Program Quality Engineer

Apera; Vermont; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Apera, a US-based electric aviation manufacturer, is seeking a Program Quality Engineer to join the Customer Quality team and shape how the next aircraft are built, drawing on lessons from ongoing programmes.

You’ll lead customer quality discussions, drive corrective actions, and coordinate across engineering, manufacturing and production to prevent defects and ensure robust builds using APQP, PFMEA and PPAP methodologies across programmes.

Qualifications

• Engineering degree and hands-on quality experience in aerospace hardware.
• Experience representing Quality with customers on technical issues.
• Led an aerospace improvement project, with stakeholder buy-in and verifiable results.
• Structured root cause analysis, engineering drawings, GD&T and inspection data.
• Familiarity with AS9100D and FAA Part 21; APQP, PFMEA or PPAP experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer quality discussions, explain technical findings, and agree corrective actions.
• Coordinate with engineering, manufacturing and production teams to own and drive a plan across functions.
• Shape how new hardware enters production using APQP, PFMEA and control plans to identify risks.
• Measure success on the manufacturing floor through fewer defects and more consistent builds.

Skills

Customer quality discussions

Cross-functional collaboration

Leadership across functions

Root cause analysis

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

APQP

PFMEA

PPAP

GD&T

Job description

Program Quality Engineer | Electric Aviation

Full time

Apera is partnering with a US-based electric aviation manufacturer whose aircraft have already completed thousands of flights. As the business expands into more aircraft programmes, it’s hiring a Program Quality Engineer to help shape how the next aircraft are built, drawing on what customers, engineers and technicians are learning from the ones already flying.

You’ll join a Customer Quality team and work alongside an established Program Quality Engineers from day one and lead projects of your own. It’s a chance to stay close to the hardware while having a say in decisions that reach beyond a single part, production line or programme.

What you’ll own

Say a customer flags a component that keeps coming back for rework. You’ll hear the issue firsthand, review the drawings and inspection data, and walk the process with the people building it. You’ll bring design and manufacturing together to agree a fix, then follow subsequent builds to see whether it holds. When you go back to the customer, you’ll be able to show them exactly what changed. And if another programme uses the same process, you’ll have the scope to prevent the problem there too.

Across your projects, you’ll:

• Lead customer quality discussions, explain technical findings and agree corrective actions.
• Bring engineering, manufacturing and production teams together around a plan you own. This is an individual contributor role with real responsibility for leading people across functions.
• Shape how new hardware enters production using APQP, process FMEAs and control plans to identify risks early.
• Measure success on the manufacturing floor through fewer repeat defects, less rework and more consistent builds.

What you’ll bring

• An engineering degree and hands-on quality experience with aerospace hardware.
• Direct experience representing Quality with customers on technical issues.
• An aerospace improvement project you’ve personally led, including how you got people on board and verified the result.
• Practical experience with structured root cause analysis, engineering drawings, GD&T and inspection data.
• Working knowledge of AS9100D and familiarity with FAA Part 21 requirements. Hands-on APQP, PFMEA or PPAP experience would strengthen your application.

If you’ve already led quality across a programme, there’s room here to apply that experience across several. If you’re in customer or manufacturing quality and ready for that next step, we’d like to hear about the project that shows you’re ready.