Head of Quality
Manufacturing / Defence / Aerospace
Ulverston, Cumbria
£70,000 to £75,000 + Package
4 day working week (Monday to Thursday)
  
The Head of Quality is responsible for site Quality aspects of our clients products and supports aspect for quality through working with and supporting the Quality manager.
  
Reporting to the Group CEO the Head of Quality will be Responsible for the upkeep and promotion of all aspects of the Quality Management System (QMS) throughout the UK Organisation interacting with customers and suppliers on quality improvement and ensuring the quality of all products and services provided. This includes quality policies, procedures, processes, programs, and practices, to assure the continuous conformance with appropriate standards and regulations and maintaining and ensuring continued accreditation to AS9100 and CAA part 21G.
  
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Be responsible for establishing, documenting, developing and managing the Quality System and for ensuring that it continues to comply with regulatory requirements and to meet the needs of the business.
- Ensure that all quality related policies and procedures detailed in the Operations, Quality and Company Exposition manuals are adhered to and carry out an ongoing review of the adequacy and effectiveness of Quality System procedures.
- Maintain and keep current all Quality Audit and inspection records for review at any time by the Competent authority and other external bodies as appropriate.
- Liaise with the Regulatory Authority (CAA) as may be appropriate on matters related to the Quality System.
- Establish procedures for dealing with non-conformities, monitoring non-conformity reports and taking corrective/preventive action in response to audit findings.
- Notify the Accountable Manager and senior management when Management Review meetings are scheduled and present internal audit reports.
- Review the Quality Systems of new subcontractors who impact the operation and organise audits of their quality assurance systems.
- Monitor compliance with and adequacy of procedures to ensure airworthy aircraft at all times via an audit programme and that all maintenance is performed in accordance with Approved data.
- Grant authorisations to individuals to issue EASA Form 1 for work carried out under the organisations Part 21G
- Coordinate reports of unairworthy conditions.
- Ensure the organisation holds all appropriate technical publications, specifications and drawings and that they are amended as required.
- Establish a Materials Management Inspection section by the granting of Inspection authority to suitable individuals.
- Maintain Airbus military DOID and Act as the Design Assurance Controller.
- Coordinate all aspects of the Company Exposition / Quality Manual and the negotiation with the CAA regarding any changes required to the documents, or to the Terms of Approval granted by the Authority to the company.
- Maintain the Company’s Regulatory Approvals
- Ensure that all staff who carry out Quality Inspections and Quality audits are adequately trained.
- Analyse all relevant data and circulate it within the company for information, with recommendations for improvement in quality standards as required.
- Have overall responsibility for the control of quality records.
- Setting and delivering the quality policy and objectives, preparing reports to support on agreed basis.
- Leading the quality team ensuring it operates in line with company policy and procedures.
- Organising and leading relevant quality reviews on site
- Act as management representative to report on the performance of the system and promote awareness of customer requirements as appropriate
- Oversee the continued implementation and improvement of the Quality System and assure compliance to Standards
- Manage internal process audits and evaluate procedures, policies, employee skills and training, as well as other elements of the Quality System to ensure continued compliance and certification to ISO 9001, AS 9100 and CAA/EASA Part 21G
- Host audits with external certification bodies, reporting findings/recommendations to the Board of Directors in order to support continuous improvement of the QMS
- Manage supplier approvals and a program of supplier audits to ensure performance of supplier quality and promote continuous improvement
- Interface with customers on quality requirements
- Interface with suppliers on quality requirements
- Provide reports detailing the cost of quality and preventive solutions – using nonconformance reporting as basis for this
- In conjunction with Customers, Suppliers and Internal departments, systematically investigate all causes of rework and rejects, document all root causes and ensure preventive measures and corrective actions are carried out in a timely manner.
- Review Non-conformance data ensuring these are documented properly and identify root cause and appropriate corrective and preventive actions
- As part of site management team, achieve the operational objectives of business and where necessary support quality development throughout group.
- Work with the minimum amount of supervision while maintaining expected levels of productivity
- Work in a safe manner in compliance with company Health & Safety policy. Report and log Health & Safety incidents that occur.
- Actively support and contribute to continuous improvement program and lean/Six Sigma manufacturing.
- Continually review working practices to remove and reduce waste and non-value added activities
- Positively support teamwork and circulation of experience within the workforce
- Provide input to Design & Development & Production Departments to assist in the development of products, assuring that regulatory and customer performance specifications are observed and included.
- Analyse returns data to identify failure trends and quality issues and prepare the associated statistical reports for management to act upon.
- Plan, control, review and document verification and validation testing in order to demonstrate that the product definition meets the specification for all identified operational conditions.
- Manage first article inspection to verify the production process, documentation and tooling are capable of producing parts that meet specified requirements
  
QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE
- Formal qualifications in Quality Assurance management.
- Relevant business/commercial or manufacturing/engineering degree preferred, or ONC, A Levels, BTec Diploma Level 4 or equivalent NVQ level 4 qualification
- Ten years’ experience in a Quality Engineering/Manufacturing Environment.
- Lead Audit AS9100/ISO9001
- Relevant experience of 8D customer investigations
- Formal Experience and training of CAA/EASA Part 21G / Part145 requirements
- Strong knowledge of Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
- Membership of an industry related Professional Body
- Experience of working in Quality Assurance
- Six Sigma/Lean Manufacturing skills
- Experience of dealing with customers and suppliers
- Nadcap special processing / Testing Experience advantageous
- Knowledge and practical experience of ISO 9001, AS 9100 and EASA 21 part G

 SKILLS
- Conversant with the requirements of ISO9001 and AS/EN9100 series, and customer Quality requirements
- Strong and proven leadership skills
- Certified Lead Auditor or equivalent experience in related field
- Familiar and understanding of current regulatory requirements issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and UK MOD
- Keen analytical skills with a high level of attention to details in order to prepare statistical analysis
- Ability to make technical and managerial decisions which will have a significant effect on Quality Assurance
  
How to Apply
To apply, please send your updated CV and any supporting documents via this advert or to a.whittaker@cubiqrecruitment.com