Assurance Group Leader

Science and Technology Facilities Council

Salary: Band F (S1) £67,409 per annum

Hours: Full-Time (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)

Contract Type: Open-Ended

Location: Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh.

Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers, technicians, and business support team explore the unknown and turn what they find into work that changes the world around us. Whether it is sending probes into space or finding new ways to treat cancer, everyone here plays a vital role in making a positive difference to society.

Come and discover how much you can achieve when you are surrounded by world-leading experts, encouraged to constantly learn, and empowered to explore your curiosity.

To support our growing astronomy programme capabilities, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh is seeking an inspirational and technically capable Quality Assurance & Product Assurance Group Leader to lead and help shape the future of how we deliver exceptional engineering.

Our organisation develops and delivers highly specialised hardware for European spaceflight missions and some of the world's leading ground-based astronomical telescopes. Our work sits at the intersection of engineering, science and exploration, creating products that operate in some of the most demanding environments imaginable.

As Quality Assurance & Product Assurance Group Leader, you will provide leadership, direction and technical oversight to a specialist team responsible for assuring the quality and integrity of our products throughout their lifecycle. You will also be supported and mentored by an experienced Product Assurance Group Leader from within STFC, providing an excellent opportunity to deepen your knowledge of product assurance within the space and scientific instrumentation sectors while developing your leadership capability.

You will work closely with engineering, project management, manufacturing, procurement, customers and suppliers. Your role will be to ensure that quality and assurance are embedded from the earliest stages of a project, providing both independent oversight and constructive technical challenges.

• Lead, develop and inspire the Quality Assurance and Product Assurance team.
• Set the group's strategy, objectives and priorities in alignment with Organisational and programme goals.
• Provide quality and product assurance leadership across spaceflight and astronomical instrumentation programmes and implement Project Quality and Product Assurance Plans and managing their application as required.
• Champion a culture where quality is designed into products and processes from the outset.
• Provide independent assurance, technical challenge and expert advice to project and engineering teams.
• Ensure effective application of quality and product assurance processes throughout the product lifecycle and manage product and process risks. Developing a good working relationship with key stakeholders will be vital to this.
• Support engineering reviews, qualification, verification, validation and acceptance activities.
• Oversee non-conformance management, corrective and preventive actions, root-cause analysis and lessons learned.
• Ensure appropriate quality and product assurance requirements are flowed down to suppliers and manufacturing partners.
• Support and participate in audits, investigations and programme reviews.
• Develop strong relationships with customers and external stakeholders on quality and assurance matters.
• Provide clear, objective and evidence-based assurance reporting to senior leadership.
• Identify opportunities to improve our processes, tools and ways of working.
• Develop the capability, confidence and expertise of the Quality and Product Assurance team.
• Become the link with the wider assurance community in STFC.

Person Specification

(Please note the criteria below will be assessed at Shortlisting or Interview stage as indicated)

• Experience leading others including staff development and recruitment (S&I).
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentational skills, with attention to detail (S&I).
• Knowledge of relevant technical standards commonly applicable to space projects such as ECSS, ESCC, NASA, MIL or standards commonly used in European Astronomy, or equivalent transferrable experience (I).
• Experience working within a formal Quality Management System meeting the…