Quality Manager

Syos Aerospace; Fareham; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

SYOS is establishing a new UK production facility and seeks a hands-on Quality Manager to design and implement the quality system from scratch across wire harness manufacture and assembly.

You will work with NZ teams to translate NPI into production-ready quality processes, lead a growing quality team, and embed quality into every production stage, ensuring traceability, inspection, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Hands-on production quality experience in complex assembly/manufacturing.
• Experience building a quality function/systems from the ground up.
• Strong knowledge of ISO 9001:2015 and audit cycles.
• PFMEA experience with linkage to Control Plans.
• Experience across multiple production streams/complex manufacturing.
• FAI, PPAP, calibration management, NCR/CAPA processes.
• Proven people leadership: recruiting, training, development.
• Self-starter mindset: build systems, own issues.
• Strong cross-functional communication.

Responsibilities

• Review the NPI handover package and identify production readiness requirements.
• Confirm MBOM-to-EBOM alignment before production begins.
• Own the open issues register through to closure before PTR.
• Facilitate PFMEA reviews and link controls to the Control Plan.
• Author and approve Control Plans with traceability to PFMEA.
• Establish the site QMS aligned with ISO 9001 and SOPs; own hold points and quality controls.
• Implement QA infrastructure: records, inspection, calibration registers, NCR processes.
• Define quality team structure and oversee harness quality requirements.
• Lead FAI for new parts and own PPAP end-to-end.
• Lead Production Trial Run in collaboration with Production/ME.
• Own NCR management and CAPA; coordinate with SQE for supplier quality.
• Obtain and maintain ISO 9001:2015 certification and support AS9100 progression.

Skills

Quality management

ISO 9001

PFMEA

NPI handover

QA systems

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Job description

About SYOS

SYOS designs and manufactures advanced uncrewed systems across air, land, sea, and subsurface domains. We combine intelligent engineering, AI-driven autonomy, and innovative design to create next-generation vehicles operating in some of the world's most challenging environments.

Our mission is to extend human capability, protect people, and deliver operational advantage through accessible, scalable, and intelligent autonomous technology.

Join a team of engineers, builders, and innovators pushing boundaries and solving real-world challenges across robotics, aerospace, and autonomy.

About the Role

This is an opportunity to build something from the ground up.

As Quality Manager, you will lead the quality function at SYOS's new UK production facility, reporting to the Head of Quality in New Zealand. You will establish the site's quality system from scratch across wire harness manufacture, full product assembly, and any additional in-house production streams required by the final product architecture.

Working closely with the NZ engineering and quality teams, you will take the NPI handover package and turn it into a practical, production-ready quality system. As the facility grows, you will also build and lead the quality team, ensuring quality is embedded into every stage of production.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys building systems, solving problems on the shop floor, and making things happen in a fast-moving manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Review the NPI handover package from NZ, including DFMEA, preliminary PFMEA, Control Plan, FAI plan, supplier quality requirements, assembly sequences, and open issues, and identify what is required to make the package production ready.
• Confirm the CDR Allocated Baseline, FCA/PCA, and MBOM-to-EBOM alignment before production begins.
• Own the open issues register through to closure ahead of the Production Trial Run (PTR).
• Facilitate PFMEA reviews for each production stream, challenging ratings and ensuring PFMEA controls are appropriately linked to the Control Plan.
• Author and approve Control Plans across all production streams and acceptance testing, ensuring traceability to PFMEA detection controls.
• Establish the site QMS from the ground up, aligned with SYOS's global ISO 9001 QMS structure and relevant SOPs and own quality hold points and stream-specific quality controls across harness manufacture, product assembly, and any additional production streams.
• Implement the site's quality infrastructure, including records, inspection processes, calibration registers, Special Process Register, NCR processes, incoming goods inspection, and traceability systems.
• Define the quality team structure as the factory scales, including recruitment, onboarding, training, and development and oversee harness quality requirements including crimping, pull testing, and continuity testing in accordance with IPC/WHMA-A-620.
• Execute First Article Inspection (FAI) for new parts and own the PPAP process end-to-end, including supplier submissions, capability data, registers, and exceptions.
• Lead the Production Trial Run in collaboration with Production and Manufacturing Engineering.
• Own site NCR management and CAPA, while working with the Supplier Quality Engineer to oversee supplier quality standards and corrective actions.
• Obtain and maintain ISO 9001:2015 certification and support the site's progression towards AS9100.

What You'll Bring

• Hands-on production quality experience within a complex assembly or manufacturing environment, including experience with shop-floor quality, hold points, build records, and NCRs.
• Experience establishing a quality function or system from the ground up, including Control Plans, PFMEA, inspection processes, and special process qualification.
• Strong working knowledge of ISO 9001:2015 and practical experience with audit cycles and implementation.
• Demonstrated PFMEA experience, with the ability to develop, challenge, and link production PFMEAs to Control Plans.
• Experience managing quality across multiple production streams or complex manufacturing activities.
• Hands-on experience with FAI, PPAP, calibration management, NCR and CAPA processes.
• Proven people leadership experience, including recruiting, training, and developing quality team members.
• A self-starter mindset — you're comfortable building systems, solving problems, and taking ownership without waiting for someone else to provide the answer.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across functions and influence without formal authority.

Nice to Have

• Experience within aerospace, defence, aviation, or uncrewed systems manufacturing.
• Familiarity with AS9100 and/or AQAP-2110.
• Experience working to IPC/WHMA-A-620 standards and/or CMM operation.
• Experience with engine or complex mechanical assembly quality.
• Experience receiving an NPI handover package and translating it into a production-ready quality system.
• Production Trial Run or new production line qualification experience.
• CQI, CQE, or equivalent quality qualification.

Why SYOS?

You'll be joining SYOS at an exciting stage of its growth, with the opportunity to establish the quality function for a new UK production facility and directly influence how products are built, tested, and released.

This is more than maintaining an existing quality system — you'll build it, lead it, and help shape the standards that underpin the next generation of autonomous systems.