Location: Vancouver, BC
Travel: Frequent travel to China, including regular visits to manufacturers, vendors, and test labs
Employment type: Full-time
Department: Hardware / Engineering
About the role
MetaOptima is looking for a Vancouver-based Supplier Quality & Manufacturing Engineer to support the production and prototyping of our hardware products with manufacturing partners in China.
This role exists to improve production quality, reduce batch-to-batch and unit-to-unit variation, strengthen technical communication with Chinese manufacturers and vendors, and ensure production follows MetaOptima’s approved specifications, BOMs, drawings, work instructions, test procedures, and change-control processes.
The ideal candidate has strong supplier-quality discipline, practical manufacturing experience, fluent Mandarin, strong professional English, and the ability to work closely with both a Canadian engineering team and Chinese manufacturing partners.
Responsibilities
Supplier quality and factory oversight
Travel to China to support prototype builds, pilot builds, production runs, factory reviews, and shipment inspections.
Verify that production follows approved BOMs, drawings, work instructions, fixtures, software/firmware versions, and inspection criteria.
Identify and document quality issues affecting mechanical assembly, moving assemblies, device mounting, cable routing, power/charging, cosmetic quality, calibration, packaging, and end-of-line testing.
Detect and escalate unauthorized part substitutions, process changes, rework methods, or configuration changes.
Support supplier qualification, component sample review, and local vendor communication.
Incoming inspection, first-article inspection, and production test
Create, maintain, and execute incoming inspection and production inspection checklists.
Lead or witness first-article inspection for new builds, changed components, changed processes, or new suppliers.
Verify end-of-line testing is completed and documented for each unit.
Review test logs, calibration records, serial numbers, photos/videos, and inspection evidence.
Recommend shipment hold/release based on objective acceptance criteria.
Nonconformance, CAPA, and root cause
Document defects by batch, serial number, severity, suspected root cause, and corrective action.
Support factory-side root-cause analysis using 8D, CAPA, or equivalent methods.
Verify corrective actions in later builds.
Track repeat defects and escalate unresolved or recurring issues.
Provide clear evidence to MetaOptima’s hardware and quality teams.
Configuration and change control
Maintain build-configuration summaries for production batches.
Confirm that units are built to the approved revision of hardware, firmware, work instructions, packaging, and test procedures.
Track proposed supplier, BOM, fixture, tooling, firmware, software, or process changes.
Escalate any undocumented change or deviation before it affects production quality.
Bilingual communication
Communicate directly with Chinese manufacturers, vendors, and test labs in Mandarin.
Translate technical requirements and issues between English and Mandarin.
Produce concise English reports for MetaOptima.
Produce Mandarin technical summaries for manufacturers or vendors when needed.
Join meetings with MetaOptima, manufacturers, vendors, and labs.
Help turn factory-side issues into clear engineering actions and business risks.
Requirements
Based in the Vancouver area and able to travel frequently to China.
Fluent Mandarin and strong professional English.
5+ years of experience in supplier quality, manufacturing engineering, quality engineering, or production engineering.
Experience with electromechanical products.
Experience working with contract manufacturers.
Able to read BOMs, drawings, assembly instructions, inspection plans, and test procedures.
Experience with incoming inspection, first-article inspection, production testing, nonconformance reporting, root-cause analysis, and CAPA/8D.
Strong documentation discipline.
Comfortable challenging manufacturers professionally and documenting issues clearly.
Able to work independently during overseas supplier visits.
Eligible to travel internationally, including frequent travel to China.
Nice to have
Prior experience working with manufacturers in China, especially Shenzhen, Dongguan, or Guangzhou.
Experience with clinical hardware, medical devices, imaging hardware, robotics, automation, consumer electronics, or precision assembly.
ISO 9001 or ISO 13485 exposure.
Experience with test fixtures, calibration procedures, and end-of-line test systems.
Experience coordinating external test labs.
Familiarity with IEC 60601, EMC, photobiological safety, radio certification, or product safety testing workflows.
Experience with packaging inspection and shipment-readiness checks.
Why Join Us
You’ll play a pivotal role in advancing next-generation imaging technology for dermatology, helping transform how skin is captured, reconstructed, and analyzed worldwide.
If you’re excited to help build clinical-grade imaging technology, we’d love to hear from you.