Senior Product Quality Engineer

NightDragon Acquisition Corp.; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 113,600 - 130,800; Full time

Job summary

NightDragon Acquisition Corp. is seeking a Senior Product Quality Engineer to manage product quality from design to production. You will oversee quality assurance processes while working collaboratively across teams to identify risks and drive improvement initiatives. The ideal candidate should have a BS degree in Engineering, 5+ years of relevant experience, and expertise in quality management standards. A salary range of $113,600 — $130,800 USD is offered for this position in California.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of quality, manufacturing, or engineering experience in aerospace/defense or regulated industries.
• Experience managing nonconformances and driving corrective actions.
• Knowledge of ISO 9001 and AS9100 standards.

Responsibilities

• Develop quality assurance processes and procedures in compliance with standards.
• Lead non-conformance investigations and corrective actions.
• Manage field quality issues and collaborate with teams.

Skills

Geometric dimensioning and tolerances

Cross-functional team leadership

Quality management system standards

Data analysis

Good communication skills

Education

BS degree in Engineering

Tools

Oracle ERP

Quality Management Software

Job description

About Epirus

Epirus is a high-growth technology company dedicated to overcoming asymmetric challenges inherent to the future of national security. Epirus' flagship product, Leonidas, is a software-defined system built using intelligent power management techniques which allow power-hungry systems to do more with less.

Job Summary:

Senior Product Quality Engineer – an exciting role with an innovative, high-growth defense technology company. The ideal candidate for the position is agile, collaborative, and results oriented with experience overseeing product quality from design to production for complex electromechanical assemblies. This role is responsible for managing in-house nonconformances, field issues, and program/customer-facing quality flowdowns while ensuring alignment with contractual and regulatory requirements. This position also leads the development, tracking, and trending of key quality metrics to enable data‑driven decision making and continuous improvement.

Partnering cross‑functionally with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and suppliers, this role proactively identifies risks, implements robust quality practices, and ensures scalable, compliant product delivery.

Responsibilities:

• Develop, implement, and maintain quality assurance processes, plans, and procedures in compliance with AS9100, customer, and internal Quality Management System requirements.
• Lead non-conformance investigations, corrective actions, root cause analysis, MRB activities, product/process audits, and inspection/test capability analysis.
• Lead implementation and adoption of advanced quality mechanisms in the product development process to drive production readiness.
• Identify potential risks to product/program success and assist in the development of mitigation strategies.
• Manage field quality issues, including failure investigations, customer communication, and timely closure of corrective actions.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and engineering to drive system wide quality initiatives to meet quality and reliability objectives.
• Interpret and implement customer and program-specific quality flowdowns, ensuring compliance across internal teams and suppliers.
• Support internal and external audits and inspections from customers, regulatory bodies, and certification agencies.
• Develop, implement, and maintain product quality metrics (e.g., yield, defect rates, escapes, field returns), including dashboards and trend analysis.
• Support and lead product qualification, first‑article inspection (FAI), and verification/validation efforts with test engineering.
• Review and analyze test data, inspection reports, and non‑conformance reports to ensure product integrity.
• Prepare quality reports, metrics, and presentations for leadership and customers as needed.

Basic Qualifications:

• BS degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of quality, manufacturing, or engineering experience working in aerospace/defense or other regulated and/or high reliability industries. Commercial electronics experience working on complex applications is suitable as well.
• Knowledge of geometric dimensioning and tolerances, design review, configuration management and quality management of complex electromechanical assemblies.
• Experience leading cross‑functional teams to solve internal/external quality issues, drive continual improvement initiatives, and facilitate adoption of quality requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
• Demonstrated experience managing nonconformances (MRB) and driving corrective actions.
• Knowledge of quality management system standards such as ISO 9001, AS9100, and/or other similar standards.
• Strong experience developing and analyzing quality metrics and using data to drive decisions.
• Experience working with customer or program quality requirements and flowdowns.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and drive improvements in a fast‑paced start‑up environment.

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Certifications such as ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Auditor, Lean Six Sigma, or IPC standards are a plus.
• Experience with Oracle ERP and QMS software implementation/execution.
• Working knowledge of hardware‑enabled software design, test, and release practices.
• Experience in the Aerospace/Defense industry working with highly technical electromechanical assemblies and tests. Knowledge of IPC and MIL‑STD specifications.
• Experience developing and implementing APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) elements such as Production Part Approval Processes (PPAP), Control Plans, PFMEA, Process Flow Diagrams, and Measurement Capability Analysis in a quality management system.
• Experience in a startup or high‑growth environment building or scaling quality processes.
• Knowledge of reliability engineering, environmental/qualification testing, and failure analysis techniques.
• Proficiency with data analysis and visualization tools (e.g., Excel, Tableau, Power BI, or similar) for KPI tracking and reporting.

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 10% as needed.

ITAR Requirements:

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

As required by the Equal Pay Transparency Act, Epirus provides a reasonable range of minimum compensation for roles that may be hired. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific office location.

For the state of California only, the range of starting pay for this role is:

$113,600 — $130,800 USD