Quality Engineer III - Avionics Verified today

About Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables launch, landing, and operation in space. As a commercial partner for critical space missions, Firefly is the only company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and achieve a successful Moon landing. We provide launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles to government and commercial customers from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond.

The Role

You will own quality assurance processes and tools that identify, contain, eliminate, and prevent non-conformances in flight hardware and software. You are responsible for developing and maintaining inspection processes, equipment, and acceptance plans for qualification and flight products. By verifying that all key performance and design characteristics are met prior to launch, you play a critical role in ensuring mission success.

This position is located at our Avionics facility in Leander, TX.

Your Responsibilities

• Partner with design engineering and manufacturing teams to create quality plans for flight products, including identification of key characteristics, development testing, first article and detailed inspection planning, and consideration of past failures and lessons learned.
• Develop and maintain inspection plans on launch vehicle and spacecraft electrical and avionics components and sub-assemblies.
• Develop and maintain equipment, training, and standard work instructions for detailed inspection programs that assure adherence to design, specification, and testing requirements.
• Ensure all product acceptance actions are conducted accurately and efficiently, in alignment with customer requirements and regulatory standards.
• Generate accurate records for traceability and pedigree of customer-deliverable products, including First Article Inspection records.
• Lead and support Quality Inspectors in workflow priority, inspection process efficiency, and best practice inspection methodologies.
• Identify and document non-conformances affecting product reliability and production efficiency.
• Collect, track, and trend production data on first-pass yield and non-conformance issues, performing basic statistical analysis on variable data.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to investigate and resolve non-conformance or quality issues, including development and implementation of robust corrective actions.
• Develop and execute quarantine plans to identify, control, and disposition non-conforming product.
• Maintain tool control and calibration processes within your department, including validation of metrology systems.
• Plan and perform periodic product and process audits to ensure compliance with Firefly Quality Management System.
• Implement standards, tools, and methods to ensure effectiveness of quality processes and sustain performance improvements.
• Execute projects and process improvements to reduce Cost of Poor Quality.
• Review designs and provide feedback to mitigate manufacturability and inspection challenges.
• Review procedures and production metrics that impact quality and make necessary changes to ensure compliance with standards and mission requirements.
• Provide research and interpretation of regulations and requirements to ensure compliance with external standards.
• Participate in technical operations and offer guidance as a technical engineering resource.
• Initiate and execute plans to improve product quality, reliability, and inspection efficiency.
• Apply 5S workplace organization and follow Lean initiatives.
• Support manufacturing compliance to customer and internal specifications.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or related discipline (computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry)
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in manufacturing, quality, and/or design engineering
• Demonstrated ability to apply engineering fundamentals, interpret technical information, develop technical instructions, and understand technical drawings, specifications, GD&T, and quality control documentation and standards.
• Experience with aerospace quality standards or equivalent military or government standards.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including effective verbal and written communication.
• Flexibility regarding workflow and process.
• Excellent organization skills and willingness to work with a team.

Desired Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on experience in manufacturing, quality, and/or design engineering
• Demonstrated experience applying quality assurance principles, methods, and processes including inspection techniques, equipment, and tools.
• Comprehensive understanding of aerospace manufacturing processes, materials, and specifications.
• Demonstrated competency in structures/composites, electrical/avionics, and fluids/propulsion disciplines.
• Full capability to read and understand blueprints, drawings, GD&T, and Model-Based Definitions.
• Knowledge of quality tools such as Lean principles, measurement systems analysis, design of experiments, statistical process control, root cause analysis and corrective action, advanced product quality planning (APQP), metrology, process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA), control plans, and various problem solving approaches.
• Demonstrated experience with aerospace quality standards such as AS9100 or ISO 9001.
• IPC Certification (IPC J-STD-001, IPC-A-600, IPC-A-610, IPC-A-620, IPC-7711/21) and familiarity with NASA-STD-8739.4.
• Experience operating in and maintaining cleanroom per FS209E, ISO 14644-1, or equivalent.
• ASQ CQE certification.