Senior Quality Engineer; Systems Auditor

General Dynamics Mission Systems engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of more than 13,000 top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defence and scientific arenas. In the UK, we are leading the way in avionics and communication systems.

Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency.

General Dynamics Mission Systems engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of more than 13,000 top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defence and scientific arenas. In the UK, we are leading the way in avionics and communication systems.

Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency.

Make an impact through quality, assurance and continuous improvement

We looking for an experienced Senior Quality Engineer (Systems Auditor) to help maintain, evaluate and continually improve our management systems.

Reporting to the Head of Quality, you will act as an ambassador for quality across the business. You will independently assess the effectiveness and compliance of our management systems, support external certification activity and help embed a culture of Right First Time, Every Time.

This is an excellent opportunity for a qualified Lead Auditor who enjoys working collaboratively across projects, programmes and departments within a complex engineering environment.

Typical activities will include:

• Developing and maintaining a risk-based system audit programme
• Planning and conducting internal system audits against the agreed schedule
• Evaluating compliance with contractual, regulatory and management system requirements
• Preparing clear audit reports and recording non-conformances and opportunities for improvement
• Agreeing appropriate corrective actions with auditees and monitoring actions through to effective closure
• Maintaining the Audit Action Tracker and analysing findings to identify trends, recurring issues and areas of risk
• Supporting external certification audits, including coordinating audit itineraries and acting as an escort for external assessors
• Liaising with auditors and internal stakeholders to manage non-conformances and corrective action plans
• Contributing to management reviews for the companys ISO certifications
• Supporting the administration and change control of the business process library
• Conducting special audits and appraisals in response to emerging business requirements
• Providing practical quality guidance and promoting awareness across projects and departments
• Working collaboratively with Quality Engineers supporting engineering projects and programmes
• Contributing to the continued improvement of Quality-owned processes

You will be an experienced quality professional who can communicate confidently and constructively with stakeholders at every level of an organisation. You will be comfortable working independently, challenging existing practices where appropriate and helping teams identify practical, sustainable improvements.

Essential experience and qualifications:

• A Quality Assurance diploma, or an HNC, HND or degree in a relevant engineering discipline
• Lead Auditor qualification for ISO 9001
• Practical experience of ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100:
  
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• Quality Engineering experience within a design, development or manufacturing environment
• Experience of conducting audits and managing findings, non-conformances and corrective actions
• The ability to support auditees with root cause analysis
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Confidence working across different functions and organisational levels
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• A self-motivated and collaborative approach
• Flexibility to travel to other company locations, including overseas when required

Knowledge and experience that would be beneficial:

• AQAP 2110 and AQAP 2105
• UK Defence Standard 05-61
• ISO 14001 Environmental Management
• ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management
• ISO 20000 IT Service Management
• ISO 27001 Information Security Management
• Quality techniques including APQP, FMEA…