Sr. Quality Operations Manager, Project Kuiper

Quality Operations Manager

Project Kuiper is an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world. The Kuiper Quality team is seeking an experienced Quality Operations Manager to lead a team of quality professionals to support our quality capabilities and achieve these goals. This individual will be responsible for developing, overseeing and directing quality inspection personnel, the Quality Inspection area, and improvement projects to the inspection area, among other responsibilities.

Export Control Requirement : Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Oversee and provide daily direction and management to quality inspectors within the inspection team, prioritizing work as needed, answering escalations, and being able to quickly determine path forward in ambiguous situations.
• Hire and develop a Quality Team. The right candidate will be able to identify staffing needs, be able to recruit both internally and externally, and hold a high bar in new employee selection. This leader will also be passionate about developing their team and will actively work to grow existing team members' technical skills and other career development work.
• Develop, implement, and iterate a robust onboarding and training plan for incoming quality inspectors.
• Lead Lean and 5S activities among the inspection processes to drive efficiency within the Quality Inspection Center and reduce non-value-added time.
• Lead effective and efficient Root Cause Corrective Action investigations, partnering directly with assembly technicians, engineering, and other stakeholders to quickly identify and implement necessary improvements.
• Participate in any required Material Review Board (MRB) activities to ensure defective parts are contained, identified, dispositioned and that corrective actions are executed to prevent reoccurrence.
• Responsible for quality records and departmental procedures to ensure compliance to regulatory and business requirements, and aid in the development and maintenance of the Kuiper QMS.
• Direct report to the Manufacturing Quality Manager, providing guidance and counsel for QMS enhancements, development improvements and initiatives to reduce cycle time, cost, quality metrics, reduce defects, and improve product quality.
• Be the primary point of contact for the Quality Inspection Center, including status updates, communication to stakeholders, management of commitments, and prioritization of parts, allocation of resources, and management of workload into the QIC.
• Lead strategic efforts for the setup and / or transfer of inspection capabilities and work cells within new manufacturing centers, or new work cells within the assembly areas of Kuiper.

A Day In The Life

Determine the priority inspection activities to perform each day based on incoming, hot, or high-effort parts expected to arrive. Answer and solve tactical problems that arise as part of the daily inspection operation activities, determining a path forward in ambiguous situations. Report out and / or monitor daily operational metrics to determine the health of the operation, and where problems are arising. Lead and develop a team of inspectors. Serves as an expert to promote quality control for received parts. Takes ownership to develop and introduce Lean principles and solutions to the Quality Inspection Center. Coordinate and communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders on status of inspection activities, blockers, trends, and action plans.

About The Team

The Kuiper Manufacturing Quality team is driven to develop a Kuiper Quality System that is capable of scaling aerospace quality to new volume and cost levels to meet end customer needs. This position will join the team at an exciting moment, with an opportunity to own and grow a team of quality inspectors and contribute to the design of requirements, processes, and systems used across the business. We value data driven decision making, a comfort with dealing in ambiguous situations across multiple projects, and an ability to earn trust of various stakeholders to deliver high quality results.