Engineering Quality Leader - Hardware

Location: Hengelo, Netherlands

About the Quality & Customer Satisfaction team

The Quality & Customer Satisfaction (QCS) is responsible for assuring the quality of operational activities (such as bids, projects, products and services) and supporting the maturity growth and performance improvement of the organization. We do this to improve customer satisfaction and to drive competitiveness. QCS enhances the ownership of operational teams for the quality of their output and strengthens the learning, improvement and problem-solving capabilities of these teams. QCS develops the maturity of the organization as a whole by leveraging operational best practices. QCS is responsible to provide an independent view on operational performance to senior management.

For the QCS team of the Naval-NL business unit, we are looking for a Hardware Engineering Quality Leader

About your future job
As a Hardware Engineering Quality Leader you work as a representative of QCS within the Hardware Engineering discipline with the aim of improving the quality and maturity of the discipline through supporting both operational teams and the management teams. You ensure that available processes, methods, practices and tools are reliable, implemented and deployed, that employees are trained to the required level of competence and that the discipline is organized such that it is able to meet its commitments, now and in the future. You will cover the hardware Engineering discipline in the departments Radar Front-End (RF) and Mechanical Electrical Engineering (MEE).

You will serve as a “go-to” person for management and operational teams, providing help in applying processes, practices and tools, monitoring quality on various levels, identifying risks and (help) solving problems structurally in the context of our hardware developments. You empower the teams to take responsibility for managing quality on a daily basis. You will support the management through advising on strengths, weaknesses and risks within the organization, ensuring an effective and continuous improvement loop through lessons learned, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) etc., and support the definition and execution of improvement plans thereby ensuring connection to the (daily) issues of the engineers. You are thus a linking pin between management and operational teams.

Within QCS department you will work together with the other Engineering Quality Leaders (Solution and software) and Quality Leaders in Service, Industry and Procurement Domain. Furthermore, you interface with the Quality Assurance Managers (QAM) in Project and Product Development on a regular basis.

Your main tasks are:

• Represent and speak for the customer and the principal stakeholders (regulations, suppliers, etc.) with regard to the Discipline with which he or she works, to improve quality performance and customer satisfaction.
• Contribute to the Quality performance for the discipline he/she represents and anticipate risks, so as to achieve long-term operational excellence on the basis of indicators (On-Conformity Delivery, Cost of Non-Quality, Maturity Risk Index, etc.).
• Assist in defining and implementing the Quality Performance Plan (QPP).
• Manage the reduction of non-quality costs in your Discipline.
• Measure the maturity of your discipline and contribute to its improvement, and play a proactive role in implementing the changes needed as a result.
• Identify recurring problems and coordinate cross-functional action plans for improvement.
• Ensure deployment and development of a quality culture within the Discipline, based on a continuous improvement approach.
• Provide methodological expertise in continuous quality improvement practices.
• Support Process Owners/Referents in the process deployment and improvement.
• Contribute to the quality and maturity objective measurement.

Why you'd be a good match

• A relevant technical degree, such as engineering, business management.
• Professional experience in hardware development, engineering and/or high-tech business context
• Profound interest and professional experience in high-tech systems, processes, quality, and the defense domain
• Ability to work in a dynamic, complex and multi-national environment wherein you manage/influence various stakeholders, create (quality) awareness and challenge the status quo.
• Leaderships skills that enables you to create solutions out of complexity, influence stakeholders, perform through cooperation and engage and develop teams.

What's in it for you

• A challenging job in great teams within our high-tech, innovative work environment. Includes freedom for initiative and good ideas.
• Working on both strategic level and detailed level
• Room for personal and professional growth within our organization, for example in regard to technical, commercial or international skills.
• Valuable international collaboration with coworkers from 68 different countries around the globe.
• A comfortable workspace in a modern environment, with a focus on flexibility and the right work life balance.
• You can usually work where and when you want to be able to do your work as well and efficiently as possible. Within Thales we implement hybrid working, where you can, for example, work from home two days a week if your role allows it.
• A good salary, fitting travel allowance, and the ability to personalize your employment conditions: for instance, you can trade days off for internet costs, our bicycle plan, company fitness and relocation costs.
• 40 days off per year (PTO).
Opportunities for growth and (international) personal development

Interested?
Apply now! Click on the button below to upload your profile and show your interest. For questions you may reach out to our Talent Acquisition Partner Laurence Janssen, via [email protected].

To ensure that we are a good match, we can ask you to participate in an assessment.

Diversity Statement
We actively support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions. That means that equal opportunities, inclusion and an informal culture are integral to our success. It also means that your well-being and happiness matter to us! That’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, remote working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times.

Security Requirements
In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in The Netherlands and employment and/or education history. Some vacancies may require a security clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for security clearance please refer to the General Intelligence and Security Service.

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