Quality Engineering Associate Manager

Standard Job Description

The Quality Engineering Associate Manager leads a team of quality professionals while providing direct, hands-on quality engineering support to programs and production operations. This is a working manager role that balances personnel leadership, resource management, and technical execution.

The ideal candidate has a strong background in quality engineering, with the ability to apply practical quality principles, resolve complex quality issues, and drive continuous improvement while developing and leading a high-performing team.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the team: Manage daily operations, establish priorities, allocate resources, mentor employees, and drive team performance to meet organizational and program objectives.
• Provide hands-on quality engineering support: Directly support assigned programs and production operations through development, review, and implementation of quality requirements, standards, procedures, work instructions, and control plans.
• Partner cross-functionally: Collaborate with program management, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, suppliers, and customers to resolve quality issues and achieve program objectives.
• Improve quality performance: Monitor quality metrics, analyze trends, identify systemic issues, and implement improvements that enhance product quality, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Oversee quality systems and compliance: Support quality audits, assess process effectiveness, identify deficiencies, and ensure compliance with applicable quality standards and requirements.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a STEM discipline, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in quality engineering, quality management, team leadership, or related functional activities.
• Demonstrated quality engineering experience developing, reviewing, and implementing quality requirements, standards, procedures, methods, work instructions, and control plans.
• Experience leading teams, projects, or functional activities, including establishing priorities, allocating resources, and driving performance.
• Experience using quality metrics and performance trends to identify issues, implement corrective actions, and drive continuous improvement.
• Experience leading cross-functional root cause investigations and corrective/preventive actions using tools such as 8D, 5-Why, Fault Tree Analysis, FMEA, and process flow diagrams.
• Ability to collaborate across functional organizations to resolve technical and operational issues.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Desired Skills

• Previous experience as a Quality or Manufacturing Engineer, preferably supporting manufacturing or production operations.
• Previous experience managing or leading quality or manufacturing engineering personnel.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering or another STEM discipline.
• ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) and/or Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA).
• Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• Experience with AS9100 interpretation, implementation, and compliance.
• Strong understanding of production operations, inspection methods, measurement equipment, and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T).
• Understanding of quality audit techniques and quality management systems.
• Experience with SAP/ERP, Apriso, SharePoint, Tableau, or other business intelligence tools.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, problem-solving, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.