Staff Hardware Quality Engineer

Chaos Industries; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401k match

FSA

HSA

Life insurance

Free daily lunch onsite

Unlimited PTO

Casual dress code

Relocation assistance

Annual bonuses

Job summary

CHAOS Industries seeks a Quality Engineer to drive manufacturing quality improvements across our multi-site production network in California. You will lead RCCA investigations, reduce defects, and develop robust quality documentation to support repeatable processes.

As part of a cross-functional team, you will monitor KPIs, enforce IPC standards, and optimize HPUs. A Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering and 5+ years of relevant experience are required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in quality engineering, manufacturing quality, or related manufacturing engineering roles.
• Experience identifying, investigating, and resolving hardware manufacturing quality issues.
• Demonstrated experience leading RCCA investigations through closure.
• Experience with HPU and/or manufacturing defect reduction initiatives.
• Ability to read drawings, schematics, and specifications (GD&T preferred).
• Experience with ERP/MES systems for build tracking and sign-off.
• Familiarity with IPC standards (J-STD-001, IPC-A-610).

Responsibilities

• Review travelers, routers, and build records in ERP/MES.
• Ensure traceability, configuration, and documentation are complete and accurate.
• Enforce workmanship standards (IPC, internal specs).
• Lead RCCA investigations through closure.
• Develop and maintain quality documentation, requirements, and procedures.
• Develop, maintain, track, and trend KPIs.
• Drive HPU and manufacturing defect reduction initiatives.

Skills

Quality engineering

Manufacturing quality

RCCA investigations

HPU

GD&T

ERP/MES systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering

Tools

ERP/MES systems

IPC standards (J-STD-001, IPC-A-610)

Job description

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com .

Role Overview

• Drive quality engineering initiatives to improve manufacturing processes, product quality, and operational efficiency.
• Lead Root Cause and Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations, ensuring effective corrective actions are implemented and driven to closure.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manufacturing defects, rework, and Hours Per Unit (HPU).
• Develop and maintain quality requirements, procedures, and documentation to support consistent manufacturing processes.
• Establish, monitor, and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify quality trends and drive continuous improvement.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Test, and Engineering teams to resolve quality issues and prevent recurrence.

Responsibilities

• Review travelers, routers, and build records in ERP/MES.
• Ensure traceability, configuration, and documentation are complete and accurate.
• Enforce workmanship standards (IPC, internal specs).
• Lead Root Cause and Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations through closure.
• Develop and maintain quality documentation, requirements, and procedures.
• Develop, maintain, track, and trend key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Drive Hours Per Unit (HPU) and manufacturing defect reduction initiatives.

Nonconformance & Disposition

• Identify, document, and segregate nonconforming material.
• Support MRB and disposition activities.
• Drive immediate containment on the floor.

Production Support

• Act as first responder to quality issues during builds.
• Interface directly with Manufacturing, Test, and Engineering.
• Ensure no hardware progresses with unresolved quality issues.
• 5+ years of experience in quality engineering, manufacturing quality, or related manufacturing engineering roles.
• Experience identifying, investigating, and resolving hardware manufacturing quality issues.
• Demonstrated experience leading RCCA investigations through closure.
• Experience with HPU and/or manufacturing defect reduction initiatives.
• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering.
• Ability to read drawings, schematics, and specifications (GD&T preferred).
• Experience with ERP/MES systems for build tracking and sign-off.
• Familiarity with IPC standards (J-STD-001, IPC-A-610).

Preferred Requirements

• Six Sigma experience or certification.
• Experience in aerospace/defense or high-reliability hardware.
• Strong MRB / nonconformance handling experience.

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch while you're working onsite, fully-stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 500+employees and counting across 5 global offices

Salary Range: $155,000 - $230,000 per year

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

EXPORT CONTROLS - This position may require access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in CHAOS Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.