Director of Quality

Description

Position Summary

The Director of Quality provides executive-level leadership and operational accountability for A1J Technologies' Quality Management System (QMS), product conformity, quality assurance, quality control, regulatory and customer compliance, and continuous improvement initiatives.

This position is responsible for transforming A1J's Quality organization into a proactive, process-driven function capable of supporting the company's transition from a traditional precision machining job shop into a Tier 1 supplier serving commercial aerospace and defense customers.

The Director of Quality establishes and maintains an effective AS9100-aligned Quality Management System, ensures manufacturing and inspection processes consistently meet applicable requirements, and drives a company-wide culture of quality ownership, defect prevention, and continuous improvement.

The position oversees Quality Systems, Quality Control, Inspection, Metrology, Calibration, Nonconforming Product Control, and customer quality activities. The Director works closely with Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Planning, and Executive Leadership to improve product quality, eliminate recurring defects, strengthen customer confidence, and support reliable on-time delivery.

The Director of Quality maintains independent authority over product acceptance, quality compliance, nonconforming product control, and applicable quality approvals.

Primary Responsibilities

1. Quality Leadership & Organizational Development

• Develop and execute A1J's quality strategy in alignment with business objectives, customer requirements, and aerospace and defense industry expectations.
• Provide leadership and direction to Quality Systems, Quality Control, Inspection, Metrology, Calibration, and related quality functions.
• Establish clear departmental responsibilities, decision-making authority, performance expectations, and accountability.
• Build a proactive quality organization focused on defect prevention rather than defect detection alone.
• Establish quality policies, procedures, standardized work practices, and performance management systems.
• Develop and mentor Quality Managers, Quality Systems personnel, inspectors, CMM programmers, and other quality professionals.
• Promote quality ownership throughout Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, and supporting departments.
• Establish training, competency evaluation, and succession planning programs for Quality personnel.
• Maintain appropriate independence between production objectives and product acceptance decisions.

2. Quality Management System & AS9100 Compliance

• Lead the implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of A1J's Quality Management System in accordance with applicable AS9100, ISO 9001, customer, and contractual requirements.
• Establish and maintain standardized quality procedures, work instructions, forms, and documented processes.
• Oversee internal audit planning, execution, reporting, and corrective-action follow-up.
• Lead preparation for customer, registrar, and other applicable external audits.
• Ensure audit findings are addressed through documented containment, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and effectiveness verification.
• Establish and maintain management review processes, quality objectives, risk assessments, and QMS performance reporting.
• Ensure effective implementation of document control, record retention, configuration management, product safety, and traceability requirements.
• Establish processes to identify and communicate customer-specific quality requirements throughout the organization.
• Ensure quality-related process changes are appropriately reviewed, approved, implemented, and verified.
• Provide executive leadership with accurate assessments of QMS effectiveness, compliance risks, and improvement priorities.

3. Product Quality, Inspection & Manufacturing Controls

• Establish and oversee effective receiving, first-piece, in-process, and final inspection processes.
• Ensure inspection requirements are properly identified, documented, and implemented throughout manufacturing.
• Develop inspection strategies appropriate to product complexity, manufacturing risk, customer requirements, and process capability.
• Establish clear first-piece inspection requirements before production continues beyond defined verification points.
• Implement and sustain operator self-inspection practices supported by appropriate training, measurement equipment, and documented requirements.
• Ensure inspection personnel have the training, equipment, documentation, and technical support necessary to perform their responsibilities.
• Oversee CMM programming, inspection planning, measurement methods, and inspection capacity.
• Establish controls for inspection status, acceptance records, inspection equipment, and product release.
• Monitor inspection backlogs, turnaround times, and resource requirements to prevent avoidable delivery delays without compromising product conformity.
• Partner with Manufacturing to identify recurring defects and improve process capability, repeatability, and first-pass yield.
• Conduct routine shop-floor quality reviews to verify compliance with approved manufacturing and inspection procedures.

