Quality Manager - Materials Testing Laboratory & Inspection

American Drillpipe LLC; Chickasha (OK); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Job summary

American Drillpipe LLC in Chickasha, Oklahoma, seeks a hands-on Laboratory/Quality leader to establish our new testing and inspection capabilities. You will define the lab scope, procure equipment for Charpy, tensile, hardness, metallography, and chemistry testing, and implement inline NDE (MT/UT) with expert oversight.

You will write procedures aligned with API 5DP and ISO methods; build a traceable test-reporting framework, and drive accreditation readiness while recruiting and guiding

Qualifications

• Hands-on mechanical or materials testing experience (tensile, Charpy, hardness, metallurgy).
• Experience with magnetic particle and ultrasonic examination of pipe/tubular products or similar.
• Ability to commission, troubleshoot, and maintain lab/inspection equipment.
• Translate product specs and test methods into controlled procedures and records.

Responsibilities

• Stand up the laboratory: define scope, procure and install equipment, establish layout, and set up safety controls.
• Run the NDE program (MT/UT): standard references, calibration, and records; oversee in-house NDE with ASNT Level III oversight.
• Write system: develop procedures, test locations, conditioning, verification, and data integrity controls; aim for 17025 awareness.
• Own acceptance and lead the team: act as accountable authority for lab results; recruit, train, and lead technicians; integrate controls into API Q1.

Skills

Mechanical testing

Metals testing

NDE experience

Laboratory operations

Training personnel

Startup environment

Education

Experience in lab leadership

Tools

Charpy tester

UT equipment

Metallography equipment

Job description

Location: Chickasha, Oklahoma (on-site) · Type: Full-time

About ADP

American Drillpipe is a family-owned domestic drill pipe manufacturer building its manufacturing and quality systems around API Spec 5DP and API Spec Q1. We are constructing a dedicated laboratory and developing a full in-house materials-testing capability — Charpy V-notch impact, tensile, hardness, metallography, chemical composition, and specimen preparation — alongside a wet fluorescent MT and shear-wave UT inspection booth on our friction-weld line.

The role

This is a greenfield, hands-on leadership position.

What you'll do

Stand up the laboratory

• Define the laboratory scope and recommend which testing capabilities should be brought in-house versus retained with an outside laboratory, if any.
• Specify, evaluate, procure, install, and commission equipment for Charpy impact, tensile, hardness, metallography, chemical-composition testing, and specimen preparation
• Establish laboratory layout, sample flow, utilities, safety controls, tooling, fixtures, reference materials, and environmental requirements
• Develop and validate testing methods using representative specimens, certified reference materials, repeatability studies, and split-sample correlation with an independent laboratory

Run the NDE program (MT / UT)

• Commission and operate the in-line wet fluorescent MT and shear-wave UT booth — reference standards, equipment checks, calibration, performance verification, and inspection records
• Administer ADP's employer-based NDE program with technical oversight from our contracted ASNT Level III
• Support employee training, examinations, practical demonstrations, qualification records, and employer certification under ADP's written practice
• Manage the transition from contracted third-party inspection to in-house NDE release

Write the system

• Write controlled procedures and work instructions based on API 5DP and applicable ASTM or ISO methods
• Define specimen location, orientation, preparation, conditioning, dimensional verification, calculations, acceptance criteria, reporting, and retest handling
• Build the calibration, intermediate-verification, preventive-maintenance, and measurement-traceability program
• Establish sample identification, traceability, test-reporting, record-review, and data-integrity controls
• Write laboratory procedures 17025-aware so that accreditation remains a straightforward future step

Own acceptance and lead the team

• Serve as the accountable authority for laboratory results and inspection acceptance — including incoming acceptance, holds, and nonconformance disposition — reporting to the Director of Quality, who retains final product release
• Recruit, train, evaluate, and lead laboratory and inspection technicians; cross-train so neither function is single-pointed
• Integrate laboratory and NDE controls into the API Q1 quality management system
• Support internal audits, API certification and licensing audits, customer audits, investigations, and corrective actions

What you need

• Substantial hands-on experience in mechanical or materials testing — tensile, Charpy impact, hardness, metallography, or closely related metals testing
• Documentable hands-on experience with magnetic particle and ultrasonic examination of pipe, tubular products, welds, or similar components
• Experience commissioning, verifying, troubleshooting, or maintaining laboratory or inspection equipment
• Ability to turn product specifications and standardized test methods into controlled procedures, work instructions, forms, and records
• Technical records that withstand customer, regulatory, or third-party audit
• Ability to train personnel and objectively evaluate practical competency
• Comfortable working in a startup environment with very little existing structure, hands-on through program development and early production
• Full-time on-site in Chickasha, Oklahoma

Particularly valuable experience

• Drill pipe, OCTG, tubular products, friction welding, or oilfield manufacturing
• API Spec 5DP or API Spec Q1; ISO 9001 or ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory systems
• Current or previous employer certification to MT or UT Level II; ASNT NDT Level III certification
• Metallurgy, materials science, or welding engineering
• Optical emission spectroscopy and certified reference-material control
• Universal testing machines, extensometers, Charpy systems, hardness testers, and metallographic preparation
• Specimen machining, notching, dimensional inspection, and temperature conditioning
• Laboratory commissioning, method validation, or interlaboratory comparison programs
• ASQ certification or ISO 9001 Lead Auditor training

NDE qualification

American Drillpipe maintains an employer-based personnel qualification and certification program under its written practice, with technical oversight and examination support from a contracted ASNT Level III. Documented prior training, certification, and method-specific experience will be evaluated for allowable credit, and relevant qualifications will be reflected in the position level and compensation.

Benefits:

• Paid time off