Senior Hardware Quality Engineer

UANDWE, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

UANDWE, Inc. seeks a senior Consultant to design and implement quality and reliability systems enabling a production-scale AI datacenter product line. You will own QMS, RMA/field quality operations, and reliability metrics across teams.

Applicants should have 12+ years in quality/reliability engineering, ISO 9001 knowledge, and experience with Arena or Agile PLM; ASQ CQE/CRE preferred. This role targets significant impact in scaling hardware systems.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in Quality and/or Reliability Engineering with AI hardware/datacenter exposure.
• Proven track record building or restructuring QMS infrastructure at startup or scaling hardware.
• Strong command of quality tools: 8D, 5-Why, FMEA, SPC, CAPA.

Responsibilities

• Assist engineers in developing and documenting QMS processes, including control plans and work instructions.
• Maintain quality documentation and audit-ready records.
• Design end-to-end RMA and reverse logistics with ownership, workflows, and SLAs.
• Build FA governance with intake, escalation, closure criteria, and closed-loop feedback.
• Collaborate with product, architecture, HW/SW and Operations to drive fault-tolerant AI datacenter systems.
• Define KPIs and implement dashboards and cadences for leadership visibility.

Skills

Quality & Reliability

AI hardware

Datacenter systems

PCBA

PCIe cards

Server platforms

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, or related field

Advanced degree a plus

Tools

Arena

Agile

ERP systems

Job description

Title: Consultant, Product Quality & Reliability Engineering – AI Systems

The Role:

Seeking a senior Quality & Reliability Engineering consultant to establish the foundational quality and reliability systems that will enable our transition from early product validation into production scale and customer shipments. The right individual brings deep hardware quality expertise and the hands‑on capability to design, implement, and hand off durable QMS infrastructure — across quality management, field operations, product reliability, and metrics.

What you will do:

QMS Implementation & Maintenance

• Assist engineers in developing and documenting QMS processes, including Control Plans, Work Instructions, and process flows.
• Maintain quality documentation and records to ensure ongoing audit readiness.

RMA & Field Quality Operations

• Design and implement the end-to-end RMA and reverse logistics process, establishing clear ownership, workflows, and SLAs.
• Build failure analysis (FA) governance covering intake procedures, escalation paths, closure criteria, and closed‑loop feedback into design and manufacturing.

Product Reliability

• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, HW/SW Engineering, and Operations stakeholders to drive development of fault‑tolerant systems meeting AI datacenter availability requirements.

Metrics & Reporting

• Define the key quality KPIs and metrics appropriate to this stage of the company — yield, DPPM, RMA rates, MTBF actuals vs. targets, and CAPA closure rate.
• Operationalize quality metrics measurement, reporting, and continuous improvement by implementing dashboards and reporting cadences that give leadership clear visibility into quality performance.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, or a related technical field; advanced degree a plus.
• 12+ years in Quality and/or Reliability Engineering with demonstrated experience in AI hardware, datacenter systems, PCBA, PCIe cards, or server platform environments.
• Proven track record building or significantly restructuring QMS infrastructure at a startup or scaling‑stage hardware company.
• Strong command of quality tools: 8D, 5-Why, FMEA, SPC, Control Plans, and CAPA management.
• Familiarity with reliability engineering fundamentals: MTBF modeling, Reliability Demonstration Testing (RDT), and Ongoing Reliability Testing (ORT) program management.
• ISO 9001 knowledge with audit experience; ability to build and maintain audit‑ready documentation.
• Experience with PLM tools such as Arena or Agile; familiarity with ERP systems a plus.
• ASQ Certification (CQE or CRE) strongly preferred.
• Strong cross‑functional communication and collaboration skills — able to drive alignment across Engineering, Operations, and Program Management without direct authority.