Job Description: Senior Quality Engineer
Job Information
Job Title: Senior Quality Engineer
Department: Quality Assurance / Quality Engineering
Reports To: Sr. Manager of Quality & Compliance
Location: San Jose, CA
Effective/Revision Date: 08/25/2026
Senior Quality EngineerPosition SummaryThe Senior Quality Engineer provides technical quality leadership within an aerospace manufacturing environment specializing in chemical etching, plating, surface processing, and precision manufacturing.
This role leads complex quality investigations, process improvement, customer quality activities, metrology development, and special-process oversight. The Senior Quality Engineer is also responsible for using manufacturing and quality data to identify risk, improve measurement systems, and drive process performance.
Key ResponsibilitiesQuality Engineering & Metrology- Support etching, plating, inspection, singulation, packaging, and related manufacturing processes.
- Develop and maintain Control Plans, PFMEAs, inspection plans, and process controls.
- Interpret engineering drawings, specifications, GD&T, customer requirements, and key characteristics.
- Develop and validate inspection and metrology methods for new and existing products.
- Establish CMM inspection setups, measurement strategies, fixturing concepts, and inspection requirements.
- Support development, validation, and improvement of dimensional inspection methods.
- Perform and interpret Measurement System Analysis, including Gage R&R, bias, stability, linearity, and measurement correlation studies.
- Evaluate process capability, variation, yield, and product conformity.
- Support new product introduction, process qualification, and manufacturing changes.
Corrective Action & Customer Quality- Lead investigations for customer complaints, escapes, internal nonconformances, and recurring defects.
- Lead containment, root cause analysis, corrective action, and effectiveness verification.
- Prepare and manage 8D, RCCA, SCAR, and customer corrective action responses.
- Support FAI/AS9102 and customer or regulatory audits.
Special Processes & Supplier Quality- Provide quality oversight for plating, chemical processing, etching, and other special processes.
- Verify process qualifications, records, controls, and customer specification compliance.
- Investigate supplier issues and support supplier corrective actions and performance improvement.
Data Analytics ExpectationsThe Senior Quality Engineer is expected to use data as a primary tool for quality decision-making.- Develop and maintain quality dashboards and KPI reporting.
- Analyze scrap, rework, defect, yield, customer complaint, and supplier quality data.
- Perform Pareto, trend, process capability, SPC, and statistical analysis.
- Monitor First Pass Yield, Cost of Poor Quality, defect rates, escapes, and corrective action effectiveness.
- Analyze measurement-system performance and identify inspection-related sources of variation.
- Identify abnormal trends before they result in customer impact.
- Translate quality and manufacturing data into clear recommendations for Operations and leadership.
- Improve data collection and automate recurring quality reporting where practical.
Continuous Improvement & Leadership- Lead cross-functional improvement projects focused on defect reduction, measurement capability, process capability, and customer performance.
- Apply 5 Why, Fishbone, 8D, A3, SPC, MSA, and Lean problem-solving methods.
- Mentor Quality Engineers and Quality Control personnel.
- Provide technical guidance on GD&T, inspection methods, CMM strategy, metrology, process control, and root cause analysis.
- Serve as Quality lead for significant process, supplier, measurement, or customer issues.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Materials Science, or related technical field; equivalent experience may be considered.
- Typically 7+ years of Quality Engineering or Manufacturing Engineering experience.
- Aerospace, defense, semiconductor, medical device, or other regulated manufacturing experience.
- Strong knowledge of AS9100 / ISO 9001.
- Strong working knowledge of GD&T and engineering drawing interpretation.
- Experience with CMM inspection setup and dimensional inspection method development.
- Experience with MSA, Gage R&R, SPC, process capability, PFMEA, Control Plans, and corrective action.
- Advanced Excel, JMP, and/or Minitab experience and demonstrated ability to analyze manufacturing and quality data.
Preferred: AS9102, Nadcap/special-process experience, CQE, Lean Six Sigma certification, CMM programming experience, Power BI, SQL, or similar data analytics tools.
Key Performance ExpectationsSuccess in this role is measured through improvement in:- First Pass Yield
- Scrap and rework
- Customer escapes and complaints
- Cost of Poor Quality
- Corrective action effectiveness
- Process and measurement capability
- Supplier quality
- Inspection method effectiveness
- Quality KPI accuracy and visibility
- Data-driven improvement results
Working Conditions & Physical Requirements- Work is performed in a manufacturing and office environment; requires mobility; may require standing, sitting, lifting; reasonable accommodations available.
