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Salary: USD 155,000 - 230,000 / annual
CHAOS Industries is a defense technology company founded in 2022 and backed by $1 billion in funding from top-tier investors including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company develops multi-product defense solutions powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™) that serve warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams.
This Staff Hardware Quality Engineer role is a company-wide technical leadership position focused on driving quality engineering initiatives across manufacturing operations. You will lead Root Cause and Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations, establish quality standards and procedures, and drive continuous improvement in manufacturing processes, product quality, and operational efficiency.
Key responsibilities include:
**Continuous Improvement:** Review travelers, routers, and build records in ERP/MES systems; ensure traceability, configuration, and documentation accuracy; enforce workmanship standards (IPC, internal specs); lead RCCA investigations through closure; develop and maintain quality documentation and procedures; develop, track, and trend key performance indicators (KPIs); drive Hours Per Unit (HPU) and manufacturing defect reduction initiatives.
**Nonconformance & Disposition:** Identify, document, and segregate nonconforming material; support Material Review Board (MRB) and disposition activities; drive immediate containment on the production floor.
**Production Support:** Act as first responder to quality issues during builds; interface directly with Manufacturing, Test, and Engineering teams; ensure no hardware progresses with unresolved quality issues.
You will collaborate cross-functionally to resolve quality issues, prevent recurrence, and identify opportunities to reduce defects and rework. This is a hands-on technical leadership role requiring deep manufacturing quality expertise and the ability to influence across engineering and operations teams.
**Requirements:**
- 5+ years of experience in quality engineering, manufacturing quality, or related manufacturing engineering roles
- Experience identifying, investigating, and resolving hardware manufacturing quality issues
- Demonstrated experience leading RCCA investigations through closure
- Experience with HPU and/or manufacturing defect reduction initiatives
- Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering
- Ability to read drawings, schematics, and specifications (GD&T preferred)
- Experience with ERP/MES systems for build tracking and sign-off
- Familiarity with IPC standards (J-STD-001, IPC-A-610)
**Preferred Qualifications:**
- Six Sigma experience or certification
- Experience in aerospace/defense or high-reliability hardware
- Experience in multiple production domains (R&D, T2P, LRIP, FRP)
- AS9100 environment experience; experience performing FAI (AS9102)
- Strong MRB / nonconformance handling experience
