Principal Engineer Mission Assurance

Description

The role supports an established production program within the Machinery Systems operating unit of Marine Systems.

You will be a main quality and mission assurance contact for Program Management, engineering, manufacturing, the supply chain organization, supplier quality, subcontractors, suppliers and the customer.

The work centers on disciplined production, product and process quality, program performance, contract compliance, corrective action, customer acceptance, risk reduction and ongoing improvement.

The team works on-site in Sunnyvale, CA.

Responsibilities

• Act as the main quality and mission assurance contact for the program, working with Program Management and functional teams to support cost, schedule, technical, quality and delivery goals.
• Define and track mission assurance plans, processes, metrics and work products that keep production disciplined and the program on course.
• Bring quality engineering and program quality practices into production planning, hardware build, inspection, acceptance and delivery.
• Find product and process nonconformances, lead root cause and corrective action work, review trends and push preventive actions.
• Prepare quality and program metrics, variances, trends, risks, opportunities and recovery actions for Program Management, functional leaders and customers.
• Analyze program risks and opportunities with quantitative and predictive methods, give data-based input on resourcing and raise risk-acceptance concerns.
• Review contract and technical requirements, plan how to meet them, verify requirements and flow-downs, and take part in contract and customer reviews.
• Confirm that measurement, inspection and test methods meet drawing, specification, contract and acceptance criteria.
• Take part in technical, production-readiness, test-readiness and customer reviews to judge compliance, producibility, design maturity and production risk.
• Support design changes and production work by coordinating engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, supplier quality, inspectors, subcontractors and suppliers.
• Apply quality management system principles and engineering and manufacturing tools to quality-system questions, and support audits, surveillances and compliance assessments.
• Support planning, estimates, source inspections, corrective-action governance and other activities needed to meet program commitments.

Requirements

• Hold a bachelor's degree in a STEM field and have at least 5 years of experience in quality, mission assurance, manufacturing, engineering, program execution or a related area; a master's degree reduces this to 3 years.
• Have quality engineering experience in an established production setting.
• Have program quality experience, including direct support to program execution and work with Program Management and other functions.
• Have worked directly with Program Management, reporting quality status, performance, risks, issues, opportunities and recovery actions.
• Have reviewed and verified requirements and contract flow-downs in contracts, specifications, drawings, work instructions, supplier documents or other technical documents.
• Have experience with quality management systems such as AS9100 or ISO 9001.
• Have experience reading technical drawings and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T).
• Be able to obtain and keep a Secret clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
• Show you can work independently, set priorities across competing demands and deliver results with limited oversight in production.
• Bring strong quality engineering, program quality, program execution, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams through complex quality issues and drive timely, lasting corrective and preventive actions.
• Communicate well in writing and speaking, presenting quality status, risks, opportunities and recommended actions to customers and program and executive leaders.
• Connect quality performance to program cost, schedule, technical, contract and delivery objectives.
• Interpret complex technical and contractual requirements and build practical, evidence-based compliance approaches.
• Build working relationships across program management, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, supplier quality, suppliers, customers and government representatives.
• Preferred: experience preparing for and leading program Corrective Action Boards, covering issue priority, action ownership, closure tracking, trend review and checking corrective-action effectiveness.
• Preferred: experience supporting program business execution in an Earned Value Management System, including CEAC or EAC development, variance analysis, forecasts, risks, opportunities and corrective-action planning.
• Preferred: experience with proposals and capture, including quality or mission assurance approaches, schedules, risks, staffing estimates and Basis of Estimate documents.
• Preferred: experience supporting customer and government source inspections, covering readiness, objective evidence, product presentation, issue resolution and closing findings or open actions.
• Preferred: experience leading quality or mission assurance for production of complex machinery, structures, propulsion, electrical-generation or electromechanical systems.
• Preferred: experience with quality assurance, risk management, APQP, process FMEA, control plans, Critical-to-Quality, process capability and structured root cause and corrective action methods in production.
• Preferred: experience performing or reviewing First Article Inspections and working with suppliers and supplier quality to resolve supply-chain quality issues and verify corrective-action closure.
• Preferred: experience supporting technical and production reviews, requirements verification and traceability, contract reviews and compliance evidence.
• Preferred: experience building and presenting program quality metrics, variance and trend analyses, risk assessments and improvement or recovery plans to customers and program leaders.
• Preferred: experience supporting internal audits, customer audits, government reviews or QMS surveillances.
• Preferred: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification.
• Preferred: active Secret clearance.
• Preferred: MPR.
• Preferred: QMACMP.

Conditions

The position is on-site in Sunnyvale, CA; flexible schedules such as 9/80 are available.

Travel of up to 25% of the time is required.

No relocation assistance is offered.

No security clearance is needed to start; the clearance type is Secret.

The primary level base pay range is $114,000.00 to $171,000.00. This is a general guideline; the final offer depends on scope and responsibilities, experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

The application period is estimated at 20 days from the posting date and may be shortened or extended based on business needs and candidate availability.

Benefits

• Depending on the position, you may be eligible for overtime, shift differential and a discretionary bonus.
• Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and let you share in company results.
• Vice President and Director roles may be eligible for long-term incentives.
• Benefits include health insurance, life and disability insurance, a savings plan, company-paid holidays, and paid time off for vacation and personal business.