Head of Quality and Reliability

Responsibilities

• Build, implement, and continuously improve the company Quality Management System (QMS).
• Lead achievement and maintenance of AS9100 certification, including audits, compliance activities, training, and continuous improvement.
• Own document control, configuration management, nonconformance management, CAPA, and audit readiness.
• Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Integration & Test, and Production to embed quality and reliability throughout the product lifecycle.
• Develop quality plans, process controls, acceptance criteria, and manufacturing quality strategies.
• Lead root-cause investigations and continuous improvement to reduce defects, improve yields, and enhance process capability.
• Establish quality and reliability metrics, reporting systems, and data-driven improvement initiatives.
• Develop and execute reliability strategy covering qualification testing, reliability growth, failure analysis, and risk mitigation.
• Implement reliability engineering practices including FMEA, FRACAS, fault analysis, and lifecycle risk management.
• Build and lead a high-performing Quality & Reliability organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Quality Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in manufacturing quality, quality engineering, or reliability engineering.
• 3+ years leading teams or owning major cross-functional quality initiatives.
• Experience in high-reliability industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, or energy.
• Strong background in DFMEA, Control Plans, DOE, Six Sigma, DFSS, statistical methods, and reliability engineering.
• Experience building or scaling quality systems in low-to-medium-volume, high-complexity environments.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
• Must work onsite five days per week.
• Must meet applicable U.S. space technology export-control requirements.

Nice to Have

• Experience in a high-growth startup or rapidly scaling manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading AS9100 certification or major QMS transformations.
• Experience building quality-data, analytics, and feedback-loop systems.
• Background spanning quality, manufacturing engineering, and operations leadership.
• Hands-on experience with RF, PCBA, custom enclosures, electromechanical assemblies, or other complex hardware systems.