Quality Engineer - Kevlar®

Job Description

Quality Engineer - Kevlar®

Position: Full-Time, Salaried (Exempt)

Location:5401 Route 1 Highway, Richmond, Virginia 23234

Job Summary:

The Quality Engineer is responsible for ensuring products, processes, and systems meet quality standards and customer expectations. This role focuses on driving continuous improvement, leading root cause investigations, validating processes, and collaborating with cross‑functional teams to achieve high levels of quality, compliance, and operational performance.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Ensures the quality requirements for ISO9001: 2015 and other quality standards are implemented and maintained at the Kevlar® Spruance Plant.

Identifies and performs corrective and preventative actions related to quality management system improvement, customer satisfaction, quality related aspects of supplier and manufacturing.

Establishes quality management system procedures and systems to anticipate quality failure modes and prevent quality incidents.

Conducts and/or supports 1st party, 2nd, and 3rd party quality audits such as ISO, customer audits and monitors the corrective action plans.

Maintains customer and product specifications to include statistical analysis of property data and assesses the capability to meet customer specifications, as well as following up on requirements that cannot be met.

Organizes and/or supports information sharing at standing data review meetings to include extended unit leadership team, state of the business/monthly safety, quality council, monthly quality team, management, vendor review, etc.

Monitors product properties and control and disposition of non-standard production.

Lead and/or participate in investigation of internal and external (customer complaints) quality non-conformances and determine appropriate corrective action by coordinating team using tools such as 5 Why, FMEA’s, Root Cause Analysis, etc. and ensure actions are effective.

Coordinates customer complaint responses to customer or marketing / sales requests relating to quality information or issues.

Initiates, monitors, and executes quality improvement programs/events, to align with and achieve COTs (Critical Operating Tasks) and meet KPI (Key Performance Indicator) targets.

Monitors raw material performance.

Support or lead manufacturing in maintaining document control such as Standard Practice, Standard Operating Procedures, Check sheets, Tests, etc.

Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) resource for quality training, as needed, for new and existing employees.

Ability to understand the quality standard relevant to the industry requirements (i.e. ISO 9001:2015) and the controls necessary to achieve and maintain compliance with the standards as appropriate.

Demonstrated ability to understand, calculate, establish, and communicate key quality metrics including complaints, complaint frequency, cycle time & audit results.

Demonstrated experience and results in auditing, carrying out root cause failure analysis and identify and drive closure on critical corrective and preventive actions.

Demonstrated understanding and experience in data analysis and its application to improve manufacturing process capability.

Interface with customers to handle complaints, inquiries, general queries and issues. Work with Technical Marketing to meet customer needs.

Experience in process troubleshooting, operational quality SOP/SP knowledge, customer quality change management.

Understanding of quality IT systems and tracking. Knowledge of the processes and flow in the operation as it relates to quality.

Delivers clear and succinct oral and written messages and able to make complex messages clear both internally and to our customer.

Demonstrated leadership skills to drive quality improvements. Required competencies: bias for action, integrity, judgement, strong interpersonal and leadership skills, solid time management skills, change agent behavior, and superior communication skills.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a Science related field or equivalent experience required

3-5 years of manufacturing or related experience required

Line of business (Kevlar®/Tyvek®/Kevlar®) experience preferred

Travel – less than 10%

ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor Certification required but may be obtained on the job

Proficient in Minitab® and SAP and use of Microsoft programs (Excel, PowerPoint) for data analysis and reporting