Sr. Quality Engineer

Position Summary

The Senior Quality Engineer is responsible for leading and executing quality engineering activities throughout the program lifecycle and across the supply base to ensure products and processes meet all customer, regulatory, and contractual requirements. This role provides technical quality leadership, supports operational execution, and partners cross-functionally to drive compliance, risk reduction, and continuous improvement.

The position requires a strong understanding of quality systems, manufacturing processes, and supplier engagement, with the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, regulated environment.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Engineering & Operational Support

• Lead quality engineering efforts to ensure compliance with applicable quality management systems (e.g., ISO 9001), customer requirements, and internal procedures.
• Support manufacturing and operations through process audits, control plans, inspection methodologies, and risk assessments.
• Interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and contractual quality requirements.
• Develop, review, and approve inspection plans, quality plans, and First Article Acceptance Test (FAAT) packages (AS9102).
• Support internal, customer, and regulatory audits; prepare documentation and lead corrective action responses as required.
• Manage Customer Deliverable Requirements, verify deliverable compliance and ensure on time submission to contractual requirements.

Supplier & External Quality Support

• Provide quality engineering support to suppliers to ensure conformance to specifications and quality requirements.
• Participate in supplier audits, assessments, and qualification activities as needed.
• Support investigation and resolution of supplier-related nonconformances, including coordination of corrective and preventive actions.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Engineering to resolve quality issues that impact delivery, cost, or product performance.
• Monitor supplier quality performance metrics and contribute to improvement initiatives.
• Witness supplier testing events, including but not limited to FAATs, Lot Acceptance Tests (LAT), and measurement system equipment prove out.

Nonconformance, Corrective Action & Customer Interface

• Lead investigations of internal, customer, and supplier nonconformances using structured problem-solving methodologies (e.g., 8D, 5 Whys, Fishbone).
• Ensure corrective and preventive actions are effective and sustained.
• Support customer interactions related to quality issues, audits, and corrective action responses.
• Analyze quality data and trends to identify systemic issues and improvement opportunities.

Continuous Improvement & Leadership

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on defect reduction, process capability, and cost of quality.
• Support new product introduction (NPI) and engineering changes by assessing quality risks and readiness.
• Develop and maintain quality metrics and dashboards to support management review.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or a related technical discipline.
• 7-10 years of progressive quality engineering experience in a manufacturing or regulated industry environment.
• Strong working knowledge of quality management systems (ISO 9001, AS9100 preferred).
• Experience supporting supplier quality activities, audits, and corrective actions.
• Proficiency in root cause analysis, corrective action methodologies, and quality tools.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, and technical specifications.
• Willingness and ability to travel approximately 50% of the time.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence internal teams, suppliers, and customers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in defense or other highly regulated industries.
• Quality certifications such as CQE, CQA, or Six Sigma (Green Belt or higher).
• Experience with customer audits and government or contract-driven quality requirements.
• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems and electronic QMS platforms.