Quality Engineer

We are seeking a highly skilled and detail-oriented Quality Engineer to join our team as we develop and transition an autonomous vehicle prototype to production. The primary goal of this role is to build quality into our processes, reduce non-conformances and enable the reduction of required inspection and verification activities over time without increasing risk, thereby contributing to unit cost reduction initiatives.   This quality program should establish a metric collection and analysis regimen that identifies opportunities for continuous quality improvement. The QA Engineer will be responsible for selecting and applying commercial and/or DoD quality standards tailored to our processes during the design, prototype development, production program phases.

Responsibilities:

• Establish and maintain a comprehensive quality program that includes metric collection and analysis.

• Develop and implement quality inspection/verification strategies as part of the product development and production workflows.

• Ensure compliance with commercial and DoD quality standards throughout all phases of the program.

• Select and tailor commercial and DoD quality standards for design, prototype development, and production phases of the program.

• Engage with suppliers and internal teams (engineering, I&T, manufacturing) to apply these standards effectively.

• Develop Quality Plans and Procedures for hardware, LRUs, components (both bespoke and commercial).

• Implement Software QA as part of the company Digital Engineer Pipeline process.

• Engage with suppliers and sub-contractors to leverage their internal quality programs to streamline high confidence acceptance of deliverable HW and SW.

• Support production ramp-up and full-scale production with detailed specifications for

• Inspection and acceptance of incoming materials, including criteria, location, responsible parties, record audits, and traveler data specifications.

• Inspection points/tests in the production assembly process (crawl/walk/run stages).

• Workmanship verifications for both prototype and production stages.

• Verify and audit hardware and software configurations for all test events.

• Track discrepancies/non-conformances and audit resolution artifacts.

• Audit test procedures and participate in system testing, ensuring proper documentation and adherence to procedures.

• Participate in design reviews to identify and address quality issues/improvements.

• Provide reports on the status of  quality plan’s implementation, metrics and improvement strategies.

• Monitor and track adherence to procedures during system testing, employ/track red-lines to test plans and procedures, and document observed variances.

Requirements

Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Quality Assurance, or a related field + 3-5 years of relevant experience

• Active DOD Secret Clearance.

• Experience working in a quality assurance role, preferably within a manufacturing, final assembly and integration, or engineering environment.

• Strong knowledge and experience working with commercial and DoD quality standards and their applications.

• Experience developing and implementing effective quality assurance programs.

• Experience with metric collection, analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams.

• Detail-oriented with a focus on accuracy and thoroughness.

Benefits

Salary is competitive with market rates, with annual bonus awards based on company and individual performance. SSCI benefits package includes 401K, Health/Life/Disability Insurance.