Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
About The Position
The Senior Quality Assurance Engineer is responsible for daily quality engineering functions in the Quality/Quality Assurance department, ensuring quality assurance compliance in coordination with Quality Assurance and Quality Control functions. Houston Precision Fasteners produces high-strength, fatigue-rated, close-tolerance aerospace fasteners from materials including carbon steel, alloy steel, nickel alloy, titanium, Waspaloy, A-286, Monel, and multiphase alloys. The company’s fasteners have supported aircraft and space programs including the Joint Strike Fighter, F/A-18 Super Hornet, and Falcon 9. The role maintains and improves compliance with AS9100, regulatory requirements, and customer-specific aerospace requirements. It reviews contracts, drawings, specifications, solid models, and requirement flow-downs; supports audits, risk assessments, investigations, and corrective actions; performs First Article Inspections; contributes to product introduction and process improvement; and verifies certifications and product traceability. The engineer works regularly with Planning, Engineering, Quality Control, and Sales, and presents analysis, corrective actions, and improvement opportunities to top management. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, aerospace, or materials engineering and at least five years of quality assurance/quality engineering experience in a highly regulated manufacturing industry. Aerospace manufacturing and fastener-industry experience are highly preferred. US citizenship is required due to the nature of defense contracts. Employment is conditional on passing a required drug test after acceptance of an offer.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, aerospace, or materials engineering.
- At least five years of QA/QE experience directly within a highly regulated manufacturing industry, such as aerospace (AS9100) or medical devices (ISO 13485).
- Demonstrated experience working in a certified Quality Management System.
- Proven track record of leading or significantly supporting third-party registration, surveillance, or recertification audits under strict regulatory standards such as AS9100, ISO 13485, FDA, or NADCAP.
- Ability to work in a team environment and effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
- Excellent listening skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft products, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
- Experience working with First Article Inspection ballooning software.
- Demonstrated experience performing Statistical Process Control (SPC), including creating or updating control charts.
- US citizenship, required due to the nature of defense contracts.
- Passing a required drug test is a condition of employment after acceptance of an offer.
Nice To Haves
- Direct experience in aerospace manufacturing and the fastener industry is highly preferred.
- Formal AS9100 Internal or Lead Auditor certification is a distinct advantage.
- Deep understanding of quality core tools, engineering blueprints, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), and standard precision measuring equipment.
- Mastery of Root Cause Analysis (RCA), CAPA, and failure mode identification in metallurgical or machined components.
- Prior experience working for or with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or a first-tier company to OEMs.
- Visual Basic programming for creating macros in Microsoft products.
- ASQ Certified Quality Engineer.
Responsibilities
- Maintain and improve compliance with AS9100, regulatory requirements, and customer-specific aerospace requirements.
- Conduct contract reviews to identify and communicate customer, regulatory, and quality requirements.
- Review customer engineering drawings, specifications, solid models, and quality requirement flow-downs to ensure requirements are accurately captured in internal manufacturing work instructions and supplier purchase order flow-downs.
- Perform customer requirement decompositions, document gaps in the Quality System, and assist with closing those gaps.
- Lead or support an internal audit program to maintain compliance with AS9100D and aerospace customer specifications.
- Maintain, organize, and review QMS documentation, production routers, and manufacturing records to ensure audit readiness.
- Support risk assessments, nonconformance investigations, and corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
- Perform First Article Inspections in accordance with AS9102, including ballooning drawings, recording requirements, and capturing evidence of compliance at the end of manufacturing operations.
- Participate in New Product Introduction meetings with internal personnel and customers as required, identifying potential quality system risks.
- Help resolve technical and quality issues and communicate them to Planning and/or Sales personnel.
- Lead Lean initiatives to improve processes and cost of quality.
- Drive process improvements and cost savings using a continuous improvement approach.
- Consolidate Master Cert and verify material, process, and inspection certifications for product traceability and customer compliance.
- Present data analysis results, corrective actions, and improvement opportunities to top management.
- Interact with Planning, Engineering, Quality Control, and Sales personnel to help ensure customer requirements can be met.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
