Director of Quality

Overview

The Opportunity:

Founding Director of Quality and Mission Assurance. You will be the owner of reliability and risk management for all space hardware programs, building and scaling Astra’s quality organization. This role requires a hands-on, strategic leader with deep expertise in aerospace quality standards and proactive risk management in a fast-paced startup environment.

• Mission
  
  Risk Management:
  
  Establish and own the Mission Assurance strategy, work with program management and engineering to perform risk assessments and identify, mitigate, and track mission-critical risks.
• Design and Build Assurance: Implement a Design Assurance program to ensure quality, reliability, and safety are integrated into product design from the earliest stages, in accordance with applicable standards (e.g., NASA, DOD) and contractual requirements.
• Reliability and System Safety: Develop and oversee reliability engineering activities, including risk and failure analysis, and lead the System Safety program to identify and mitigate hazards associated with the hardware.
• Failure Review Board: Lead the Failure Review Board (FRB) for significant program anomalies and failures, ensuring robust root cause analysis and effective corrective actions.
• Independent Review: Act as the independent reviewer for program execution, participating in design reviews, test readiness reviews, and program audits to provide critical analysis and ensure a path to mission success.

• QMS Implementation: Develop, deploy, and maintain a comprehensive QMS in preparation for AS9100 certification and other relevant space-specific quality standards.
• Supplier Quality: Lead supplier quality management, ensuring suppliers of critical parts and processes meet stringent space-grade quality standards. Engage in supplier technical reviews and audits.
• Process and Production Quality: Implement process controls and oversee all aspects of hardware quality during manufacturing, assembly, and test, including non-conformance management and MRBs.
• Continuous Improvement: Champion a continuous improvement culture using methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma to enhance processes and product quality and reliability.

• Organizational Growth: Build, lead, mentor, and grow the quality and mission assurance team to support the company’s growth trajectory.
• Training and Development: Develop and implement mission assurance and quality training programs for engineers, technicians, and managers across the company.
• Customer Engagement: Serve as the primary contact for customer quality and mission assurance representatives, building trusted relationships and ensuring clear communication.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physical sciences, or a related technical field.
• 10+ years of experience in quality and mission assurance within the aerospace, defense, or space industry.
• Proven experience leading the implementation of a QMS, preferably in a manufacturing startup.
• Extensive experience with Mission Assurance concepts, including risk management, reliability engineering, and system safety.
• Strong knowledge of industry standards such as AS9100 and familiarity with government standards and guidelines (e.g., NASA, DOD).
• Demonstrated ability to perform robust root cause analysis and lead effective corrective action.

• Master’s degree in an engineering or technical discipline.
• Experience with NADCAP accreditation for special processes.
• Professional certifications such as CQE or CMQ/OE.
• Experience interacting with government agencies (e.g., NASA, DoD) on mission assurance and quality issues.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to act tactically in a dynamic startup environment.
• Hands-on, “roll up your sleeves” attitude with a passion for building from the ground up.

The pay range for this role is: $212,500-$261,800

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base salary range in the San Francisco Bay Area and excludes additional earnings such as bonus and benefits. If your salary requirements fall outside of the range,…