Operations - Quality Engineering Lead

Role Overview

We are seeking a Product Quality Engineer to establish and drive end-to-end quality strategy across hardware development and robotic fleet operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Product & Design Quality Lead

• Design for Quality initiatives, including Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA)

• Partner with hardware, electrical, and software engineering teams during EVT/DVT/PVT phases to ensure robust design validation

• Define and enforce quality gates, risk assessments (FMEA), and validation plans

• Drive design improvements based on failure data, field insights, and reliability testing

• Risk Management: Proactively identify and mitigate business-critical risks and dependencies that may impact delivery or operational performance. Develop contingency plans as necessary and maintain visibility to the relevant company functions of major issues and alerts.

• Manufacturing & Supplier Quality

• Establish and manage Incoming Quality Control (IQC), In-Process Quality Control (IPQC), and Outgoing Quality Control (OQC) frameworks

• Develop supplier quality strategy, including qualification, audits, and performance management

• Implement process controls, yield tracking, and defect reduction initiatives across contract manufacturers

• Lead root cause analysis and corrective/preventative actions (CAPA) for production issues

• Reliability & Validation

• Define reliability requirements and test strategies (HALT/HASS, environmental, lifecycle testing)

• Own validation metrics and ensure products meet performance and durability targets

• Drive continuous reliability improvements through structured failure analysis

• Fleet Quality & Field Operations

• Establish systems for field triage, failure tracking, and escalation management across deployed robotic fleets

• Analyze field performance data to identify systemic issues and prioritize fixes

• Prioritize fixes that impact uptime, serviceability, and MTBF

• Develop feedback loops from field → engineering → manufacturing

• Software & Systems Quality

• Ensure alignment between hardware and software quality standards

• Define test strategies for embedded systems, firmware, and cloud-connected platforms

• Drive automated testing frameworks (HIL/SIL), regression testing, and release quality metrics

• Data, Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Define and track KPIs across the lifecycle: yield, defect rates, DPPM, MTBF, MTTR, fleet uptime

• Build dashboards and reporting systems to provide visibility across engineering, operations, and leadership

• Lead structured problem-solving using 8D, 5 Whys, Fishbone, and statistical methods

• Automation, Diagnostics & AI

• Build diagnostic and alert frameworks for rapid issue identification and communication across hardware and software systems

• Leverage AI agents and tools to: Streamline root cause analysis and data triage, Automate reporting, anomaly detection, and workflow management, Improve cross-functional coordination across complex, multi-phase programs

Requirements

• Experience: 8-10+ years in quality program management or a similar role, with proven experience managing complex, cross-functional projects in fast-paced, tech-driven environments.

• Technical Proficiency: Strong understanding of quality concepts and the ability to communicate complex ideas across diverse teams. Experience with robotics, automation, or key hardware-related areas such as compute, memory design and utilization is a plus.

• Problem-Solving Mindset: Ability to manage and resolve complex challenges with little to no established playbooks, using creative and proven strategic thinking to drive solutions.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Demonstrated ability to work effectively across diverse teams (Engineering, Product, Operations, Partnerships, etc.).

• Communication Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills. Comfort in presenting Metrics and Quality approaches to senior leadership and external stakeholders.

• Risk Management: Proven track record of identifying, managing, and mitigating risks in large, complex programs.

• Adaptability: Comfortable with ambiguity and able to thrive in a fast-moving, constantly evolving environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Systems, or related field)

• 8+ years of experience in product quality, manufacturing quality, or reliability engineering—preferably in component level, system hardware, robotics and/or autonomous systems

• Proven experience across NPI phases (EVT, DVT, PVT, ramp, sustaining)

• Deep expertise in quality systems: FMEA, SPC, CAPA, 8D, Six Sigma methodologies

• Hands-on experience overseeing quality processes enabling checks and balances, developing supplier with “quality first” mindset

• Strong background in reliability engineering and failure analysis

• Experience with fleet-based or deployed systems is highly preferred