Lead Supplier Quality Engineer – Optical Transceiver Products

About the role

Lumentum is seeking an experienced Lead Supplier Quality Engineer (SQE) to drive supplier quality excellence for our industry-leading optical transceiver portfolio supporting next-generation AI clusters, hyperscale cloud data centers, enterprise networking, and high-speed optical communications.

Responsibilities

• Product & Business Ownership
• Serve as the Prime Supplier Quality Engineer for the Business Unit.
• Own the supplier quality strategy supporting the Transceiver product roadmap.
• Provide supplier quality leadership throughout the complete product lifecycle, from concept development through sustaining production.
• Partner with Product Engineering, and Commodity Management to influence supplier selection, technology roadmaps, manufacturing strategy, and supplier capability development.
• Support multiple concurrent NPI programs while balancing business priorities and supplier readiness.
• Supplier Quality & Supplier Development
• Lead supplier qualification, manufacturing capability assessments, process audits, and supplier readiness evaluations.
• Evaluate supplier manufacturing maturity, process capability, capacity, scalability, and operational excellence.
• Develop supplier improvement roadmaps that improve quality, yield, process capability, and manufacturing robustness.
• Identify supplier risks and develop mitigation strategies supporting business continuity, supply resiliency, and product quality.
• Drive Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma initiatives with strategic suppliers.
• New Product Introduction (NPI)
• Partner with Product Development, Component Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, and Program Management to ensure supplier readiness for new product introductions.
• Participate in Design Reviews and Design for Manufacturability (DFM), and Design for Excellence (DFX) activities with Engineering and suppliers.
• Lead supplier process qualification, First Article Inspection (FAI), process validation, and production readiness activities.
• Support production ramp, supplier transfers, manufacturing transfers, localization projects, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Ensure suppliers meet quality, reliability, manufacturability, and delivery requirements prior to production release.
• Engineering & Technical Leadership
• Act as the primary technical quality interface between Lumentum and strategic suppliers.
• Influence engineering and supplier decisions without direct authority.
• Lead supplier technical reviews, quality reviews, and executive escalation activities.
• Drive supplier capability development for advanced optical manufacturing technologies.
• Support engineering teams with supplier manufacturing expertise during product development and technology transfers.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Work closely with Product Engineering, Component Engineering, Commodity Management, Global Sourcing, Manufacturing, Reliability Engineering, Operations, Program Management, and Customer Quality.
• Support cost reduction initiatives, supplier changes, value engineering, and manufacturing optimization.
• Utilize supplier quality metrics, manufacturing data, and statistical analysis to improve supplier capability and product quality.
• Drive proactive supplier risk management and manufacturing readiness throughout the product lifecycle.

Requirements

• Minimum 8 years of experience in Supplier Quality Engineering, Manufacturing Quality, Product Quality, or Quality Engineering within a high-technology manufacturing environment.
• Technical understanding of optical transceiver architecture, including high-speed electronics, optical engines, laser assemblies, photonic components, PCBAs, and final module integration.
• Experience with Silicon Photonics, Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), advanced optical packaging, or photonic integration.
• Experience supporting the development or manufacture of optical transceiver modules or related high-speed communication products.
• Knowledge of high-speed electrical systems, signal integrity, electronic manufacturing technologies, and optical packaging.
• Experience with PCBA manufacturing processes, including SMT assembly, PCB fabrication, electronic component qualification, and supplier manufacturing processes.
• Experience supporting New Product Introduction (NPI), supplier qualification, process validation, and manufacturing ramp.
• Excellent communication, organizational, project management, and leadership skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional technical decisions across engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, and suppliers.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally (approximately 20–30%).