Senior Quality Manager

Job Description:

Senior Quality Engineer

📍 Derby | Manufacturing Environment

We are looking for an experienced Senior Quality Engineer to join our team at our Derby manufacturing site. This is an excellent opportunity to play a key role in a fast-paced, high-quality production environment where your expertise will directly influence product performance, compliance, and continuous improvement.

As a Senior Quality Engineer, you will be a trusted technical authority, working closely with production, engineering, and supply chain teams to ensure the highest standards of quality are consistently achieved.

Working Hours

*  Monday – Thursday: 8.00am – 4.45pm

*  Friday: 8.00am – 12.30pm   ✔ Early finish every Friday

Salary

💷 £45,000 per annum

Benefits Package

*  Competitive salary

*  Company pension scheme

*  25 days annual leave + 8 statutory holidays

*  BUPA private healthcare

*  Death in Service benefit

*  Long Service awards

*  Free on-site parking

Core skills/Attributes needed:

Essential:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience within the Aerospace Industry, AS9100 requirements & NADCAP
• Minimum of 10 year’s Engineering experience
• Experience in lean tools and practical problem solving such as 8D, Kaizen processes
• High attention to detail, good problem solver and strong communication skills
• In-depth understanding of engineering/technical documentation and specifications
• A natural leader, who can motivate and lead with excellent interpersonal skill
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills as this is a customer faced role

Knowledge and Experience:                     

• Previous Internal auditing experience advantageous
• Experience in a quality control environment preferred
• First Article Inspection Report experience
• Experience of Machining, Fabrications and Treatments
• Chemical and special processes knowledge
• New Product Introduction & associated tools FMEA, APQP + PPAP Awareness 
• Ability to resolve issues logically and methodically using proven methods
• Self-motivated with a desire to learn

Seniority Requirements:

A key part of this role will be interacting and communicating with shop floor operators, management and customers, it is essential you can communicate in a clear and concise manner

• Setting staff expectation inline with department and company objectives
• Ability to prioritise work based on criticality ensuring timescales are met
• Development, coaching & Support of others
• Manage and lead a team to achieve the set expectations
• Manage all quality-related issues within the manufacturing team (e.g. internal, supplier, customer)
• Monitor and report on quality-related key performance indicators including scrap monitoring, rework levels, parts per million (PPM) figures, NCR status
• Communicate throughout the shop floor, with peers, management and customers
• Carry out team supervision, development reviews & annual resource reviews
• Confident and effective verbal and written communication and presentation skills

Purpose of role and key accountabilities:

To provide Quality and Inspection support for both existing and new business opportunities and to develop the Right First-Time philosophy required to become a leading supplier of quality components to the aerospace industry

* Maintain quality control within the manufacturing process, in line with business standards and customer requirements

* Check and verify the compliance of components produced at all stages within business

* Identify reoccurring quality issues and communicate them to the chief inspector along with recommendations

* Assist in the 5Why, Non-conformance procedures, RCCA & CAPA quality procedures and produce root cause analysis of product failures

* Represent the quality function at team meetings

*  Support, develop and improve the relationship with quality contacts within our customer base

*  Support and promote improvement activities to directly benefit product and processes

*  To work within cross functional teams to support business development, growth and improvement projects as required.

*  To support, develop, maintain and improve the company’s quality management system and conduct internal audits against the system

*To conduct root cause analyses, SPC and other appropriate quality tools and techniques to ensure that the manufacturing processes meet customer requirement

*  Activities will focus on the internal Quality SQCDP requirements, including closing out actions and reporting against the company requirements

*  Gardner’s key objective is to ensure Right First Time, Every time! Which is achieved by effective allocation, and any issues are resolved in a timely and effective manner

Measurable performance indicators/objectives of role:

* The Candidate must also strive to support the elements of the SQCDP framework of the wider Gardner business;

* Safety: work in line with all accredited company safety standards in order to provide a safe working environment for all

* Quality: support the quality accreditations across the business to ensure the delivery of a ‘right first time’ performance

* Cost: support the continuous improvements in cost reduction activities across the company in order to deliver increased profitability and value for money to our customers and stakeholders

* Delivery: drive improvement in delivery performance to continually exceed customer expectations and targets

* People: support organisational capability and influence cultural change by embracing diversity, inclusion, wellbeing and community

Key Performance Indicators:

* Reduction in quality escapes from the shop floor with a goal of 0.0004 parts per million

* Reduction in second time manufacture failures

* Reduction in rework to 0.0004 parts per million

* Manage and maintain RCCA & CAPA activities