In complex manufacturing, quality cannot depend on finding problems at final inspection.
By that point, the organization has already invested materials, machine time, labor, supplier capacity, engineering effort, and production schedule into the product.
Exceptional quality engineering works further upstream.
It asks whether requirements are measurable before production begins.
Whether the process is capable before volume increases.
Whether the measurement system can reliably distinguish acceptable variation from a genuine defect.
Whether a supplier understands critical characteristics.
Whether a design creates unnecessary manufacturing risk.
And when something does fail, whether the organization has discovered the actual cause—or simply corrected the most visible symptom.
We are seeking an accomplished Quality Engineer to help engineer quality into sophisticated products and manufacturing processes from initial development through sustained production.
This role will support an environment where product reliability, dimensional accuracy, process capability, traceability, regulatory compliance, supplier performance, and customer confidence are critical to the business.
The Quality Engineer will work directly across Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Supplier Quality, Program Management, Test Engineering, Production, and Quality leadership.
Rather than functioning primarily as an inspector or documentation coordinator, this engineer will serve as a technical problem solver.
You will use engineering analysis, statistical methods, process knowledge, measurement science, and structured root-cause techniques to understand why variation occurs and how it can be controlled.
The work may involve precision mechanical assemblies, electromechanical systems, complex components, automated manufacturing equipment, specialized materials, high-reliability products, and tightly controlled manufacturing processes.
You may support a product during development, help establish its control plan, review drawings and tolerances, participate in process qualification, investigate a production failure, analyze capability data, challenge an incomplete corrective action, work directly with a supplier, and then verify that the implemented solution actually prevented recurrence.
That lifecycle perspective is important.
Quality Engineering should not simply answer:
“Does this product meet specification?”
It should also answer:
“Is the process capable of repeatedly producing products that meet specification—and what evidence proves it?”
The successful candidate will therefore be comfortable operating both on the manufacturing floor and within detailed technical analysis.
You should be able to discuss GD&T with Engineering, review SPC trends with Manufacturing, evaluate a Gauge R&R study, lead an 8D investigation, challenge a PFMEA, analyze supplier defects, support an audit, and communicate quality risk clearly to program and operational leadership.
Digital manufacturing is also changing the discipline.
Modern quality organizations increasingly combine traditional engineering methods with automated inspection, machine vision, connected manufacturing data, advanced analytics, digital quality systems, and AI-assisted pattern recognition.
This role will help evaluate those capabilities pragmatically.
Technology should not simply generate more quality data.
It should help the organization detect risk earlier, understand variation faster, and prevent defects more effectively.
Ultimately, we are looking for an engineer who believes the best quality problem is the one the manufacturing system was designed never to create.
Own quality-engineering activities across assigned products, processes, or manufacturing areas.
Support quality planning before products reach sustained production.
Apply methodologies such as:
Identify quality risks before they become production defects.
Lead technically rigorous investigations into significant defects and process failures.
Apply structured methods including:
8D | 5 Whys | Fishbone | Fault Tree Analysis | DMAIC | Is/Is Not Analysis
Separate symptoms from root causes.
Use physical evidence, process data, measurement results, production history, and engineering analysis to validate conclusions.
Avoid defaulting to “operator error” without understanding why the process permitted the error to occur.
Develop corrective and preventive actions that eliminate recurrence.
Evaluate whether identified causes could affect additional products, lines, suppliers, or facilities.
Use statistical methods to understand and control manufacturing variation.
Responsibilities may include:
Help production teams move from reactive defect detection toward predictable process control.
Ensure measurement methods are capable of supporting engineering requirements.
Support:
Determine whether apparent process variation may actually originate from the measurement system itself.
Review technical drawings and product requirements.
Apply working knowledge of:
Partner with Design and Manufacturing Engineering when specifications create unnecessary ambiguity or manufacturing risk.
Represent Quality Engineering throughout NPI.
Participate in:
Design Review → Process Development → Prototype → Qualification → Pilot Build → Production Launch
Develop inspection and control strategies.
Review manufacturing readiness.
Support first-article activities.
Identify risks before production volume increases.
Work with Supply Chain and Supplier Quality teams on externally manufactured components.
Provide technical support for nonconformance evaluation.
Maintain clear distinction between disposition and corrective action.
Accepting or reworking a defect does not eliminate its root cause.
Partner with Engineering and Test teams to understand product failures.
Support:
Translate findings into improvements in product design, manufacturing processes, inspection, or supplier controls.
Support compliance with applicable quality-management requirements.
