Senior Manager, Field Quality

About the Role

We are looking for a hands-on, high-impact Senior Manager, Field Quality to lead our Field Quality and Failure Analysis engineering teams. In this role, you will hold ultimate accountability for overall field quality, reliability performance, and fleet health across all deployed commercial products. You are a seasoned practitioner of rigorous problem-solving methodologies (8D, 5-Why, DMAIC) with a proven track record of diving deep into complex electromechanical, hardware, and firmware failures. You will bridge the gap between field service operations, customer sites, supplier quality, and internal product design teams to ensure field issues are contained rapidly, root-caused definitively, and prevented permanently.

Responsibilities

• Own Field Quality & Fleet Health: Establish, monitor, and report on key field quality metrics (e.g., MTBI, MTTF, ARR, issue escape rates, service ticket turnaround time) for all shipping products and customer deployments.
• Lead Failure Analysis (FA) & CAPA: Lead and grow a dedicated team of Failure Analysis Engineers. Drive rigorous Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Corrective/Preventive Action (CAPA) processes for field returns, hardware bugs, and system-level failures.
• Field Containment & Rapid Response: Establish immediate containment protocols for critical field escalations, safety events, and unexpected fleet-wide failure trends to minimize customer downtime.
• Cross-Functional Feedback Loop: Serve as the critical bridge between Field Operations, Customer Success, Hardware Engineering, Software/Firmware, and Supplier Quality. Drive design-for-reliability (DFR) feedback directly into next-generation product engineering.
• Manage Closed-Loop Quality Systems: Implement and maintain robust Closed-Loop Corrective Action (CAPA) tracking across multi-site field deployments and repair depots.
• Executive Communication & Governance: Host regular Field Quality Reviews with leadership, presenting objective data, failure Pareto analyses, root-cause findings, and measurable CAPA progress.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience: 10+ years of experience in Quality Engineering, Field Quality, or Reliability Engineering within high-complexity hardware industries (Robotics, Automotive/EV, Aerospace, Autonomous Systems, or Complex Industrial Equipment).
• Leadership: 5+ years of direct people management experience leading technical engineering teams (FA, Quality, or Sustaining Engineering).
• Hands-on Expertise: Deep, practical experience executing physical failure analysis on electromechanical systems (actuators, harnesses, sensors, PCBAs, battery management systems, and precision mechanical linkages).
• Methodologies: Certified or expert practitioner in structured root cause analysis tools (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone/Ishikawa, Fault Tree Analysis, FMEA, Gauge R&R).

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Degree: Master's degree in Engineering Management or an Engineering discipline.
• Certifications: Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE), or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
• Domain Experience: Experience managing field reliability for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), humanoid robotics, or safety-critical industrial equipment.
• Systems Exposure: Familiarity with firmware diagnostic tools and telemetry data analytics for remote fleet diagnostics.

Work Environment & Travel

Position is based out of our Salem, OR facility with regular access to testing labs, service centers, and assembly lines. Occasional travel (up to 20%) to customer sites, field test locations, or primary suppliers may be required to investigate critical quality escapes.

Location

This is an onsite position at our Salem, OR office.

Pay

Anticipated Base Salary Range: $162,000—$210,000 USD

Benefits

• 401(k) Plan: Includes a 6% company match.
• Equity: Company stock options.
• Insurance Coverage: 100% company-paid medical, dental, vision, and short/long-term disability insurance for employees.
• Benefit Start Date: Eligible for benefits on your first day of employment.
• Well-Being Support: Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Time Off:
  • Exempt Employees: Flexible, unlimited PTO and 12 company holidays, including a winter shutdown.
  • Non-Exempt Employees: 10 vacation days, paid sick leave, and 12 company holidays, including a winter shutdown, annually.
• On-Site Perks: Catered lunches four times a week and a variety of healthy snacks and refreshments at our Salem and Pittsburgh locations.
• Parental Leave: Generous paid parental leave programs.
• Work Environment: A culture that supports flexible work arrangements.
• Growth Opportunities: Professional development and tuition reimbursement programs.
• Relocation Assistance: Provided for eligible roles.
• Annual Discretionary Bonus: Provided for eligible roles.