Senior Manager – Quality & Mission Assurance
Bay Area, CA | Onsite | Aerospace Manufacturing Startup
A rapidly scaling space hardware company is looking for a hands-on Quality leader to own and grow their Quality and Mission Assurance function. This is not a maintenance role. It’s an opportunity to build a high-reliability quality system from the ground up, working closely with engineering and leadership to help bring structure to a fast-moving team that’s been focused on innovation over documentation.
You’d be the first dedicated senior hire in quality, stepping into a player-coach position with broad authority to define and deploy their QMS, stand up supplier and production quality processes, and eventually grow a team. The company is moving from one-off hardware toward repeatable production and needs someone who understands how to set that foundation without slowing momentum.
You’ll be the person other teams trust to make sure quality isn’t an afterthought. This means being just as comfortable leading a Failure Review Board as you are mentoring a design engineer or mapping out an AS9100-compliant process. You’ll be engaging across hardware programs, with input into both strategic planning and daily operations.
What you’d be responsible for
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Deploying and maintaining a scalable QMS in line with aerospace standards
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Leading quality activities across design, manufacturing, test, and supplier ops
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Establishing design assurance and system safety practices early in product development
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Acting as the independent voice of quality across mission reviews and product audits
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Building root cause analysis frameworks and running the FRB process
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Supporting traceability, documentation, and compliance throughout the org
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Mentoring quality engineers and growing the QA team over time
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Representing quality in customer and regulatory engagements
You’ll need to bring
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10+ years in quality, mission assurance, or reliability engineering in aerospace or adjacent sectors
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Experience implementing and owning a QMS in a production or startup environment
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Familiarity with AS9100 and other aerospace standards
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Comfort operating as the sole or lead quality owner in an early-stage company
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Ability to bridge technical engineering work with operational process development
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A practical mindset, clear communication, and a deep respect for traceability and safety
Bonus if you have
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Experience with NADCAP or other special process certifications
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Background in small crewed or uncrewed vehicle manufacturing
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Professional certifications (CQE, CMQ/OE, etc.)
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Previous work with government agencies or programs (NASA, DoD, etc.)
Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.
Adam Slade