Principal Quality Assurance Engineer

MBDA; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

Pension benefits

Overtime

Flexi leave

Flexible working

Enhanced parental leave

Site facilities

Job summary

MBDA is seeking a Quality professional to join the Quality Assurance programmes team in Bristol. The role focuses on mitigating quality risks in the supply chain and ensuring product quality from development to production, with hybrid working 2–3 days on-site.

The successful candidate will support customer requirements, drive improvements, and manage non-conformances across the project while benefiting from MBDA’s generous benefits and career development opportunities.

Qualifications

• Experience with quality management systems, techniques and processes.
• Practical knowledge of non-conformance management process and SAP.
• Ideally an HNC/HND level qualification in Engineering or Quality Assurance.

Responsibilities

• Mitigate quality issues/risks within the supply chain to protect project milestones and deliverables.
• Assure supplier industrial validation activities for a smooth move from development to production.
• Improve customer satisfaction by addressing quality issues and root causes.
• Identify and support improvements in supplier performance and processes.
• Manage non-conformances across the project, including investigations and reporting to management and customers.
• Support Product Life Cycle Gate reviews and ensure timely closure of actions.
• Certify and release products to customers in line with contract requirements.
• Identify and share opportunities for business improvement through Learning Reviews.

Skills

Quality management

Non-conformance management

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Risk assessment

Education

HNC/HND in Engineering or Quality Assurance

Tools

SAP

Job description

Bristol

Bristol

An opportunity has arisen for a Quality professional to join the Quality Assurance programmes team!

Salary

Circa £50,000 depending on experience

Dynamic (hybrid) working

2-3 days per week on-site due to workload classification

Security Clearance

British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship. Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

What we can offer you

• Company bonus: Up to £2,500 (based on company performance and will vary year to year)
• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Overtime: opportunity for paid overtime
• Flexi Leave: Up to 15 additional days
• Flexible working: We welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements
• Enhanced parental leave: offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave -enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments
• Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…

The opportunity

In this role, your primary responsibility will be to provide quality assurance support to the manufacturing team to help achieve ramp up and offload, while ensuring adherence to our Customer requirements. If you wish to take on a fresh challenge, then come and join our team as we commence our journey through the series production.

Main purpose of role

• Mitigate quality issues/risks within the supply chain for potential to risk project milestone achievement or quality of deliverables.
• Provide assurance the of the Supplier Industrial Validation activities to ensure an effective transition from development to the production phase.
• Improve Customer Satisfaction on quality related issues.
• Identify and provide support to improve Supplier performance.
• Ensure effective management of non-conformances across the Project including supporting engineering teams with defect investigations. Provide non-conformance data analysis and summary reports into engineering/senior management and customer reviews.
• Support delivery of the Product Life Cycle Gate review process, ensuring gates are undertaken to schedule, and timely closure of actions.
• Certify and release product to our customer in accordance with the contractual requirements.
• Identify and share opportunities for business improvement through participation in Learning Reviews.
• Undertake root cause analysis of critical non-conformances using industry wide problem solving methods.

Additional role responsibilities

• Ensure adequate flow-down of Quality requirements to Suppliers according to programme requirements. Review and agree contractual deliverables including the Supplier Project Quality Plan.
• Conduct risk based surveillance planning and monitoring against the Suppliers contracted Quality requirements with the aim of reducing project risk.
• Conduct product acceptance
• Manage and implement the project non-conformance process on Supplier related non-conformances. Ensure timely implementation of corrective action and closure.
• Identify Quality issues/risks within the supply chain as potential risks for project milestone achievement, and for quality of deliverables. Act as the Quality interface to work with the Supplier to mitigate & offer potential solutions.
• Provide an independent quality assurance view at Supplier design reviews, progress reviews.
• Identify and share opportunities for business improvement through participation in Learning Reviews.

What we're looking for from you

• Engineer with experience of quality management systems, techniques and processes.
• Practical knowledge of non-conformance management process and SAP business tool.
• Ideally HNC/HND level qualification with experience within Engineering or Quality Assurance.
• Excellent communication & interpersonal skills – an ability to influence change.
• Experience of working within project environment and able to operate effectively as part of project team.
• Ability to identify risks and critical issues and drive forward suitable mitigation solutions with the aim of reducing rework and increasing Customer satisfaction.
• Ability to understand and respect cultural differences.

Our company: Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given

MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom.

We are proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity, Disability and more…

We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process.

Follow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), X (@MBDA_UK), Instagram (MBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information.