Lead Quality Specialist (Inside IR35)

NES Group Ltd; Rugby; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

NES Group Ltd is seeking a Lead Quality Specialist (Inside IR35) for Rugby to lead the Production Quality function and develop Quality Engineers and Inspectors. Candidates must be able to obtain SC clearance.

You will own governance, GO/NO GO decisions, inspection strategy, and KPI dashboards, partnering with Operations to embed quality at source and drive continuous improvement. This senior role requires engineering, manufacturing, or quality degree and UK security clearance; full UK passport

Qualifications

• Engineering, Manufacturing or Quality degree / equivalent experience.
• UK security clearance is required or obtainable.
• Full UK Passport holder required.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop Quality Engineers, Production Inspectors and Receiving Inspection teams.
• Own governance including GO/NO GO decision-making processes and Quality Hold governance.
• Develop inspection strategies based on product risk and ensure product conformity.
• Balance quality assurance with operational efficiency to support production flow.
• Drive continuous improvement through Lean, Kaizen and digital quality reporting.

Skills

Leadership

Quality management

Stakeholder management

SAP

Education

Engineering/Quality degree

Tools

Quality Suite

SAP

Job description

Role - Lead Quality Specialist (Inside IR35)

Location - Rugby

Candidates either already need SC clearance or need to be able to obtain it

Lead Production Quality :

Provide day-to-day leadership of the Production Quality organisation

Lead and develop Quality Engineers, Production Inspectors and Receiving Inspection teams

Establish a high-performance culture built around accountability, coaching and continuous improvement

Build capability through objectives, development planning and performance managementDrive Manufacturing Quality :

Lead and develop Quality Engineers, Production Inspectors and Receiving Inspection teams

Develop and optimise inspection strategies based on product risk

Support production flow by balancing quality assurance with operational efficiency

Own Operational Governance :

• Lead daily production quality governance
• Own GO / NO GO decision-making processes
• Lead Quality Hold governance and escalation
• Drive Layered Process Audit deployment
• Develop standard work and visual management across production

Purpose :

Leads all production quality activities across manufacturing, ensuring product conformity, inspection effectiveness, governance, customer confidence and operational quality performance

Production Quality :

• Production quality performance
• Daily quality governance
• Quality resource planning
• Product conformity
• Inspection strategy
• FAT & pre-FAT readiness
• Customer quality interface

Leadership : QE Inspection team

• Receiving Inspection team
• Quality Engineer team
• Apprentices & graduates
• Daily Quality meetings
• Weekly Quality Review
• Monthly RMR Quality Dashboard
• Production RCA weekly review

RMR Customers :

• FATs
• Production audits
• Production escapes
• Production complaints
• Production recoveries

Continous Improvement :

• Inspection improvements
• Lean & Kaizen improvements
• Digital Quality reporting systems
• Process automation
• AI innovation
• Lessons learnt
• Mistake Proofing
• Visual Management

Production Quality Manager : Governance and KPI Ownership

Governance :

• APQP application
• GO / NO GO process
• Quality Hold process
• Layered Process Audits
• Inspection strategy
• Quality Suite & SAP
• Visual Management
• Technical pack adherence
• Escalations
• Global Audit system
• Quality maturity framework
• Calibration
• Quality documentation control KPI Ownership :

KPI Ownership :

• Customer Escapes
• Internal NCRs
• Product COPQ
• Inspection OTIF
• Inspection Backlog
• Quality Holds
• First Past Yield
• Audit Finding Completion
• Layered Audit Completion
• Calibration Compliance
• Document Compliance

Expected outcome: visible ownership across customer escapes, internal NCRs, COPQ, inspection delivery, holds, audits, calibration and document control.

Production Quality Manager : Performance and Capability

Operational performance, compliance, experience and career proposition

Delivery Operational Performance

• Customer Escapes
• Internal Escapes
• Product COPQ
• Inspection OTIF
• Inspection Backlog
• Quality Holds
• Production Area Audit Completion
• Layered Audit Completion
• Calibration Compliance
• Documentation Compliance

Lead Continuous Improvement

• Drive Lean Quality initiatives
• Eliminate recurring defects through structured Root Cause Analysis
• Improve process capability and manufacturing robustness
• Introduce digital quality tools and performance reporting
• Reduce waste and non-value-added inspection activity

Compliance & Quality Systems

• Maintain compliance with the QMS
• Ensure manufacturing processes comply with internal standards and regulatory requirements
• Support audits
• Drive corrective and preventive action implementation

Build Quality into Manufacturing

• Partner with Operations to embed quality at source
• Support Engineering during NPI and manufacturing changes
• Improve defect prevention through robust process controls
• Keep inspection risk-based and value focused

What you'll bring

• Engineering, Manufacturing or Quality degree / equivalent experience
• UK security clearance.
• Full UK Passport holder.

Manufacturing quality leadership.

ISO 9001, RCA, CAPA, Lean and KPI management

Stakeholder management and problem solving

With over 90 years' combined experience, NES Fircroft (NES) is proud to be the world's leading engineering staffing provider spanning the Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables, Chemicals, Construction & Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Mining and Manufacturing sectors worldwide. With more than 80 offices in 45 countries, we are able to provide our clients with the engineering and technical expertise they need, wherever and whenever it is needed. We offer contractors far more than a traditional recruitment service, supporting with everything from securing visas and work permits, to providing market-leading benefits packages and accommodation, ensuring they are safely and compliantly able to support our clients