Quality Assurance Specialist

QA/QC Specialist San Angelo, TX Area The Company

Our client is a high-growth startup in one of the most critical pockets within the defense industry: explosives production. They are further increasing our country’s capacity to provide the energetic materials necessary for the numerous defense systems that keep us safe; both here at home and around the world. Now more than ever, explosives production is an extremely crucial component, while also being a major bottleneck, in the deployment and utilization of defense systems.

Our client is leveraging decades of industry expertise to alleviate this concern and help the United States maintain its military excellence.

The QA/QC Specialist serves as the gatekeeper of product standards within an explosives manufacturing operation. Quality Assurance (QA) builds the systems and processes that prevent defects before they occur, including audits, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), certifications, and data packages. Quality Control (QC) performs hands-on testing, sampling, and inspection at defined stages of production to verify that materials, in-process product, and finished goods conform to specification.

Together, QA and QC manage product release, ensure regulatory and contractual compliance, and drive continuous improvement using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and related methodologies, all within the heightened safety and security context of energetic materials manufacturing.

• Plan and conduct internal audits of production, laboratory, and storage/magazine areas; track findings through corrective and preventive action (CAPA) closure.
• Support and host external/regulatory audits and customer quality surveillance visits.
• Maintain the quality management system (QMS) documentation hierarchy and change-control/document-control processes.
• Compile and issue certificates of analysis/conformance (CoA/CoC) and finished-goods data packages for product release and shipment.
• Own and maintain calibration, preventive maintenance, and gauge R&R programs for inspection and test equipment.
• Lead or support root-cause analysis for nonconformances, customer complaints, and process deviations.
• Track quality metrics (yield, scrap/rework, first-pass yield, complaint rate, CAPA aging) and report trends to leadership.
• Champion Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement projects; facilitate kaizen events and control-plan updates.
• Support new product introduction, process validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), and first-article inspection activities.
• Maintain training records and administer quality-related training and certification programs for production and lab personnel.

• Perform incoming inspection and testing of raw materials and components against approved specifications.
• Conduct in-process inspections and sampling at designated hold points throughout production per approved sampling plans (e.g., customer-specified plans).
• Execute physical, chemical, and functional testing per approved test methods, recording results in the ERP/MRP or paper batch record.
• Perform final inspection, lot acceptance testing, and disposition (accept/reject/hold) of finished product prior to release.
• Segregate, tag, and control nonconforming material per the material review board (MRB) process.
• Maintain accurate, legible, and complete batch records, inspection logs, and chain-of-custody documentation.
• Operate and maintain laboratory and inspection equipment; perform routine calibration checks and equipment verification.
• Support environmental, safety, and process-safety monitoring tasks that intersect with quality (e.g., moisture content, density, sensitivity screening) as required by site procedures, without disclosing or handling classified or export-controlled formulation data outside authorized scope.

• Support compliance with applicable federal, state, and local regulations governing explosives manufacturing (e.g., ATF licensing/recordkeeping, DOT/PHMSA transportation classification, OSHA Process Safety Management, and applicable military/customer specifications such as MIL-STD or AQAP where relevant).
• M…