than 75 awards, including being #41 in the FT 1000 list of fastest growing companies in Europe 2021 - and our CEO, Tania Boler, was GLAMOUR's Women of the Year Technology Gamechanger 2021. Elvie recently completed a £58million Series C funding, the biggest raise in an initial fundraise round for a female-founded femtech company.

How do we like to work?

You will be surrounded by people who want to improve everything and everyone around them. People who are passionate about our mission. People who are driven to solve tough problems and constantly consider the best ways to improve the health and wellbeing of women.

We're deeply proud of our values, which are intrinsic to the way we behave every day. We take them seriously because we want our culture to thrive:

• We’re fearless - We tackle taboos and break boundaries, requiring sensitivity and courage.
• We’re innovators - We are passionate, curious and data-driven. We are constantly learning how to work smarter, faster and better. Always embracing change and innovation.
• We’re in it together - Together, we are constantly learning, embracing change and seeking innovation, whilst having fun along the way. We stay authentic and embrace our differences.

Who you are

We are looking for a seasoned supplier quality professional with extensive experience in developing and driving an effective supplier management and development agenda. You will know what good looks like and have demonstrable experience in implementing it.

What you'll be doing

Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing, you will take the lead in creating structure and harmonization within the Chiaro supply base. You will do this through creating and implementing a supplier management programme which defines what we expect from our suppliers, how we interact with them and monitors performance on an ongoing basis. You will also play an active role in creating a supplier development strategy which will ultimately influence award of business and order allocation.

The role will involve (but not be limited to):

New supplier selection

• Lead supplier auditing activity and associated paperwork and follow up activities (inc. audit reporting, SCAR / NC closure, ASL updates)
• Act as a key stakeholder in the acceptance of new suppliers into the Chiaro supplier portfolio

Supplier Management

• Define agenda and implement regular communication channels (weekly/monthly) with all key suppliers for the purpose of reviewing current performance, trends and progress
• Manage daily in-flow of Quality documentation (e.g. inspection reports, production KPI’s, audit feedback) from suppliers
• Support the wider Quality team and CI team with the timely resolution of product quality concerns/issues
• Ensure proactive top level management of SCAR’s (supplier corrective action reports)
• Regular internal reporting on supplier performance (KPI’s, issues and risk)

Supplier Development

• Create a supplier development programme alongside key stakeholders in Quality, Manufacturing and Operations
• Lead implementation of supplier development programme across all strategic suppliers with a view to harmonize quality and manufacturing best practice principles
• Manage audit programme to assess and track supplier progress

Data Analysis

• Support the introduction of improved quality data systems
• Monitor and lead internal reviews of monthly supplier quality data sets
• Identification of issues, changes in trends and opportunities for improvement

Requirements

• Strong communication and engagement skills, with the ability to lead and influence internal and external stakeholders
• Significant quality systems and supplier assessment auditing experience (ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 lead auditor qualifications desirable)
• Significant supplier management experience
• Knowledge of Quality tools, techniques, theories and their application - Gage R&R studies, FAI reports, Capability studies, PFMEA, control plans, P-Flow, auditing techniques, SPC, RCCA/8D, 5 Why
• Knowledge of medical device quality and manufacturing requirements (ISO 13485 and FDA CFR highly desirable)
• Experience of working alongside and managing global manufacturing partners across varying time zones and cultures
• Flexibility to travel internationally to support audit and supplier onboarding activity
• An ability to set expectations and stay calm and positive under pressure
• Clear and concise communication
• Ideally, time with a startup that has gone through the scaling process

Location: Bristol, but we're flexible as long as you're happy to come into the office at least once a week.

Benefits

We're on an exceptional journey, and can offer you a truly purpose led career, with a culture built on trust, autonomy and flexibility. In addition, we'll give you:

• Lots of flexibility – whether it’s working from home, doing the school run or life admin we get that flexibility is essential and we trust you to do the right thing for you and us
• Share options - we'd love for you to share in our success!
• An annual discretionary bonus scheme
• 33 days annual leave (inc bank holidays), plus additional days to get married or move house
• Great parental leave policies, including paid emergency childcare
• An annual personal development allowance & unlimited access to our learning & development platform, Learnably
• Healthcare plans, life insurance and an employee assistance programme for you and your family
• Generous employee / friends & family discounts on Elvie products
• Wellbeing support from YuLife & access to SmartHealth app with unlimited GP appointments for you and your family, plus various well-being initiatives throughout the year
• Lovely offices in great locations, with drinks and snacks provided, along with fun social events (when we're able to again!)

Belonging at Elvie