Quality Engineer - Quality Assurance - Process Engineer - Process Chemist

Our Client is a leading manufacturer of innovative ultrablack coatings solutions, dedicated to advancing technology and delivering high-performance products to a diverse range of industries. Their commitment to research and development sets them apart as a leader in the coatings for light suppression industry.

They are seeking a Quality Engineer to act as the point of contact for customers, employees and suppliers, as well as taking the lead in investigating non-conformances, identifying root causes and introducing corrective and preventative actions to continuously improve Quality for SNS products. Working closely with other staff as part of a wider cross functional team, the Quality Engineer will conduct practical trials, deploy quality tools and structured problem solving to continuously improve manufacturing processes for super black coatings, to meet Customer requirements. Support of Quality management by provision of performance data (returns, yield, NCRs) and participation in reviews will also be an important aspect of the role.

Responsibilities:

• Plan, manage and lead any quality engineering activities necessary to deliver against overall objectives and goals – reporting achievements to the Production and Facilities Manager
• Liaise with customers to initiate quality investigations, provide timely feedback on progress and corrective/preventative actions and present required data and information back to them.
• Develop and build Quality Plans to cover all aspects of manufacturing and application of coatings.
• Work with manufacturing engineering, research & development and production teams, to ensure that quality is designed into new, industrialised manufacturing processes. Work with research and production teams to conduct practical trials and proof of concepts (with respect to quality) for production processes and learning from existing operations is captured that is pertinent for design of industrial scale operations.
• Design and implement trials and experiments to analyse and understand the impact of process variation on product quality – to establish control measures to achieve process capability and improve repeatability and reproducibility.
• To develop appropriate inspection and monitoring methods for new and existing processes, so that desired level of quality is maintained in a production environment.
• To inspect products and materials where issues have been identified, including disposition of quarantined items from internal manufacture and customer returns.
• Capture yield and test data, to investigate root causes and introduce corrective and preventative actions to continuously improve product quality. Support management of quality issues, by participation in and preparation for Management Reviews to track and prioritise issues, monitor trends and propose/implement corrective actions.
• Support and lead internal and customer corrective action processes to drive continuous improvement in internal (and supplier) quality
• Develop standardised documentation to capture all process and operations knowledge with respect to quality and process control and provide content for training programmes.
• Promote awareness of quality principles and to participate in, lead and facilitate events to drive out process waste, improve yield and reduce cost of quality.
• To conduct process audits and progress any identified issues to resolution.
• To undertake other duties appropriate to the level and character of the work as may reasonably be required by the Company.

Candidate Profile:

• Degree in engineering preferred.
• Experience of working in an Engineering/Manufacturing environment
• Good understanding of a range of manufacturing processes and engineering
• Good understanding of process control techniques
• Expertise in quality management techniques (eg FMEA, 8D, Taguchi, Quality Planning, Component Control Plans, SPC, Gauge R&R)
• Knowledge and practical experience with Tooling & Equipment

In return, our Client is offering an attractive salary (provided at the time of application), 25 days holiday, death in service, gym membership contribution, private medical care. Early finish Friday (Monday – Thursday 7:30am-4:30pm, Friday 7:30am-12pm)

Whitehall is the Recruitment Specialist for the Chemical, Polymer, Coatings and Life Science Industries.