Lead Quality Assurance Engineer / Quality Engineer — Aerospace

Function: Quality Assurance & Quality Engineering

Reports to: Plant Head

Location: Narketpally, Hyderabad

Employment type: Full-time, permanent

Experience: 8–15 years in aerospace, defense, or other regulated precision manufacturing

Team: Leads Engineering Division

Scope: leadership team member, primary audit and customer interface

Roles & Responsibilities

Audits

- Act as the site's lead representative in customer and OEM audits — process audits, product audits & system audits, You prepare the site, front the opening and closing meetings, manage auditor access to evidence, and negotiate and close findings
- Host regulatory, and third-party audits AS9100 Rev D, ISO 9001:2015 and hold accountability for the site's certification status
- Own the internal audit programme end to end: schedule, auditor competence, findings, and effectiveness verification. Prepare audit schedules, checklists, evidence, and compliance documentation.
- Plan and conduct internal audits across manufacturing, engineering, procurement, inspection, and support functions.
- Report audit status, risk, and certification exposure to the leadership team
- Coordinate customer, certification-body, and regulatory audits.
- Track audit findings and ensure timely closure of corrective actions.

Customer interface
- Serve as the primary quality contact for OEM and Tier-1 customers across programmes
- Lead AS9102 First Article Inspection (FAI) and PPAP preparation, review, submission and customer approval.
- Attend customer meetings, technical reviews, and programme gates jointly with Manufacturing Engineering, presenting a single aligned position on capability, qualification status, and quality performance
- Lead customer escape investigations: containment, notification, root cause, corrective action, and recovery plan presentation
- Negotiate concessions, deviations, and quality requirement interpretation with customer quality representatives
- Support RFQ, contract review, and customer visits, including plant walk-throughs and capability presentations

Quality Management System

- Own, maintain, and continuously improve the QMS to AS9100 Rev D, ISO 9001:2015, and applicable customer and regulatory requirements
- Author, review, and control quality procedures, work instructions, inspection plans, and specifications
- Ensure contractual and customer flow-down requirements are correctly translated into the QMS and into shop-floor documentation
- Track, report, and drive quality KPIs — escapes, first-pass yield, scrap and rework cost, on-time CAPA closure, audit findings — and build recovery plans for metrics behind target

New Product Introduction, APQP & PPAP




- Lead the quality workstream through a gated NPI process, from RFQ and contract review to qualified serial production
- Execute APQP to AS9145: quality planning, control plans, PFMEA, process flow, MSA, and capability studies
- Compile, verify, and submit PPAP packages; manage customer approval and resolve submission findings
- Prepare and approve First Article Inspection reports to AS9102 (full and delta FAIs), including balloon drawings and characteristic accountability
- Develop and qualify special processes (heat treat, NDT, surface treatment, welding, painting) and drive customer and Nadcap approvals through structured qualification test plans
- Build and execute process validation and qualification protocols; verify gauge and fixture readiness before production release

Engineering & technical quality
- Act as the site authority on engineering drawing interpretation and GD&T; to ASME Y14.5 — datum schemes, tolerance stack-ups, and inspection method selection
- Define inspection strategy across CMM, vision systems, and conventional metrology; review CMM programmes and inspection reports for correctness
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action using 8D, 5-Why, Ishikawa, and the 7 QC tools; ensure CAPA closure is verified and effective, not just documented
- Apply SPC and MSA (Gage R&R;, bias, linearity) using Minitab or equivalent to establish and monitor process capability
- Disposition non-conformances, chair the MRB, and manage concessions, deviations, and customer notification of escapes

Leadership
- Sit on the site leadership team as the quality authority; contribute to operational, commercial, and capital decisions and escalate risk early
- Production head, Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Department for Engineering division will report to this role and the candidate is the Head of the department. This role will report to the plant head and to Senior Leadership.
- The candidate must develop the Aerospace Engineering Department.
- Lead, coach, and develop the quality engineering and inspection team; set objectives, build technical depth, and grow audit and customer-facing capability in the team
- Chair cross-functional quality reviews and the site quality performance review with manufacturing, engineering, planning, and supply chain




- Partner closely with Manufacturing Engineering — joint ownership of process capability, qualification, and the position taken in front of customers
- Present site quality objectives and performance to global or corporate quality leadership
- Champion continuous improvement: Lean, Value Stream Mapping, setup and cycle-time reduction, and defect elimination projects

Essential
- Bachelor's /Diploma degree in Mechanical, Production or a related engineering discipline
- 8+ years in quality within aerospace, defense, or comparable regulated precision manufacturing, including at least 3 years in a leadership role with direct reports and reporting into senior management
- Proven experience personally fronting OEM, customer, and registrar audits — opening and closing meetings, evidence management, and negotiating findings to closure
- Proven experience leading audits of suppliers on site, including capability assessment and corrective action verification
- Demonstrated confidence in direct customer contact — technical reviews, escape presentations, and recovery plan defence, working jointly with Manufacturing Engineering
- Demonstrated working ownership of an AS9100 / ISO 9001 QMS — not just familiarity, but authorship, audit hosting, and finding closure
- Practical, hands-on experience with APQP (AS9145), PPAP, and AS9102 First Article Inspection — you have personally built and defended these packages with a customer
- Strong command of engineering drawings and GD&T; to ASME Y14.5, including tolerance stack-up analysis
- Working knowledge of PFMEA, control plans, MSA, SPC, and the 7 QC tools
- Proven CAPA and root cause analysis track record with evidence of effectiveness verification
- Manufacturing process knowledge across [CNC machining, Alloy Machining, sheet metal, special processes]
- Clear written and verbal English; able to present performance data to senior and international stakeholders

Preferred
- Certified Internal Auditor / Lead Auditor for AS9100 Rev D
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt with completed, quantified projects
- Experience with international OEM customers (Aerospace) and with defense or space programmes
- CMM software (CAMIO, PC-DMIS, Calypso), and ERP/QMS platforms
- Knowledge of GD&T;
- Full understanding and deductive reasoning with root cause analysis and problem solving
- Background & expertise in PPAP, APQP, MSA, SPC and Launch is required
- Must be proficient with Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, and Project.
- Must have a skilled persona with exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
- This position of Quality Engineer is in a CNC production machining and assembly facility producing Oil & Gas and Aerospace parts.
- Knowledge of CNC machining.

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