Quality Engineer

Company: One Stop Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSS)

Headquarters Location: Escondido/San Diego, CA 

Why Join Us? At One Stop Systems, we are committed to innovation and excellence. Join our team and contribute to cutting-edge projects in a dynamic and supportive environment.

Company Overview:

One Stop Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSS) is a San Diego-based publicly traded technology company and global leader in enterprise class compute solutions for AI/ML, sensor fusion, and autonomy at the demanding ‘edge.’ OSS designs and manufactures the highest performance compute and storage products that enable these rugged AI, sensor fusion and autonomous mobile capabilities without compromise. These hardware and software platforms bring the latest enterprise class data center performance and technology to the harsh and challenging applications, whether they are on land, sea or in the air.

OSS products include ruggedized servers, compute accelerators, flash storage arrays, and storage acceleration software. These specialized rugged and compact products are used across multiple industries and applications, including commercial  autonomous applications, as well as aircraft, drones, ships, and vehicles within the defense industry.

The company has annual sales in excess of $40 million, is profitable, cash flow positive, enjoys a solid cash position without domestic debt and has target growth plans in excess of 20% a year.  Our markets have significant tail winds being driven by the high priority within the DOD to add AI and/or Autonomous capabilities throughout the military theater as well as strong economic pull within the commercial segment. The market opportunity for OSS types of products is expected to grow to over $2 billion in size.

Compensation & Benefits:

  • Annual salary range $85,000 - $97,000 
  • Potential for Stock Equity
  • 401K Matching
  • Competitive Benefits Package including Medical, Dental, and Vision
  • Three weeks of PTO
  • 11 Paid Holidays

Position Overview:

OSS is seeking a hands-on, detail-oriented Quality Engineer with three to five years of relevant experience to support product, process, supplier, and quality-management-system performance in an AS9100D-certified manufacturing environment. This mid-level position combines inspection and product assurance with root-cause analysis, corrective action, supplier quality, audit support, quality metrics, and continuous improvement. The Quality Engineer will independently handle routine quality-engineering activities, contribute to cross-functional problem solving, and receive guidance from the Quality Manager on complex, high-risk, or customer-sensitive issues.

Reporting Relationships: The Quality Engineer will report to the Quality Assurance Manager. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Receiving and Final Inspection

  • Perform receiving, in-process, and final inspections and support the preparation and review of First Article Inspections and First Article Inspection Reports (FAIRs) in accordance with AS9102.
  • Inspect electro-mechanical parts and assemblies, sheet metal and machined components, printed circuit boards (PCBs), printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), and related hardware.
  • Interpret engineering drawings, specifications, tolerances, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), surface-finish requirements, workmanship standards, and customer quality notes.
  • Perform visual inspections of plating, coatings, chemical conversion coatings, paint, cosmetic surfaces, soldering, conformal coating, and other applicable finishes or special processes.
  • Select and use appropriate inspection equipment, including calipers, micrometers, height or drop gages, pin gages, thread gages, go/no-go gages, microscopes, surface plates, and other precision measuring tools.
  • Ensure inspection records, reports, and related documentation are complete, accurate, traceable, and processed in a timely manner.

Product Quality and Manufacturing Support

  • Assist with the development, implementation, and maintenance of inspection plans, control plans, sampling plans, acceptance criteria, and inspection methods; independently maintain assigned inspection documentation.
  • Support production-floor quality issues, monitor First Pass Yield (FPY), and help improve manufacturing quality throughout the production cycle.

Nonconformance, Root Cause, and Corrective Action

  • Administer Nonconformance Material Reports (NCMRs/NCRs), support material-review and disposition activities, and coordinate assigned temporary deviations or controlled exceptions when authorized.
  • Support root-cause investigations and corrective actions under the guidance of the Quality Manager, independently leading appropriately scoped investigations using methods such as 5 Whys, Fishbone (Ishikawa), and DMAIC tools.
  • Prepare, coordinate, and follow up on Corrective Action Reports (CARs), Supplier Corrective Action Requests (SCARs), and other corrective or preventive actions.
  • Collect and evaluate objective evidence to support corrective-action effectiveness verification and confirm that assigned actions address the identified root cause.
  • Investigate manufacturing defects, assembly failures, customer complaints, field failures, returns, supplier escapes, and containment issues.
  • Identify design-related or process-related contributors to quality issues and work with Engineering and Operations to reduce scrap, rework, escapes, and recurrence.

Quality Management System and Audit Support

  • Support ongoing compliance with AS9100D, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, customer-specific requirements, and applicable regulatory requirements.
  • Prepare for and participate in internal audits, registrar audits, customer audits, supplier assessments, and TUV or UL facility audits, as applicable; support audit follow-up and closure of assigned findings.
  • Support the process approach, risk-based thinking, document control, configuration management, product traceability, product safety, counterfeit-parts prevention, and Foreign Object Debris (FOD) prevention.
  • Assist with creating, updating, and reviewing quality procedures, work instructions, inspection instructions, the Quality Manual, the Procedure Manual, and controlled quality records; provide training on assigned processes and documents.
  • Maintain assigned portions of the Master Documentation Register and support document-control activities to ensure quality documents are current, approved, and properly controlled.
  • Review purchase orders, customer quality clauses, specifications, and contract requirements to confirm quality obligations are identified and implemented.
  • Support the calibration system for inspection, measuring, and test equipment, including record maintenance, recall coordination, and follow-up on overdue or out-of-tolerance equipment.

