Quality Assurance Manager

Sekai Electronics, Inc. which was founded in 1982 is a leading provider of highly rugged video cameras, modules and systems focused on serving the needs of the Aerospace and Defense Markets worldwide with facilities in Irvine, CA, the Silicon Valley and Hamburg, Germany. We are looking for an experienced hands‑on Quality Assurance Manager to join our team.

The Quality Assurance Manager will be responsible for a variety of Quality functions at the Irvine, CA and San Jose, CA sites. The role supports quality engineering requirements for new product development activities, customer quality approvals, incoming quality inspection, production support and continuous improvement efforts ensuring continued certification to AS9100, ISO
9001 and Department of Defense (DOD) Regulations. This position will also function as primary liaison for various customers to resolve quality issues, ensure appropriate flow down of quality requirements, enable positive channels of communication, and ensure customer satisfaction, i.e. maintain an effective corrective/preventive action system for internal and external problems. The ideal candidate will be a strong problem‑solving engineer with hands‑on experience implementing best practices to provide high quality products to our customers.

The ideal candidate will resolve quality issues via structured quality methods to ensure efficient and effective root cause analysis, and corrective/ preventive actions. This position reports to the VP of Quality and Process Improvement.

• Manage the Quality function at the Irvine, CA and San Jose, CA sites under the direction of the VP of Quality and Process Improvement
• Timely problem identification & resolution of production line work stoppages to support customer on time deliveries.
• Drive a culture of building quality into the product from the start.
• Lead teams in areas of quality management/operational excellence in a high mix, medium volume manufacturing environment
• Perform incoming inspection of raw materials and review of outgoing product
• Represent Quality Engineering on new product development teams and smoothly transition new designs into production.
• Support corporate financial objectives through management of the Cost of Non‑Conformances (Scrap/Warranty)
• Communicate with customers and US Government quality representatives on quality items. Form positive/productive customer relationships based on data and continual improvement.
• Perform contract reviews for new customers/products by reviewing customer purchase orders, product/quality specifications and any other documentation to ensure delivered products meets or exceeds customer expectations.
• Maintain and improve the quality management system (QMS) by flowing down customer/government quality clauses & requirements into internal procedures, i.e. a sustainable QMS that supports company objectives via ISO 9001/AS 9100 certifications.
• Review Engineering Orders and participate in new design product/design review to ensure quality requirements are identified and captured in appropriate documentation.
• Develop, prepare and implement Quality Program and Testing Plans for new and existing customers and products.
• Manage environmental and EMI testing internally and at external labs
• Function as primary liaison for various customers to resolve quality issues, ensure appropriate flow down of quality requirements, enable positive channels of communication, and ensure customer satisfaction.
• Coordinate customer evaluations for reported product failures or other complaints and assist in corrective action.
• Participate in MRB activities, provide guidance with customer MRB requirements and lead corrective action.
• Manage internal and external quality audits and report status of QMS compliance to management.
• Help lead cross‑functional teams to implement Operational Excellence Initiatives using Lean and/or Six‑Sigma techniques
• Provide status of internal and external corrective actions, ensure responses are adequate to prevent recurrence of nonconformance and report progress to management.

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering,…