Quality Management System (QMS) Manager

Reports to: VP/General Manager of Operations

Position Summary

The Quality Management System (QMS) Manager owns, maintains, and continually improves Rocket EMS’s AS9100-compliant Quality Management System. This role leads audit readiness, document control, quality system training, and cross-functional initiatives to ensure compliance with applicable standards, customer requirements, and regulatory obligations.

The QMS Manager provides strategic leadership to strengthen process consistency, drive accountability, and improve customer satisfaction within a complex, regulated electronics manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

QMS Ownership and Oversight

• Serve as the Management Representative for the AS9100D Quality Management System.

• Maintain and improve the QMS to ensure compliance with AS9100D, ISO 9001:2015, customer-specific flow-down requirements, and applicable regulatory and contractual requirements, including ITAR and DFARS.

• Lead management reviews and QMS performance reporting in accordance with AS9100 requirements, including Clauses 9 and 10.

• Provide QMS team members with the resources, guidance, and support needed to perform their responsibilities effectively.

Audit Management and Certification

• Plan and manage internal audits across all departments to verify compliance with QMS requirements.

• Train internal auditors and ensure audits are objective, thorough, and properly documented.

• Coordinate and represent the organization during third-party certification audits, customer audits, and regulatory inspections.

• Ensure timely closure of audit findings through documented root cause analysis, corrective actions, and effectiveness verification.

• Maintain Rocket EMS’s status in the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS).

Document Control and Compliance

• Manage the document control system, including procedures, work instructions, forms, and controlled records.

• Maintain document revision control, approval workflows, distribution, and quality record retention.

• Ensure QMS documentation remains aligned with engineering change order and engineering change notice (ECO/ECN) processes.

• Incorporate applicable customer quality clauses and requirements into controlled documentation and relevant QMS processes.

Continual Improvement and Risk Management

• Promote risk-based thinking and data-driven decision-making throughout the organization.

• Drive continual improvement through QMS enhancements, procedure standardization, and key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring.

• Lead or support root cause analysis and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) activities addressing system-level issues and recurring nonconformities.

• Monitor action effectiveness and ensure improvements are sustained.

Training and Quality Culture

• Develop and deliver training on QMS requirements, AS9100D, audit readiness, and employee quality responsibilities.

• Oversee training administration, maintain training records, and evaluate training effectiveness to support employee competence.

• Promote a proactive quality culture through clear expectations, cross-functional communication, and accountability.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Supply Chain, and other departments to align processes with QMS objectives.

• Support new product introduction (NPI), first article inspection (FAI/AS9102), and contract review activities to ensure applicable quality requirements are addressed.

• Perform other related duties as needed to support the quality assurance function.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, quality, industrial management, or a related technical discipline.

• At least five years of experience managing a QMS in an aerospace printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) or electronics contract manufacturing environment.

• Strong working knowledge of AS9100D, ISO 9001:2015, IPC-A-610, and aerospace industry compliance requirements.

• Demonstrated experience leading audits, maintaining quality system certification, and managing document control systems.

Preferred Qualifications and Certifications

• AS9100D Internal Auditor or Lead Auditor certification.

• IPC-A-610 or IPC-A-600 Certified IPC Trainer (CIT) certification.

• Familiarity with ITAR, DFARS, RoHS, REACH, and cybersecurity requirements such as NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC.

Key Skills and Attributes

• Strong attention to detail, particularly in documentation accuracy and revision control.

• Ability to interpret quality standards, customer requirements, and regulatory obligations and translate them into practical processes.

• Strong organizational, communication, and leadership skills, with the ability to influence across departments and drive accountability.

• Proficiency with QMS software, ERP systems, and Microsoft Office.

• Ability to lead initiatives and manage competing priorities in a high-mix, low-to-medium-volume, deadline-driven manufacturing environment.

ITAR/EAR Compliance: Due to the nature of the work performed at Rocket EMS, this position may require access to export-controlled technical data or technology. The successful candidate must be eligible to access such information under applicable U.S. export-control laws or be eligible for any required government authorization.

Rocket EMS will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the California Fair Chance Act. Candidates are not required to disclose criminal history or participate in a background check unless and until a conditional offer of employment has been made. Any final offer of employment may be conditioned on completion of a background check, consistent with applicable law.
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