Quality Engineer

Terry Parris Associates; Marden; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

TPA Recruit is supporting an established engineering manufacturer in Kent to appoint a hands-on Quality Engineer on a predominantly on-site contract basis. You will handle production and supplier quality, root-cause investigations, and practical continuous improvement alongside engineering and production teams.

The role focuses on developing quality standards, audits, and documentation; experience with control plans and core tools is essential, with SAP experience required.

Qualifications

• Quality engineering experience in manufacturing or engineering.
• Experience in root-cause investigation, corrective action and problem solving.
• Familiar with control plans, SPC, FMEA, MSA, PPAP, APQP and 8D.
• SAP experience in a manufacturing environment is required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement quality standards and QC systems across manufacturing.
• Monitor quality performance, KPIs and defect trends.
• Inspect and test materials, equipment, processes and products against defined quality requirements.
• Investigate product and production issues and drive corrective actions and sustainable improvements.
• Work closely with Production, Engineering, Sales and Purchasing to build quality into processes and products.
• Create and maintain work instructions, control plans and other quality/process documentation.
• Chair quality improvement meetings and ensure improvement actions are documented and progressed using PDCA.
• Create internal and external audit plans, conduct audits and support supplier audit activity.
• Work with suppliers to improve quality performance and close identified gaps.
• Promote a strong quality culture and lead by example across the manufacturing environment.

Skills

Quality engineering

Root-cause investigation

Structured problem solving

Communication skills

Tools

SAP

Job description

Quality Engineer

Location: Marden, Kent

Contract: Full-time contract position

Working pattern: Predominantly on-site, supporting manufacturing operations

TPA Recruit is supporting an established engineering manufacturer in the appointment of an experienced Quality Engineer on a contract basis. The position is focused on production and supplier quality, structured problem solving, corrective action, auditing and practical continuous improvement.

The role would suit a hands-on Quality Engineer who is comfortable working directly with production and engineering teams, can investigate defects to root cause and has strong knowledge of recognised quality core tools.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement quality standards and quality control systems across manufacturing operations.
• Monitor and analyse quality performance, KPIs and defect trends to identify improvement priorities.
• Inspect and test materials, equipment, processes and products against defined quality requirements.
• Investigate product and production issues and drive effective corrective actions and sustainable improvements.
• Work closely with Production, Engineering, Sales and Purchasing to build quality into processes and products.
• Create and maintain work instructions, control plans and other quality/process documentation.
• Chair quality improvement meetings and ensure improvement actions are documented and progressed using PDCA.
• Create internal and external audit plans, conduct audits and support supplier audit activity.
• Work with suppliers to improve quality performance and close identified gaps.
• Promote a strong quality culture and lead by example across the manufacturing environment.

Skills and Experience

• Previous Quality Engineering experience within manufacturing or engineering.
• Practical experience of root-cause investigation, corrective action and structured problem solving.
• Good knowledge of Control Plans, SPC, FMEA, MSA, PPAP, APQP and 8D.
• Experience creating quality/process documentation and supporting production teams.
• Internal, external or supplier auditing experience would be strongly advantageous.
• Ability to analyse defects and quality data, identify trends and convert findings into practical actions.
• SAP experience in a manufacturing environment is required for this contract assignment.
• Confident communicator able to work effectively with Production, Engineering, Purchasing, suppliers and customers.

Why Join This Business?

• Immediate contract opportunity within an established UK engineering manufacturer.
• Hands-on role with direct impact on product, process and supplier quality.
• Broad exposure across production, engineering, purchasing and supplier quality activity.
• Opportunity to use the full quality core-tool set in a practical manufacturing environment.
• Competitive estimated rate of £35.00-£40.00 per hour depending on experience