Head of Quality in Royston

The Head of Quality is responsible for defining, leading, and continuously improving the company's Quality Management System to ensure full compliance with aerospace regulatory, customer, and industry standards. This role is part of the Senior Leadership Team and provides strategic and operational leadership across quality assurance, quality control, and continuous improvement, supporting safe, compliant, and high-performing aerospace products.

Key responsibilities include:

• Maintaining certifications AS9100, NADCAP (x5) and compliance to AS13100.
• Overseeing audits and regulatory interactions.
• Managing non‑conformance and corrective action processes.
• Driving a strong quality culture across the organisation.

The Head of Quality works closely with operations, engineering, supply chain, and customers to ensure quality is embedded across the entire product lifecycle. This role typically leads a multi‑disciplinary quality team and acts as the senior quality authority within the business, balancing regulatory compliance, risk management, and operational efficiency.

Key Tasks:

• Overall accountability for the company Quality Management System, ensuring continued compliance with AS9100 Rev D, AS13100(A), customer, and regulatory requirements.
• Act as the organisation's senior quality authority, representing the business with customers, certification bodies, and NADCAP.
• Maintain and protect all NADCAP special process accreditations, ensuring audit readiness, effective corrective actions, and sustained process control.
• Ensure effective non‑conformance, root cause, and corrective action processes that drive systemic improvement and risk reduction across the business.
• Lead, develop, and set direction for the Quality team, fostering a strong quality culture and clear accountability.
• Oversee all internal, customer, third‑party, and regulatory audits, ensuring robust preparation, professional engagement, and timely closure of findings.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, and Supply Chain to ensure quality is embedded throughout the product and process lifecycle.
• Provide clear quality performance metrics, risk insight, and improvement proposals to senior leadership.

Key Skills/Experience:

• Senior Quality Leadership: Proven leadership of a Quality function within an automotive or aerospace manufacturing environment, with accountability for QMS performance and team development (QA, QC, Inspection, Special Processes).
• ISO 9001:2015 Ownership: In-depth working knowledge of sector specific ISO standards with a track record of maintaining certification, leading surveillance/recertification audits, and driving system effectiveness and compliance.
• Hands‑on experience deploying preventative quality process requirements to meet customer requirements (e.g. PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, process capability, problem solving, and meeting customer‑specific quality clauses).
• Demonstrated success maintaining multiple accreditations-planning and executing self‑audits, managing audit preparation, root cause/corrective actions, and ensuring sustained process control and operator competence.
• APQP / PPAP for NPI: Strong Knowledge/capability in Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and PPAP (including Control Plans, PFMEA/DFMEA, MSA, capability studies, process validation, FAIR/AS9145 alignment), integrated into gated New Product Introduction and process change.
• Audit Leadership: Confident lead for internal audits and the primary interface for customer, certification body, regulatory, and NADCAP audits; able to influence outcomes and close findings effectively.
• Non‑Conformance & RCCA: Proven capability in issue containment and mitigation, structured root cause (8D, 5‑Why, Ishikawa), and corrective/preventive action, with evidence of reducing escapes, rework, scrap, and COPQ.
• Manufacturing & Special Process Understanding: Solid knowledge of machining, assembly, and special processes (e.g., heat treat, NDT, Non‑conventional machining (Laser), welding, chemical processing), including process qualification, process control, and traceability.
• Supplier Quality & Special Processes: Experience qualifying and developing suppliers, conducting supplier audits (including special process oversight), managing FAIR & PPAP submissions, and driving supplier performance improvement.
• Data‑Driven Performance Management: Comfortable with KPIs (RFT, defect rates, escape incidents, COPQ, OTD impacts), risk‑based thinking, and using data/visual management to drive systemic improvement.
• Change & CI Mindset: Demonstrated ability to embed quality into daily operations, lead cross‑functional improvements (Lean, problem‑solving workshops), and sustain gains through standard work and governance.
• Stakeholder Influence: Strong communication and credibility with operational teams, engineering, order desk, and senior leadership; effective in escalations and customer reviews.
• Documentation & Configuration Control: Rigorous approach to document control, configuration management, calibration, and records-supporting full product and process traceability.

• Senior Quality Leadership in Aerospace: Proven leadership of a Quality function within an aerospace manufacturing environment.
• AS9100 Ownership: In-depth working knowledge of AS9100.
• AS13100 & Customer Requirements: Hands‑on experience deploying AS13100 requirements.
• NADCAP Special Processes (x5): Demonstrated success maintaining multiple NADCAP accreditations-planning and executing self‑audits, managing audit preparation, root cause/corrective actions, and ensuring sustained process control and operator competence.

This job description is not intended to establish a total definition of a job but outline duties. This job description will be amended at the discretion of management.