SUMMARY
The Quality Manager is responsible for leading all quality assurance, quality engineering, and compliance activities for a single-site, AS9100-certified defense contractor that designs and manufactures its own products. This role serves as the senior authority for the Quality Management System (QMS) and ensures compliance with AS9100, customer, contractual, and regulatory requirements. In a small-company environment, the Quality Manager is both a strategic leader and a hands-on contributorsetting direction while actively supporting engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and programs to ensure product quality, mission reliability, and customer satisfaction.
ABOUT US
Karman Space & Defense provides concept-to-production solutions for mission-critical systems on spacecraft, launch vehicles, missiles, hypersonics, and integrated defense systems. We believe that solving the industry’s most complex and mission-critical challenges requires relentless determination and a willingness to push the boundaries of possibility. Karman Space & Defense brings to bear unparalleled production capabilities, unmatched engineering expertise, and unflinching analysis to render the impossible, possible.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Medical,Dental,Vision
- Company Paid Life Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Paid Holidays
- Tuition Reimbursement*
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Own,maintain, and continuously improve the AS9100-certified Quality Management System.
- Ensure compliance with customer quality requirements.
- Lead internal audits, management reviews, corrective actions, and document control.
- Serve as the primary interface for third-party, customer, and government audits.
- Ensure quality is embedded across the full product lifecycle: design, development, manufacturing, test, delivery, and sustainment.
- Partner with Engineering on design reviews, risk management, configuration control, and change management.
- Oversee First Article Inspection (AS9102), nonconformance management, MRB activity, and root cause corrective actions.
- Work with manufacturing to ensure process control, inspection effectiveness, and production readiness.
- Manage supplier quality activities, including flow down, supplier qualification, performance monitoring, and corrective actions.
- Mitigate supplier risk to ensure purchased material meets all technical and quality requirements
:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Chemistry, Quality, Manufacturing, or a related technical field.
- 8–12+ years of quality experience in aerospace or defense manufacturing.
- Demonstrated ownership of an AS9100-certified QMS, including audit leadership.
- Experience supporting both design and manufacturing in a defense environment.
- Ability and willingness to be hands-on in a small-company setting.