Depending on the operating environment, standards may include:
Participate in internal, customer, supplier, and certification audits.
Support technically sound responses to findings and observations.
Help modernize quality through technology.
Evaluate opportunities involving:
Work with Manufacturing and Technology teams to convert production data into earlier indicators of quality risk.
Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and Operations to reduce:
Use Lean and Six Sigma principles where appropriate.
Prioritize preventive improvements over permanent dependence on additional inspection.
Candidates with several of the following will be particularly competitive:
AS9100 | ISO 9001 | APQP | PPAP | PFMEA | DFMEA | SPC | MSA | Gauge R&R | 8D | CAPA | GD&T | CMM | First Article Inspection | Lean | Six Sigma | Supplier Quality | Reliability Engineering
Experience with tools such as Minitab, JMP, eQMS platforms, ERP/MES systems, statistical software, digital inspection systems, or comparable engineering technologies is valuable.
Professional credentials such as ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, or comparable certifications are welcomed.
You want data, physical evidence, process history, and validated measurements before declaring a root cause.
When a process fails, your first instinct is to understand how the system allowed the failure to occur.
You are comfortable working directly with operators, technicians, manufacturing engineers, suppliers, and design engineers.
You can question a drawing, process, inspection method, or corrective action professionally when the evidence requires it.
You understand that variation always exists; the engineering challenge is determining whether it is stable, predictable, and acceptable.
You prefer eliminating the mechanism that creates defects rather than increasing inspection indefinitely.
You remain engaged from initial containment through verified corrective-action effectiveness.
You can translate complex quality findings into clear operational risk and recommended action.
The Quality Engineer will contribute technical expertise to initiatives extending beyond day-to-day quality activities.
Improve process capability and reduce dependence on inspection.
Ensure quality requirements are built into manufacturing before scale-up.
Improve supplier capability and reduce incoming variation.
Identify the underlying technical drivers of scrap, rework, escapes, and warranty exposure.
Ensure automated manufacturing processes incorporate appropriate controls.
Use connected data to identify emerging process instability.
Evaluate quality implications associated with new equipment, materials, and manufacturing methods.
Explore data-driven approaches capable of identifying defect patterns earlier.
Provide technically credible evidence when resolving significant customer-quality concerns.
The position will help connect:
Engineering Intent → Manufacturing Process → Process Control → Product Conformance → Reliability
Primary Function: Quality Engineering
Technical Scope: Product + Process + Manufacturing + Supplier Quality
Engineering Focus:
Quality Engineering | Manufacturing Quality | APQP | PPAP | FMEA | SPC | CAPA | Root Cause Analysis | GD&T | Metrology | MSA | Process Capability | NPI | Supplier Quality | Reliability | Continuous Improvement | Digital Quality
$188,000 – $195,000 annually
Final compensation will consider technical quality expertise, manufacturing complexity, industry background, process-engineering knowledge, statistical capabilities, NPI experience, regulatory or quality-system expertise, geographic considerations, and overall qualifications.
The broader total rewards package may include:
Quality Engineers are sometimes brought into the conversation after something goes wrong.
This role is designed differently.
You will have the opportunity to influence quality before drawings become production processes, before processes become volume manufacturing, and before variation becomes customer failure.
You will work directly with the people designing products, developing manufacturing processes, building components, managing suppliers, and operating production.
That proximity matters.
It means your analysis can become an engineering change.
Your capability study can change a manufacturing process.
Your investigation can eliminate a recurring defect.
Your measurement analysis can prevent teams from solving a problem that never actually existed.
And your quality planning can prevent an entire category of failure before the first production unit reaches a customer.
You will also work in an environment where traditional quality engineering is increasingly being combined with automation, connected manufacturing, advanced inspection, statistical analytics, machine vision, and AI-assisted quality intelligence.
The objective is not simply to produce more inspection data.
It is to create manufacturing systems that understand and control their own sources of variation.
The progression is:
Inspect the Product → Understand the Process → Control the Variation → Prevent the Failure
And the broader mission is:
Design Intent → Capable Process → Controlled Production → Reliable Product → Customer Confidence
For a Quality Engineer who wants to solve the engineering problem behind the defect—not merely document the defect after it happens—this role provides the technical depth, enterprise visibility, and manufacturing impact to do exactly that.
At Admiral Talent, our vision is to redefine staffing through genuine partnerships, innovation, and a people-first mindset. Guided by experienced leadership, we’re committed to driving growth, empowering talent, and delivering exceptional results for every client we serve.