Director, Quality Assurance

Job Description

Job Description:\n\nSince 2018, Elevate Aircraft Seating has been enhancing the passenger experience through innovative aircraft seat design and manufacturing. With locations in California, Washington, and Germany we are guided by creativity, collaboration, and a shared commitment to quality.\nWe are looking for a skilled Director Quality Assurance Administrator to join our team in Huntington Beach, CA. This is an on-site position based in Huntington Beach, CA. We value teamwork, inclusivity, and continuous professional development, and we offer competitive benefits along with opportunities for growth.\nJOB SUMMARY\nThe Director Quality Assurance is responsible for leading all quality assurance and quality control activities. This role provides strategic and operational leadership for site quality systems, regulatory compliance, customer quality performance, supplier quality oversight, inspection activities, and continuous improvement initiatives. The Director Quality Assurance serves as the primary quality leader for all site audits, customer interactions, corrective actions, and quality improvement efforts.\nThe Director Quality Assurance partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Program Management to ensure products consistently meet customer, regulatory, and company requirements. This position is accountable for maintaining AS9100 compliance, supporting FAA regulatory requirements, driving quality performance metrics, and fostering a culture of quality excellence.\nSUMMARY OF JOB DUTIES - Essential Functions (Other duties and projects may be assigned or requested.)\nReasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions\nQuality Leadership\n\n Lead and oversee all Quality Assurance and Quality Control functions across both Huntington Beach facilities.\n Direct, mentor, develop, and manage Quality Managers, Quality Engineers, Inspectors, and other quality professionals supporting Huntington Beach operations.\n Build and sustain a high-performing quality organization focused on accountability, regulatory compliance, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement.\n Develop and communicate the vision, strategy, and objectives for quality across the Huntington Beach sites.\n Establish and drive site quality objectives, metrics, and improvement plans aligned with business and operational goals.\n Lead process improvement initiatives that enhance organizational effectiveness and quality performance.\n Collaborate with enterprise quality leadership and participate in cross-site benchmarking and best-practice initiatives to drive standardization and operational excellence.\n\nQuality Management System\n\n Maintain, govern, and continuously improve the Huntington Beach Quality Management System (QMS).\n Ensure full compliance with AS9100, FAA regulations, customer requirements, and applicable industry standards.\n Lead internal audit programs and support external certification, regulatory, and customer audits.\n Continuously improve QMS effectiveness through process optimization, lessons learned, and best-practice implementation.\n Improve auditing systems and shop-floor compliance monitoring to ensure process adherence and product quality.\n Lead Huntington Beach site AS9100 training and compliance initiatives, ensuring employees are prepared for annual recertification audits.\n Ensure effective deployment, execution, and continuous improvement of quality policies, procedures, standards, and work instructions.\n Promote a culture of quality excellence, operational discipline, and regulatory compliance throughout the organization.\n\nManufacturing Quality Oversight\n\n Partner with Operations, Engineering, and Program Management to ensure quality is embedded throughout manufacturing and product realization processes.\n Establish and oversee effective in-process, receiving, final inspection, and product acceptance strategies.\n Establish and maintain an effective Receiving Inspection process, achieving rapid material disposition and a target turnaround from dock-to-stock of two days or less.\n Drive improvements in first-pass yield, defect reduction, process capability, and corrective action effectiveness.\n Lead implementation and continuous improvement of Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), FMEA, Control Plans, Statistical Process Control (SPC), and AS9145 requirements.\n Improve APQP processes through benchmarking and adoption of industry best practices.\n Support successful new product introductions, process changes, and manufacturing transfers while ensuring compliance with quality and regulatory requirements.\n Integrate quality requirements and controls into ERP/MRP systems to improve visibility, traceability, and process effectiveness.\n\nRegulatory and Customer Compliance\n\n Serve as the primary quality representative for customer audits, regulatory inspections, and site assessments.\n Ensure continuous readiness for FAA, customer, industry, and third-party audits.\n Support certification activities and compliance requirements associated with aircraft seating products and aerospace manufacturing.\n Lead timely closure of audit findings, corrective actions, and compliance-related improvement initiatives.\n Ensure contractual quality requirements are clearly understood, flowed down, and effectively implemented throughout the organization.\n Identify contractual quality requirements and areas of compliance risk and develop mitigation strategies to reduce business exposure.\n Maintain strong customer communication and relationships while striving to meet or exceed customer satisfaction expectations and performance requirements.\n Maintain Boeing Gold Status and other customer-recognized quality and delivery performance achievements.\n Foster customer confidence through proactive quality performance management, issue resolution, and continuous improvement.\n\nSupplier Quality\n\n Provide oversight of supplier quality activities supporting Huntington Beach operations.\n Partner with Supply Chain and Supplier Quality teams to monitor supplier performance and drive corrective action activities.\n Participate in supplier selection, auditing, qualification, performance monitoring, and supplier corrective action processes.\n Ensure effective management of supplier quality risks, incoming product quality, and supplier development initiatives.\n Lead supplier performance reviews and improvement programs to strengthen quality, delivery, and compliance outcomes.\n Drive proactive supplier quality strategies that support operational excellence and customer satisfaction.\n\nNonconformance and Corrective Action Management\n\n Chair and oversee Material Review Board (MRB) activities to ensure appropriate disposition of nonconforming material.\n Manage the MRB process across Huntington Beach facilities with a target of closing open nonconformances within 30 days.\n Ensure timely investigation, disposition, and closure of nonconformances in accordance with regulatory and company requirements.\n Lead structured root cause analysis and corrective/preventive action activities using industry-standard methodologies.\n Drive corrective action effectiveness and systemic problem-solving to prevent recurrence of quality issues.\n Establish and monitor quality metrics that reduce cost of poor quality and improve product and process performance.\n\nPerformance Metrics and Continuous Improvement\n\n Develop, implement, and manage key quality performance indicators (KPIs) and reporting systems.\n Administer and support management reporting processes for quality, operational, and customer-focused KPIs.\n Monitor quality trends, analyze data, and identify opportunities to improve product quality, compliance, and operational performance.\n Lead continuous improvement initiatives that enhance quality, efficiency, customer satisfaction, and business performance.\n Present quality performance, risks, and improvement initiatives to site leadership and executive management.\n Promote a data-driven culture focused on operational excellence, risk mitigation, and sustained quality improvement.\n Participate in benchmarking activities to identify and implement industry’s best practices across quality systems and manufacturing operations.\n\nCross-Functional Partnership\n\n Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Program Management, and other functional leaders to address quality concerns and drive continuous improvement.\n Ensure quality requirements are fully integrated throughout business processes, manufacturing operations, and product development activities.\n Support new product introductions, engineering changes, process improvements, and certification activities from concept through production.\n Collaborate with leadership teams to identify operational risks and implement mitigation strategies that support business objectives.\n Partner with Supply Chain and Operations to improve supplier quality, incoming material performance, and production flow.\n Drive cross-functional alignment on customer requirements, quality objectives, corrective actions, and strategic improvement initiatives.\n Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on quality, compliance, customer satisfaction, and operational excellence initiatives.\n\nOther\n\n Maintain a safe, secure and legal work environment, adhering to all Company policies and procedures.\n Protect the confidentiality of company information, intellectual property, and products.\n Contribute to team efforts by performing other job-related duties and projects as assigned or requested.\n Perform other duties and projects as assigned or requested.\n\nGENERAL QUALIFICATIONS – Education, Knowledge, and Experience\nEducation:\n\n Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Industrial Technology, Business, or a related field.\n Master's degree in Engineering, Quality, Operations Management, Business Administration (MBA), or a related field preferred.\n\nExperience:\n\n Minimum of 12 years of aerospace quality leadership experience with demonstrated ability to work in a high-volume manufacturing facility.\n Minimum of 5 years of leadership experience managing Quality Assurance professionals.\n Experience working in both EASA and FAA regulations associated with the Aerospace industry.\n\nSkills:\n\n Detailed knowledge of regulations and AS9100 standards associated with quality assurance for the aerospace industry.\n Ability to technically write, create, define, and document quality assurance processes and procedures.\n\nPreferred Skills/Experience:\n\n Competent working with FAA and EASA aircraft seating certification, auditing, and communication. This includes FAA/EASA Part 21, FAA/EASA Part 145, and EASA AP/DOA.\n Experience with working with Boeing and Airbus in achieving and maintaining approved supplier status, and ability to lead site through respective requirements and audits.\n Skilled at interacting with Customer Management at an executive level.\n Strong leadership skills with Quality Managers, Quality Engineers, and other staff. Skilled at streamlining quality / inspections systems and removing waste and redundancy.\n Skilled at mapping business processes – activities – flowcharts.\n\nOther:\n\n May be asked to work extended or irregular hours as required.\n Must show proof of ability to work in the United States.?\n This position requires up to 10% travel, including overnight travel.\n Elevate Aircraft Seating is an “at-will” employer; employment is at the mutual consent of both the employee and the employer, and may be terminated at will for any reason, with or without cause, at any time during employment with the Company.\n As business conditions warrant a change in the operating necessities of the Company, all employees are expected to react productively, handle other essential tasks assigned now or in the future.\n\nCERTIFICATES AND LICENSES\n\n ASQ Quality Manager and Quality Engineering certification preferred.\n\nSUPERVISION PROVIDED TO THE POSITION\n\n Direction is provided for assignments in terms of desired outcome (goals), timing and budget.\n Work is reviewed or measured in terms of meeting organizational objectives and schedules.\n\nLEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITY\n\n Provides strategic leadership and direction for the Quality organization, including Quality Managers, Quality Engineers, Inspectors, and quality support personnel.\n Responsible for talent development, succession planning, organizational capability, performance management, and budget stewardship.\n\nPROBLEM SOLVING\n\n \n Identifies and resolves highly complex quality, compliance, operational, and customer-related issues requiring strategic analysis, sound judgment, and cross-functional collaboration.\n\nLANGUAGE SKILLS\n\n \n Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing.\n\nCOMPENSATION & BENEFITSElevate Aircraft Seating offers competitive wages and benefits to recognize employees for their work. The base pay offered will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, location, experience and take into account internal equity. \nSalary Rate Transparency: $160,000 - $205,000 annually\nFeatured Benefits: \n\n Up to 20% bonus potential (for bonus eligible positions)\n Generous 401(K) matching with immediate eligibility and vesting\n 3 weeks of Paid Time Off\n 12 paid holidays\n Affordable health care plans for yourself and your family\n And so much more!\n\nOther Perks: \n\n On-site gym\n Free electric car charging stations\n Potential for growth within organization\n Supportive workplace environment with a team-oriented culture