Head of Aircraft Quality (R6146)
Seattle · USD 260,000-390,000 / year · 10+ years experience · Onsite · Posted Sep 29, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 10+ years experience
- Workplace
- Onsite
- Location
- Seattle
- Salary
- USD 260,000-390,000 / year
About the role
- Shield AI is seeking a Head of Aircraft Quality for Seattle to lead quality planning and execution for the X-BAT prototype and development builds.
- This role involves establishing the Seattle quality operation, recruiting and leading the quality team, and scaling QMS aligned with AS9100 and ISO 9001.
- The person will own production quality performance, drive root cause analysis and corrective actions, and deliver quality at rate.
Responsibilities
- Lead quality planning and execution for X-BAT prototype and development builds, establishing appropriate inspection, test evidence and build records as designs evolve.
- Partner with Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering to identify product and process risks, define critical controls and build quality requirements into tooling, work instructions and test plans.
- Establish configuration and traceability controls with Engineering and Production, ensuring each aircraft’s build status, deviations and nonconformances are understood and documented.
- Capture lessons from build, integration and test issues, and drive their incorporation into design changes, manufacturing processes and future builds.
- Define quality readiness criteria for pre-series builds and production launch, validating inspection methods, process controls, workforce competence and closure of significant risks.
- Recruit, develop and lead the quality team, building the technical capability and frontline support needed as aircraft production grows.
- Establish and maintain a lean, effective QMS for X-Forge 3, aligned with Shield AI’s wider quality framework, AS9100, ISO 9001 and applicable customer requirements.
- Lead certification readiness and internal, customer and external audits, driving timely closure and sustained effectiveness of corrective actions.
- Set up receiving, in-process and final inspection capability, including measurement equipment, calibration, training and quality records, in partnership with relevant functions.
- Own production quality performance, using first-pass yield, defects, rework and escapes to focus action where it improves aircraft quality and production flow.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, quality or a related technical field.
- 10+ years of leadership experience in quality, product assurance or reliability within aerospace, defense technology or high-reliability manufacturing.
- Demonstrated success leading quality through prototype or new product introduction and into sustained production.
- Proven ability to build and scale quality teams and systems while supporting fast-paced development and manufacturing operations.
- Deep expertise in containment, root cause analysis, MRB, corrective and preventive action, and continuous improvement.
- Strong working knowledge of AS9100 and ISO 9001, with practical implementation and audit leadership experience.
- Experience with complex assembly, inspection, configuration control, traceability and product acceptance.
- Ability to influence and challenge senior leaders constructively across Engineering, Production and Supply Chain.
- A hands-on leadership style and sound technical judgment, balancing timely execution with clear quality standards and accountability.
Preferred qualifications
- Direct experience taking a new aircraft program from prototype through production launch and rate ramp.
- Experience establishing quality capability at a new manufacturing facility or transferring production between sites.
- Experience in aircraft final assembly, systems integration, production test and reliability improvement.
- Experience deploying digital quality systems, statistical process controls and data-driven defect prevention.
- Advanced degree in engineering, quality or a related technical discipline.
Benefits
- Bonus
- Benefits
- Equity
Skills
- AS9100
- ISO 9001
- MRB
- Root Cause Analysis
- Configuration Control
- Corrective And Preventive Action
