Job Title: Quality Release Engineer

Company: Richardson Electronics, Ltd.

Type: Full time

Job Description: The Quality Release Engineer provides independent oversight of new product and process releases, ensuring appropriate quality controls are established before production and maintained during changes. The role reviews product, process, and documentation changes to maintain alignment with quality requirements and risk controls. The position also monitors production quality and ensures lessons learned are incorporated into future releases and controls.

Job Responsibilities:

Essential Job Functions:

• Schedule, coordinate, and lead Release Kaizen Events, providing direction to multidisciplinary teams to stress test production readiness, including documentation, operator instructions, tooling, equipment, material flow, inspection methods, process controls, and reliance on undocumented knowledge or workarounds.
• Provide independent Quality review and approval of new product and process releases, verifying that

Production can consistently build conforming product using the released processes and documentation.

• Review PFMEAs, Control Plans, inspection sheets, and related quality documentation for adequacy, consistency, and effectiveness in controlling identified product and process risks.
• Review drawings, specifications, BOMs, routings, work instructions, and other production documentation for completeness, alignment, usability, and Quality impact.
• Review and approve applicable product, process, supplier, and documentation changes to ensure established quality controls remain effective.
• Verify completion of required validation and qualification activities, including first-piece inspections, process capability, measurement and test requirements, and other objective evidence necessary for production release.
• Verify supply chain readiness, including approved supplier status, component qualification, outsourced processes, and applicable incoming quality controls.
• Document and drive closure of Release Kaizen findings, ensuring identified gaps and risks are assigned to the appropriate functional owners and adequately resolved or formally accepted prior to release.
• Monitor post-release production performance to verify the effectiveness of established controls and identify release-related gaps.
• Review Production and Supplier Quality trends and ensure lessons learned are incorporated into Quality Planning, Release Kaizens, and future releases.
• Exercise independent Quality release authority, escalating unresolved risks and withholding approval when release requirements are not met; present open risks and incomplete Kaizen actions to management for documented conditional approval.

Key Performance Metrics

• Kaizen Schedule Performance: Percentage of Release Kaizen events completed according to the established project/release schedule.
• Release Action Closure: Percentage of Kaizen findings closed by their committed due dates, with release-critical findings closed prior to production release.
• Post-Release Quality Effectiveness: Number of issues identified within 90 days of release requiring changes to manufacturing documentation, quality controls, inspection methods, or processes due to gaps not identified during the Release Kaizen.
• Change Review Performance: Percentage of applicable product, process, and documentation revisions receiving Quality review within the established turnaround target.

Non-essential Job Functions:

• Serve as a trained internal auditor and participate in QMS audits.
• Support customer, regulatory, and external audits as needed.
• Participate in continuous improvement and cross-functional problem-solving activities.
• Support Quality procedures, training, and QMS improvement initiatives.
• Provide backup support to other Quality functions as needed.

Qualification Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical discipline, with 5+ years relevant experience in manufacturing, process or quality engineering.
• Strong knowledge of Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) principles, including PFMEA, Control Plans, process capability, measurement systems, risk assessment, and product/process qualification.
• Experience with NPI, manufacturing process release, or production quality is preferred; ASQ CQE, Six Sigma, or related quality certification is a plus.

Work Environment: Work is performed in office, warehouse, and manufacturing environments. Some standing, walking, and light lifting may be required. The employee may be intermittently exposed to facility hazards, including mercury, plating processes, and high-voltage equipment, and must understand and follow applicable safety procedures and precautions. Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) must be used as required.

Pay Range: $100,000 to $120,000 per year plus incentive

Benefits: Our benefits package includes comprehensive health insurance with multiple PPO and HSA plan options, as well as dental and vision coverage. We offer flexible spending accounts (FSA), life insurance, voluntary life insurance, short- and long-term disability (STD & LTD), an employee assistance program (EAP), smoking cessation support, weight management program, pet insurance, LifeLock identity protection, and a 401(k)-retirement plan. Additionally, we provide generous vacation time, sick/personal days, 10 paid holidays, and tuition reimbursement to support ongoing education and work-life balance.