Supplier Quality

  • Work with suppliers and Supply Chain to resolve assigned quality issues and support supplier selection, approval, development, and ongoing performance monitoring.
  • Support supplier audits, remote assessments, receiving-inspection planning, and supplier risk evaluations; participate in onsite supplier activities as experience and business needs require.
  • Review supplier FAIRs and supporting objective evidence for compliance with AS9102 and customer requirements.
  • Coordinate assigned supplier escapes, containment activities, corrective actions, and improvement actions, escalating significant risks or recurring issues to the Quality Manager.
  • Maintain and analyze supplier scorecards and key performance indicators, including On-Time Delivery (OTD), Parts Per Million (PPM), Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ), corrective-action responsiveness, and other risk or performance measures.
  • Support maintenance of the Approved Vendor List and communicate supplier-quality performance to Supply Chain and cross-functional stakeholders.

Quality Metrics and Continuous Improvement

  • Analyze assigned quality data and communicate trends, risks, and improvement opportunities using quality metrics and objective evidence.
  • Track and report CORE process KPIs, Quality Objectives, FPY, nonconformance trends, supplier performance, corrective-action aging, and other departmental measures.
  • Apply foundational quality-engineering methods such as risk assessment, sampling plans, basic Statistical Process Control (SPC), and data trending; participate in FMEA, process-capability (Cp/Cpk), and Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (GR&R) activities with guidance as appropriate.
  • Participate in Lean, Six Sigma, and other continuous-improvement projects and lead appropriately scoped improvement activities that enhance product quality, process capability, cost, delivery, or customer satisfaction.
  • Use Microsoft Excel, ERP/MRP systems, quality-management software, and other business tools to analyze data, maintain records, and communicate results.

Qualifications: 

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Technology, Quality, or a related technical field; an equivalent combination of education, technical training, and relevant experience may be considered.
  • Three to five years of relevant quality, inspection, manufacturing-engineering, supplier-quality, or quality-engineering experience in a manufacturing environment, including at least one year supporting an AS9100 and/or ISO 9001 certified quality management system.
  • Practical working knowledge of AS9100D and/or ISO 9001 requirements, including control of nonconforming products, document control, process controls, customer requirements, and risk-based thinking.
  • Experience preparing, performing, or reviewing First Article Inspections and FAIR documentation; ability to read engineering drawings and apply basic GD&T concepts in accordance with ASME Y14.5. Familiarity with acceptance sampling principles such as ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 is preferred.
  • Experience with root-cause analysis, nonconformance processing, corrective-action follow-up, quality metrics, and cross-functional problem solving; exposure to supplier quality is required, with direct supplier corrective-action experience preferred.
  • Hands-on proficiency with common precision inspection tools and the ability to determine appropriate inspection methods.
  • Working knowledge of electro-mechanical manufacturing and experience with several relevant processes, such as machining, sheet metal fabrication, plating or coatings, chemical conversion coatings, assembly, soldering, conformal coating, PCB/PCBA fabrication, electronics, special processes, or ESD controls.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office, with experience using ERP/MRP systems and quality-management, document-control, or inspection software.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to manage multiple priorities independently.

Preferred Qualifications and Certifications

  • Aerospace, defense, rugged electronics, medical-device, or other highly regulated manufacturing experience.
  • ASQ Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA), Certified Quality Technician (CQT), Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), or equivalent certification; certification in progress is also valued.
  • AS9100 or ISO 9001 internal-auditor training, audit-participation experience, or interest in completing formal auditor training.
  • Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt or Green Belt, with practical exposure to DMAIC or structured continuous improvement.
  • Formal GD&T training or certification.
  • Exposure to customer-specific aerospace or defense requirements and quality clauses.

Competencies:

  • Clear Communication Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills with the ability to deliver the appropriate level of detail.
  • Develop Relationships Has the ability to develop relationships with co-workers and to contribute to group solutions.
  • Good Judgement Exercise good business judgment and makes good decisions and notifies management of issues and concerns.
  • Positive Attitude Positive attitude with ability to work independently as well as collaboratively across all departments within the OSS Company.
  • Budget Works with the company's budgetary guidelines while minimizing expenses and maximizing cost efficiency.
  • Company Goals Understands Company and department goals and objectives and how to contribute.

Physical Demands:

This position operates in both office and manufacturing environments. The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, communicate, use a computer, and use hands to handle inspection equipment and product. The employee may occasionally lift, push, or carry items up to 25 pounds and may assist with heavier items using appropriate equipment or team-lift practices. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

To apply, please contact HR here.

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.