Senior Process Quality Engineer

About the team

Manufacturing Quality is a diverse group of engineers and data scientists who bring deep expertise in materials science, electrochemistry, statistics, and machine learning. Our team thrives on data-driven decision-making and a shared commitment to drive continuous improvement to QuantumScape’s solid-state battery technology. We work closely with the Manufacturing, Reliability, and R&D groups to identify failure modes, engineer critical-to-quality specifications, and implement robust control strategies across all process areas.

Responsibilities

• Monitor quality of each process by leveraging SPC charts, Cp/Cpk analysis, and defect rate and pareto tracking to flag excursions early and drive continuous improvement.
• Review and refine DFMEAs/PFMEAs with process owners and design teams, prioritizing the highest-risk failure modes using RPN or Action Priority.
• Develop and maintain Control Plans under revision control — including metrology steps validated through MSA — and ensure shop-floor compliance to documented procedures.
• Lead Task Force (TF) and Material Review Board (MRB) on quality excursions — drive containment, root cause investigation, and corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and author 8D reports for internal/external customers.
• Drive the Change Review Board (CRB): screen and classify change requests, prepare risk assessments with change owners, facilitate reviews, track approvals and action items, and maintain auditable change records.
• Collaborate with process teams to identify yield improvement and defect reduction opportunities, isolate sources of variation, and drive improvement projects to closure.
• Leverage DOE and statistical analysis to formalize and improve sampling protocols for go/no-go testing — defining AQL/RQL targets and selecting appropriate sampling strategies — to reduce downstream escapes.
• Use Python or JMP to collect and analyze manufacturing data sets to identify trends, quantify process shifts, and support data-driven decisions on process changes and sampling protocols.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Chemical, Mechanical, Materials Science, Metallurgy, Industrial, or related discipline) + 5 years of experience in a quality or process engineering role; Master's degree + 3 years; or PhD.
• Fundamental understanding of quality and reliability engineering, with deep knowledge of quality tools and methodologies such as SPC, root cause analysis (Fishbone, 5 Whys), 8D problem solving, Six Sigma, Measurement Systems Analysis (Gage R&R).
• Hands-on experience with FMEA (DFMEA/PFMEA) and Control Plan development in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong foundation in descriptive and inferential statistics — distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing — applied to manufacturing data; proficiency with JMP or Python (SQL and Minitab a plus).
• Excellent communication, presentation, and leadership skills — able to distill key insights from large data sets and influence team members, partners, and stakeholders to drive quality improvements.
• Adaptable to shifting priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment and self-driven with end-to-end ownership of projects from problem definition to closure.
• A first-principles thinker who reasons from underlying physics, process mechanics, and data rather than defaulting to convention, and adjusts quickly as priorities shift.

Nice to have

• Fundamental understanding of battery electrochemistries and failure mechanisms; familiarity with electrical test and metrics.
• Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE), Six Sigma certification, or equivalent.
• Experience in cleanroom/dry-room manufacturing.

Physical requirements

• Work is performed in a dry room, fume hood, lab area, or glovebox requiring the use of fine motor skills.
• Sitting or standing for extended periods of time.
• Reaching and twisting motions with hands.
• Lifting up to 25 lbs.

Schedule

This position is required to work onsite 5 days per week to meet the minimum essential duties and requirements of this role.

Pay

Expected salary range for this role is from $112,500 to $163,200, and a final salary will be determined by the candidate's experience and educational background.

Benefits

• Annual bonus and a generous RSU/Equity package as part of its compensation plan.
• Employee paid health care.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
• Other benefits including reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities.