Quality Assurance Manager

Job Title: Quality Assurance Manager

Location: Southampton

Salary: Circa £45,000, flexible depending on experience

We are recruiting for an experienced Quality Assurance Manager to lead and maintain a robust Quality Management System across a busy manufacturing environment.

This is a key role for someone who can take ownership of quality governance, ISO 9001 compliance, customer quality matters, audits, corrective actions and the continued development of the business towards AS9100 accreditation. The role will suit a practical, technically strong quality professional who can influence operational teams while maintaining independent oversight of standards, product conformity and compliance.

The Role

As Quality Assurance Manager, you will be responsible for the overall governance and continuous improvement of the company’s QMS, helping the business move from reactive quality management towards a proactive, risk-based approach focused on defect prevention, process capability and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities include:

• Taking overall responsibility for the development and improvement of the QMS
• Maintaining ISO 9001 certification and supporting progress towards AS9100
• Leading internal audits and coordinating external certification, customer and regulatory audits
• Maintaining quality policies, procedures, work instructions and document control
• Providing independent oversight of product and process conformity
• Establishing inspection standards, quality procedures and acceptance criteria
• Managing nonconformance governance, concessions, deviations and customer approvals
• Acting as the main management contact for significant customer quality matters
• Leading or coordinating root cause investigations using 8D, 5 Whys and other methods
• Ensuring corrective and preventive actions are implemented and verified
• Working with Operations to reduce recurring defects, scrap and rework
• Overseeing calibration, measurement systems and inspection equipment control
• Supporting supplier quality requirements, approvals, audits and performance monitoring
• Providing quality governance for new product introduction, process validation and production launch
• Supporting FAIR requirements, PFMEA, control plans and quality planning tools where applicable
• Reporting quality performance, risks, audit findings, complaints and corrective actions to senior management

About You

You will need strong quality assurance or quality management experience within manufacturing, precision engineering or a similar technical environment. You should be confident leading audits, managing customer quality issues and challenging non-compliant processes in a constructive and professional way.

Essential experience:

• Significant quality assurance or quality management experience in manufacturing or precision engineering
• Strong working knowledge of ISO 9001 and QMS requirements
• Experience implementing or maintaining AS9100
• Experience leading internal and external audits
• Root cause analysis, corrective action and continuous improvement experience
• Strong understanding of inspection, measurement systems and product conformity
• Experience managing customer quality issues and formal corrective action responses
• Excellent written communication, analytical and organisational skills

Desirable experience:

• Recognised quality management or auditing qualification
• Aerospace, defence, foundry or precision machining experience
• Knowledge of FAIR requirements, including AS9102
• Experience with PFMEA, control plans, SPC and process capability
• Supplier quality development or auditing experience

Apply

This is an excellent opportunity for a capable Quality Assurance Manager to take ownership of quality governance and play an important role in the continued development of a specialist manufacturing business.

Apply now with your CV to be considered.