Quality Engineer

About the role

Brooks Instrument, an industry leader in flow and pressure instrumentation for critical applications, is seeking a Quality Engineer to be based at the company headquarters in Hatfield, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia). The company operates manufacturing locations in Pennsylvania, Hungary, Malaysia and Korea, and maintains sales and service offices throughout the world. Brooks’ high-tech products serve laboratory and process applications in end markets such as oil & gas, petrochemical, medical devices, wastewater, life sciences, and analytical instruments. Brooks is a division of ITW (Illinois Tool Works), a Fortune 200 diversified manufacturer with operations in 56 countries and over 50,000 employees worldwide.

Responsibilities

• Ensure Brooks’ design and manufacturing processes are performed correctly using appropriate tools, materials, and processes.
• Plan, develop, apply, and maintain quality standards for manufacturing finished product.
• Perform quality engineering functions, quality audits, and set quality standards for in-process and finished products and materials.
• Maintain ISO 9001 documentation; perform internal quality system audits to identify and correct deficiencies or non-conformances; provide Quality Certificate support as needed.
• Develop sampling plans; design forms for recording, evaluating, and reporting quality data; write instructions on their use.
• Review customer documentation to identify and ensure fulfillment of customer requirements (e.g., copy exact).
• Review design, manufacturing, and test documentation to ensure applicable system and contract quality requirements are met.
• Initiate plans, procedures, and/or actions to prevent or eliminate product and systemic quality problems.
• Prepare slides and participate in regular Quality review and quality improvement meetings.
• Develop and administer department quality information, including auditing quality plans to identify and correct deficiencies.
• Verify and approve department operation instructions and provide necessary support for their understanding and application.
• Participate in customer visits, surveys, and audits.
• Coordinate annual product validations and timely resolution of customer quality issues and responses.
• Analyze customer complaints and field failures; coordinate corrective action (8D), follow-up, and reporting; support customer update meetings.
• Track and follow up corrective and preventive action (CAPA), customer complaint (CC), failure analysis (FA), and similar cases in Trackwise.
• Perform project-specific tasks (e.g., customer-required first article inspection, qualification test failure analysis) to ensure compliance with project requirements.
• Drive and/or support resolution of internal/external quality issues by interfacing with cross-functional team members (production, engineering, etc.).
• Assist in the resolution of supplier quality problems as needed.
• Initiate engineering deviation requests and product change notices.
• Collect, analyze, and report data to understand and improve operational and quality performance and reduce the cost of poor quality.
• Develop and monitor first pass yield reports, scrap reports, and process audit reports.
• Apply statistical process controls and techniques to reduce scrap/rework and drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure quality cost concepts are understood and executed.
• Analyze data using SPC techniques, charts, Pareto analysis, histograms, etc.; prepare and present results in PowerPoint/presentation format.
• Write queries and prepare reports from Trackwise data.
• Maintain and collect data for tracking various Operational and Quality Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Disposition discrepant material to ensure product quality and adherence to system requirements.
• Determine manufacturing process and equipment capability to meet customer quality requirements by analyzing capability studies, control charts, and other statistical data.
• Participate in and/or drive continuous improvement initiatives; report on complex quality analyses, product or process non-conformance issues, and recommend or implement corrective actions and procedure changes.
• Support company continuous improvement initiatives, particularly as related to product quality.
• Act as Quality representative in cross-functional teams responsible for new product development.
• Maintain and enhance department safety policies and procedures in line with Brooks’ zero-accident safety policy.

Education & Experience

• BS degree in an engineering discipline required; quality, industrial, or mechanical engineering preferred.
• 3+ years of quality engineering experience in a manufacturing facility required; preferably in an ISO 9001/third-party certified manufacturing facility.
• Knowledge of MS Office (Excel, Word, Outlook) required.
• Project management experience and ASQ certification as a Quality Engineer desired.
• Experience in process writing, flowcharting, and applying statistical principles to determine process performance and drive improvement activities.
• Experience performing data/statistical analysis using Excel, Minitab, or similar programs; strong MS Excel skills required; Minitab experience a plus.
• Experience in manufacturing or test environments preferred.
• Attention to detail and ability to work in a dynamic, changing environment.
• Training in interpersonal relationships, team building, group dynamics, and task coordination desired.
• Must communicate clearly both verbally and in writing; must be diplomatic and sensitive in all communications with external contacts (customers, suppliers, registrars, assessors/auditors) when coordinating quality improvement and corrective action activities.

Benefits

• Competitive, merit-based salary
• Health and dental insurance
• Company-paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• 401(k) plan with generous company match
• Vacation, personal days, and holidays
• Continuing education reimbursement program
• Flexible spending accounts