Quality Operations Manager, Project Kuiper

- 5+ years Direct Management of Quality Inspection and/or Manufacturing personnel, while working in an Aerospace or Automotive manufacturing environment producing multi-disciplinary hardware products.
- 7+ years’ experience with inspection/assembly processes within aviation, aerospace electronics, wiring harnesses, machined parts, coatings, and other common product types.
- 3+ years’ Quality experience in an R&D environment
- Experience with ISO 9001 / AS9100 requirements
- 3+ years managing inspection teams within an R&D manufacturing and design environment.

- ASQ -Certified Quality Engineer, or Manager
- Project Management Experience
- Excellent problem-solving skills
- 7+ years’ experience using data to find root cause, develop solutions and implement corrective action plans
- Lean/Six Sigma (Green Belt or Black Belt) skills to drive efficiency within manufacturing and/or inspection cells.


Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $100,000/year in our lowest geographic market up to $150,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Amazon is a total compensation company. Dependent on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. For more information, please visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits. This position will remain posted until filled. Applicants should apply via our internal or external career site.
Project Kuiper is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Its mission is to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Project Kuiper will help close the digital divide by delivering fast, affordable broadband to a wide range of customers, including consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable connectivity.

The Kuiper Quality team is seeking an experienced Quality Operations Manager is needed to lead a team of Quality professionals to support our quality capabilities and achieve these goals. This individual will be responsible for developing, overseeing and directing quality inspection personnel, the Quality Inspection area, and improvement projects to the inspection area, among other responsibilities.

Key job responsibilities
This position will work a 4x10 schedule, Wed- Saturday 2pm - 12am
- Oversee and provide daily direction and management to quality inspectors within the inspection team, prioritizing work as needed, answering escalations, and being able to quickly determine path forward in ambiguous situations.
- Hire and develop a Quality Team. The right candidate will be able to identify staffing needs and hold a high bar in new employee selection. This leader will also be passionate about developing their team and will actively work to grow existing team members’ technical skills and other career development work.
- Develop, implement, and iterate a robust onboarding and training plan for incoming quality inspectors
- Lead Lean and 5S activities among the inspection processes to drive efficiency within the Quality Inspection Center and reduce non-value-added time.
- Lead effective and efficient Root Cause Corrective Action investigations, partnering directly with assembly technicians, engineering, and other stakeholders to quickly identify and implement necessary improvements
- Participate in any required Material Review Board (MRB) activities to ensure defective parts are contained, identified, dispositioned and that corrective actions are executed to prevent reoccurrence.
- Responsible for quality records and departmental procedures to ensure compliance to regulatory and business requirements, and aid in the development and maintenance of the Kuiper QMS.
- Direct report to the Sr. Quality Ops Manager, providing guidance and counsel for QMS enhancements, development improvements and initiatives to reduce cycle time, cost, quality metrics, reduce defects, and improve product quality.
- Be the primary point of contact for the Quality Inspection Center, including status updates, communication to stakeholders, management of commitments, and prioritization of parts, allocation of resources, and management of workload into the QIC.
- Lead strategic efforts for the setup and/or transfer of inspection capabilities and work cells within new manufacturing centers, or new work cells within the assembly areas of Kuiper.

Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

A day in the life
- Determine the priority inspection activities to perform each day based on incoming, hot, or high-effort parts expected to arrive.
- Answer and solve tactical problems that arise as part of the daily inspection operation activities, determining a path forward in ambiguous situations.
- Report out and/or monitor daily operational metrics to determine the health of the operation, and where problems are arising.
- Lead and develop a team of inspectors, coach and mentor new leads.
- Serves as an expert to promote quality control for received parts.
- Takes ownership to develop and introduce Lean principles and solutions to the Quality Inspection Center.
- Coordinate and communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders on status of inspection activities, blockers, trends, and action plans.

About the team
The Kuiper Manufacturing Quality team is driven to develop a Kuiper Quality System that is capable of scaling aerospace quality to new volume and cost levels to meet end customer needs. This position will join the team at an exciting moment, with an opportunity to own and grow a team of quality inspectors and contribute to the design of requirements, processes, and systems used across the business. We value data driven decision making, a comfort with dealing in ambiguous situations across multiple projects, and an ability to earn trust of various stakeholders to deliver high quality results.