4. Quality Engineering & Manufacturing Process Assurance

• Partner with the Director of Engineering to establish effective Quality Engineering participation in manufacturing process development and release.
• Ensure Quality Engineering reviews address applicable drawing requirements, critical characteristics, inspection methods, customer quality clauses, and manufacturing risks.
• Establish quality planning requirements for new product introduction, manufacturing process changes, and complex production jobs.
• Support the development and implementation of PFMEAs, control plans, inspection plans, and process validation requirements.
• Ensure appropriate first piece and First Article Inspection requirements are identified before manufacturing release.
• Oversee the quality acceptance and compliance aspects of AS9102 First Article Inspection documentation, as applicable.
• Establish clear technical interfaces and approval responsibilities between Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Engineering, Quality Control, and Manufacturing.
• Ensure engineering changes are evaluated for impacts on inspection requirements, configuration control, product conformity, and FAI requirements.
• Support manufacturing process improvement while maintaining independent product acceptance authority.

Organizational Interface: Quality Engineers may report administratively through the Engineering organization. The Director of Quality retains authority over QMS requirements, inspection and product acceptance criteria, nonconforming product control, and independent quality approvals.

5. Nonconforming Product Control & Corrective Action

• Establish and enforce standardized processes for identifying, documenting, segregating, evaluating, and controlling nonconforming material and product.
• Oversee Nonconformance Reports (NCRs), Material Review Board (MRB) activities, rework verification, and authorized disposition processes.
• Ensure product dispositions are made only by appropriately authorized personnel and that customer, or design-authority approvals are obtained when required.
• Lead investigation and resolution of significant internal nonconformances, recurring manufacturing defects, and customer quality escapes.
• Establish effective root-cause analysis and corrective-action practices using appropriate structured problem-solving methods.
• Ensure corrective actions address systemic causes rather than symptoms or individual operator mistakes alone.
• Establish corrective-action ownership, completion requirements, due dates, escalation procedures, and effectiveness verification.
• Analyze recurring defects, scrap, rework, and customer complaints to identify systemic improvement opportunities.
• Partner with Manufacturing and Engineering to implement sustainable corrective actions that prevent recurrence.

6. Customer Quality & Product Conformity

• Serve as the senior Quality representative for customer quality matters, major nonconformances, audits, and corrective-action requests.
• Ensure customer quality requirements are understood, communicated, and implemented throughout applicable processes.
• Lead responses to customer quality escapes, complaints, corrective-action requests, and significant quality concerns.
• Establish processes for timely customer notification and escalation when product conformity or contractual requirements may be affected.
• Monitor customer quality scorecards, product returns, escapes, and recurring issues.
• Support contract review and new business evaluations by assessing quality requirements, inspection capability, documentation obligations, and compliance risks.
• Ensure required inspection and quality records are complete and available before product release.
• Strengthen customer confidence through accurate reporting, effective corrective actions, and sustained product conformity.

7. Supplier Quality, Material Traceability & Outside Processing

• Partner with Supply Chain to establish supplier qualification, approval, monitoring, and performance evaluation processes.
• Ensure applicable supplier quality requirements and customer flow-downs are identified and communicated.
• Establish incoming material verification requirements, including applicable material certifications, certificates of conformity, and lot/heat traceability.
• Ensure nonconforming or uncertified incoming materials are appropriately controlled.
• Support oversight of special-process suppliers, approved sources, and customer-specific supplier requirements.
• Establish supplier nonconformance and corrective-action processes.
• Monitor supplier quality trends and coordinate improvement actions with Supply Chain.
• Ensure material traceability and quality documentation are maintained throughout applicable manufacturing and outside-processing operations.

8. Metrology, Calibration & Measurement Systems

• Establish and maintain an effective inspection equipment calibration and control program.
• Ensure measuring and test equipment is appropriate for intended use, identified, calibrated or verified as required, and controlled.
• Oversee CMM capabilities, inspection programming standards, and measurement process consistency.
• Establish procedures for addressing equipment found out of tolerance, including evaluation of potentially affected products.
• Support measurement system analysis, gage repeatability and reproducibility studies, and other capability assessments where appropriate.
• Evaluate inspection technology, equipment investments, and automation opportunities to improve inspection capability and efficiency.

