Senior Supplier Quality Engineer - Rocket Motor Systems

About the Role

As a Senior Supplier Quality Engineer for Rocket Motor Systems, you will serve as the dedicated quality focal for our solid rocket motor supply chain, embedded at our McHenry, Mississippi facility. This is not a commodity-aligned role — you will learn the product, hear the voice of the process and the voice of the customer, and own supplier quality outcomes for RMS from development through rate production. You are the first responder when supplier quality issues surface, with the authority to act immediately and the judgment to pull in commodity-based specialists when deeper process expertise is required. Everything comes down to building genuine partnerships with our suppliers — getting into their facilities, bringing them into ours, and developing the mutual understanding needed to deliver rate-capable product together. If you thrive on ownership, direct supplier engagement, and building quality into a scaling defense program from the ground up, this role is for you.

What You Will Do

• Serve as the dedicated supplier quality focal for Rocket Motor Systems, embedded at the McHenry facility, providing RMS engineering, manufacturing, and program teams with a single point of accountability for all supplier quality matters across the motor bill of materials.
• Act as the first responder for supplier quality escapes, nonconformances, and delivery disruptions, leading immediate containment and triage while determining when to engage commodity-based SQE specialists for deeper process or material expertise.
• Own the supplier corrective action lifecycle for RMS — from SCAR issuance through root cause verification and effectiveness confirmation — and present corrective action status, trends, and closure rates to the RMS Corrective Action Board on a monthly cadence.
• Develop and maintain a supplier quality development plan aligned to each critical RMS supplier, identifying capability gaps, process maturity levels, and the specific investments needed to transition from prototype/low-rate deliveries to high-rate production readiness.
• Conduct regular supplier site visits to assess manufacturing processes, quality systems, and production controls firsthand — and reciprocally host suppliers at the McHenry facility so they can walk the production floor, see how their components integrate, and understand RMS requirements in context.
• Learn the rocket motor product deeply — propellant formulation and processing, motor case fabrication, nozzle and thermal protection systems, insulation, igniters, and final assembly — so that supplier quality decisions are informed by how components behave in the system, not just whether they meet a print dimension.
• Partner with RMS design engineering during product development to provide design-for-manufacturability and design-for-inspectability feedback, ensuring that supplier capability and process variation are considered before drawings are released and purchase orders are placed.
• Drive supplier qualification activities including First Article Inspection (AS9102), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), measurement systems analysis (MSA), and process capability studies — with a focus on validating that supplier processes are capable and stable, not just that sample parts pass inspection.
• Support Material Review Board (MRB) disposition for nonconforming supplied material, providing supplier process context and risk assessment to inform use-as-is, rework, or return decisions, and feeding disposition trends back into supplier development priorities.
• Audit supplier quality management systems against AS9100, customer flowdown requirements, and RMS-specific quality clauses, with particular attention to special process controls, material traceability, and handling/storage practices for energetic and safety-critical materials.
• Monitor and report supplier quality metrics — including incoming quality levels, SCAR aging, repeat nonconformances, and on-time corrective action closure — translating data into actionable narratives that connect supplier performance to RMS quality improvement plans.
• Coordinate with the commodity-based supplier quality team to ensure that RMS-specific lessons learned, supplier risk signals, and corrective actions are visible enterprise-wide, and that commodity expertise (e.g., castings, composites, special processes, electronics) is leveraged when RMS suppliers span multiple commodity families.
• Identify and mitigate single-source and sole-source supplier risks within the RMS supply chain, working with sourcing and engineering to develop qualification strategies for alternate suppliers, particularly for specialty propellant ingredients, nozzle materials, and insulation compounds where the domestic supplier base is constrained.
• Champion a supplier partnership culture where quality improvement is achieved through collaboration, joint problem-solving, and shared accountability — not just compliance enforcement — recognizing that supplier capability is a competitive advantage in scaling rocket motor production.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, materials science, chemistry, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of supplier quality engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or propulsion manufacturing, with direct responsibility for supplier development, auditing, and corrective action management.
• Experience scaling supplier quality from development and prototype phases through low-rate initial production (LRIP) to full-rate production, including the process changes and controls required at each transition.
• Working knowledge of AS9100/ISO 9001 quality management system requirements, with experience conducting or leading supplier audits. AS9100 Lead Auditor certification or equivalent is a plus.
• Proficiency with First Article Inspection (AS9102), PPAP, APQP, FMEA, and measurement systems analysis (MSA), and the ability to apply these tools in a supplier development context rather than just a compliance context.
• Demonstrated ability to lead root cause investigations and corrective action processes (8D, SCAR, fishbone, fault tree) through to verified effectiveness, not just paperwork closure.
• Familiarity with energetic materials, solid propellant manufacturing, or ordnance/pyrotechnic supply chains — including the safety, regulatory, and handling requirements unique to these commodities.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% of the time to supplier facilities, with the balance of time on-site at the McHenry, MS facility engaging directly with RMS engineering, manufacturing, and test operations.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust-based relationships with suppliers as partners while maintaining accountability for quality outcomes — comfortable being direct when standards aren't met and collaborative when developing solutions.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense Secret security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in a technical field (engineering, materials science, chemistry, or related discipline).
• Experience working within or supporting a solid rocket motor manufacturing environment — including familiarity with propellant processing, motor case fabrication, nozzle/TVC assemblies, or insulation/liner systems at the supplier or OEM level.
• ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), or Certified Supplier Quality Professional (CSQP) certification.
• Experience with the regulatory and safety environment surrounding energetic materials — including ATF explosives licensing, OSHA PSM, DoD explosive safety (DDESB/NOSSA), and the handling, storage, and transportation requirements that constrain supplier facility design and operations.
• Knowledge of the SRM supplier ecosystem — propellant ingredient manufacturers, specialty chemical suppliers, composite case fabricators, nozzle material vendors, insulation/ablative suppliers, and the qualification barriers associated with second-sourcing in these commodity families.
• Experience with advanced product quality planning (APQP) in a defense context, including development of supplier control plans that bridge the gap between engineering intent and production-floor reality across multiple supplier tiers.
• Familiarity with government contract quality requirements, including MIL-STD, DCMA oversight, government source inspection (GSI), and customer flowdown interpretation — particularly the ability to translate prime contract quality clauses into supplier-level requirements without over-specification.
• Experience leveraging AI-assisted tools and data analytics to streamline supplier quality workflows — including automated nonconformance trending, predictive supplier risk scoring, or digital audit and corrective action management systems.

US Salary Range 127000 - 170000 USD