Senior Principal Quality Engineer

About this role

***Active DoD Security Clearance Preferred***
***US Citizenship Required***
***NO VISA SUPPORT or C2C***
Primary Function
Long Wave Inc. is seeking a Senior Principal Quality Engineer – Program Quality Assurance (PRQA) to support program execution, contractual quality compliance, and Quality Management System (QMS) activities within an aerospace and defense environment.
Essential Responsibilities
Program Quality Assurance & Contractual Compliance

• Serve as lead PRQA for assigned programs, providing quality oversight throughout program development, production, testing, integration, and acceptance.

• Review and analyze contracts, Statements of Work (SOW), Supplier Quality Assurance Requirements (SQAR), purchase orders, specifications, and other customer requirements to identify quality obligations, compliance gaps, and risks.

• Develop and maintain program quality plans, contractual quality requirements matrices, compliance documentation, and associated program quality records.

• Identify contractual quality concerns and coordinate recommended clarifications, exceptions, or resolutions with Contracts, Program Management, and other responsible organizations.

• Coordinate with program and functional teams to ensure quality requirements are incorporated into program planning, schedules, technical activities, and deliverables.

• Review technical documentation, design changes, inspection and test requirements, and contractual deliverables for applicable quality compliance.

• Support program design reviews, technical reviews, production readiness activities, verification, testing, and customer acceptance.

• Coordinate applicable First Article Inspection (FAI), source inspection, product verification, and acceptance requirements with responsible functional organizations.

• Support supplier quality oversight, contractual quality flowdowns, nonconformance resolution, and corrective action activities in coordination with Supply Chain Management and Hardware Quality Assurance.

• Review and coordinate Quality Assurance inputs and approvals for contractual deliverables, including applicable SDRLs/CDRLs.

• Identify, document, communicate, and track program quality risks, nonconformances, corrective actions, and compliance concerns through resolution.

• Support nonconformance reporting, Material Review Board (MRB) activities, root cause analysis, and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) processes.

• Interface with customer and government quality representatives to support program reviews, inspections, audits, and quality issue resolution.

• Develop and report program quality metrics, compliance status, risks, trends, and corrective action performance.

• Serve as QA Control Account Manager (CAM) for assigned program, supporting budget and resource planning, ETC/EAC forecasting, cost and schedule performance monitoring, variance analysis, and applicable EVMS reporting requirements.

Senior Technical Quality Leadership

• Serve as a senior technical resource for complex aerospace and defense quality engineering, customer quality requirements, and compliance matters across the organization.

• Provide technical guidance and recommendations to Quality Assurance, Engineering, Program Management, Operations, Supply Chain Management, and other functional organizations.

• Lead or support complex cross-functional quality investigations, risk assessments, and improvement initiatives.

• Evaluate existing quality processes, systems, and controls; recommend and implement improvements to strengthen compliance, effectiveness, and operational performance.

• Provide technical mentoring, coaching, and knowledge transfer to quality personnel and other functional stakeholders.

• Advise Quality leadership on complex quality concerns, technical risks, and opportunities for improvement.

QMS Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Support implementation, sustainment, and continual improvement of the AS9100/ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

• Support QMS process improvements, digital quality management applications, and associated workflows, including TipQA/TipSFE, as assigned.

• Participate in internal, customer, and certification audits, including objective evidence reviews, corrective actions, and follow-up activities.

• Support integration of program-specific contractual quality requirements into established QMS processes and controls.

• Perform other assigned QA and QMS support activities based on department priorities.

Work Conditions

• Remote or on-site work arrangement based on business needs and position requirements.

• Occasional travel may be required in support of program, customer, supplier, QMS, audit, or inspection activities.

• Remote employees must be able to perform assigned duties and access authorized company systems in accordance with company and contractual requirements.

Minimum Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship required.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Mathematics, or a related technical discipline with a minimum of 12 years of relevant experience; graduate degree with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience; or 16 years of directly related experience in lieu of a degree.

• Mastery-level knowledge of quality engineering, program quality assurance, contractual quality requirements, and related disciplines.

• Extensive experience in aerospace, defense, or similarly regulated industries performing quality engineering, program quality assurance, or related quality functions.

• Demonstrated experience reviewing, interpreting, and implementing complex contractual, customer, technical, and regulatory quality requirements.

• Advanced knowledge of AS9100 and/or ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and applicable aerospace/defense quality practices.

• Experience developing or implementing program quality plans, contractual requirements matrices, compliance verification activities, and associated quality documentation.

• Demonstrated…