DescriptionAbout the RoleWe are seeking a hands-on Manager, Quality & EHS to lead and evolve our quality assurance, environmental health & safety, and compliance programs. This role is central to ensuring our products meet the highest standards across design, development, production, and delivery.
You will lead a small but growing team, manage compliance frameworks, and partner cross-functionally with Engineering, Supply Chain, Production, and the PMO to ensure traceability, audit readiness, and performance across the full product lifecycle.
This is a senior-level management role with strategic impact, scoped at the Manager level with a clear path to Director, based on experience, performance, and company growth.
Key ResponsibilitiesQuality Management- Lead and maintain compliance with AS9100D and customer, industry, and regulatory standards.
- Manage and continuously improve the Quality Management System (QMS), including audits, non-conformance processes, and supplier quality.
- Oversee First Article Inspections (FAI), customer source inspections, and all inspection stages (incoming, in-process, final).
- Establish and track quality KPIs to identify trends, drive root cause analysis, and implement CAPA improvements.
- Partner with Engineering and the PMO to support New Product Introduction (NPI) and contract-driven quality deliverables.
- Coordinate and manage the FRACAS process, ensuring systemic reporting, analysis, and resolution of product or process failures.
- Drive timely resolution of CAPAs, CARs, SCARs, and customer-reported escapes.
- Lead and directly manage Configuration Management (CM) & Document Control (DM), ensuring product baseline integrity, ECO workflows with SLAs , and audit readiness. Quality owns CM/DM compliance; PMO and Engineering retain decision authority for baseline approvals and priorities.
Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)- Own site-level EHS compliance, ensuring adherence to OSHA, environmental, and company standards.
- Develop proactive risk mitigation strategies, including incident tracking and root cause elimination.
- Conduct safety audits and foster a safety-conscious culture across the site.
- Integrate EHS metrics and procedures into the QMS framework for streamlined governance.
Supplier & External Interface- Build and lead the supplier quality function.
- Support supplier audits, manage supplier performance (PPM, OTD), and drive SCAR closure.
- Act as a key customer interface for quality-related communications, audit responses, and field issue resolution.
Leadership- Lead and develop a small but expanding team aligned with growth.
- Set clear performance objectives, provide coaching, and build technical capabilities.
- Drive a culture of prevention, continuous improvement, and accountability across functions.
Stakeholder & Team CollaborationThis role interfaces directly with:
- Engineering: design quality, manufacturability, and baseline compliance.
- Production & Supply Chain: inspection readiness and supplier quality.
- PMO: contract deliverables, customer quality clauses, milestone validation.
- BD: proposals, customer audits, pre-award quality assessments.
- Finance: COPQ tracking, vendor scorecards, budgeting for quality initiatives.
- External Stakeholders: customers, certification bodies, and regulatory auditors.
The expected annual salary range for this role is $160,000 to $185,000 a year.
Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.
RequirementsRequired Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in a technical field (Engineering, Quality, Industrial Technology, Applied Science) OR equivalent technical training and 10+ years aerospace/defense quality experience.
- Minimum 10 years of QA experience in aerospace/defense.
- Strong hands-on experience with AS9100 implementation and audits.
- Familiarity with CM/DM processes, inspection methods, and EHS programs.
- Proven experience leading or supporting customer, certification, and regulatory audits.
- Strong analytical and data reporting skills.
- Excellent leadership, planning, and communication abilities.
- U.S. person status required.
Preferred Qualifications- AS9100 Lead Auditor Certification
- Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt)
- IPC-A-610 knowledge (Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies)
- Professional certifications: CQE / CRE / CQM
- Familiarity with Software Quality Assurance
- Knowledge of Reliability Engineering principles
Location RequirementThis role is onsite in Chatsworth, CA (Los Angeles area).