9. Manufacturing Quality Culture & Continuous Improvement

• Lead initiatives to establish quality as a shared responsibility across the organization.
• Partner with Manufacturing leadership to implement effective first-piece verification, operator self-inspection, and manufacturing process compliance.
• Establish training and audit practices to reinforce proper traveler use, inspection documentation, job traceability, and adherence to approved procedures.
• Promote proactive identification and escalation of quality risks before nonconforming product is produced.
• Establish data-driven initiatives to reduce scrap, rework, customer escapes, and recurring defects.
• Support Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives that improve both product conformity and manufacturing efficiency.
• Encourage employee participation in identifying process risks and improvement opportunities.
• Develop sustainable quality controls that support growth without unnecessary administrative complexity.

10. Quality Performance, KPIs & Executive Reporting

• Establish meaningful quality performance indicators, measurable objectives, and routine management reviews.
• Develop dashboards and reporting systems that provide accurate visibility into quality performance and emerging risks.
• Analyze quality trends to identify priorities for corrective action and improvement.
• Establish accountability for corrective-action completion, inspection performance, and quality system compliance.
• Provide regular quality performance reports to Operations and Executive Leadership.
• Develop improvement plans for areas failing to meet established performance expectations.
• Support quality-related resource planning, staffing, capital investment, and budget management.

Key Performance Indicators

• Customer Quality Escapes - Number and severity of nonconforming products reaching customers.
• First-Pass Yield - Percentage of products or operations accepted without rework or correction
• Internal Scrap & Rework - Cost and frequency of nonconforming manufacturing output
• First-Piece Inspection Compliance - Percentage of applicable jobs with required first-piece approval before continued production
• Inspection On-Time Completion - Percentage of inspections completed by approved production schedule requirements
• NCR / MRB Aging - Number and age of open nonconformances awaiting disposition
• Corrective Action Effectiveness - Percentage of corrective actions verified effective within defined review periods
• AS9100 / QMS Compliance - Audit findings, overdue corrective actions, and demonstrated process effectiveness
• Calibration Compliance - Percentage of applicable measuring equipment within required calibration status
• Supplier Quality Performance - Supplier defect trends, incoming nonconformances, and supplier corrective-action performance
• Quality Documentation Compliance - Compliance with traveler, inspection, traceability, and required quality record controls
• Cost of Poor Quality - Measured cost of scrap, rework, quality escapes, and other defined quality failures

Work Environment

• Combination of executive office, quality laboratory, inspection areas, and precision manufacturing floor environments.
• Regular interaction with customers, auditors, suppliers, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership.
• May require travel for customer meetings, supplier evaluations, audits, or quality-related activities.
• Requires regular technical review of drawings, specifications, inspection records, quality data, and compliance documentation.

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Paid Time Off
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• 401(k) Employer Match

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive quality experience in manufacturing, including at least 5 years in quality leadership.
• Demonstrated experience leading Quality Management Systems, Quality Control, Inspection, and corrective-action functions.
• Strong working knowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, AS9102, and applicable aerospace manufacturing quality requirements.
• Experience with precision machining, engineering drawings, GD&T, manufacturing processes, and inspection methods.
• Demonstrated experience preparing for and leading internal, customer, and third-party quality audits.
• Proven ability to establish effective nonconforming product controls, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action systems.
• Experience managing inspection operations, metrology, calibration, and product acceptance processes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional quality improvement initiatives and reduce recurring defects.
• Strong understanding of material traceability, supplier quality requirements, and configuration management.
• Experience establishing quality KPIs, performance reporting, and organizational accountability.
• Strong leadership, communication, decision-making, and customer relationship management skills.
• Ability to balance quality compliance, manufacturing efficiency, operational risk, and customer delivery requirements without compromising product conformity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or Business Administration.
• Extensive experience in aerospace, defense, or high-precision CNC manufacturing.
• Experience leading an organization through AS9100 certification, surveillance audits, or major QMS improvements.
• ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), or Certified Quality Auditor (CQA).
• Experience managing Quality Control, CMM programming, and complex dimensional inspection operations.
• Experience implementing first-piece inspection programs, operator self-inspection, and risk-based quality planning.
• Familiarity with PFMEA, SPC, process capability studies, and measurement system analysis.
• Experience with supplier qualification, special-process controls, and aerospace customer flow-down requirements.
• Experience using JobBoss or comparable manufacturing ERP/MRP systems.
• Demonstrated success reducing customer escapes, scrap, rework, and Cost of Poor Quality.
• Experience scaling quality organizations and systems during manufacturing growth or organizational transformation.