Quality Director Defense Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Role Overview

The Senior Quality Director is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and continuously improving Luminit's Quality Management System (QMS) to support business growth, customer requirements, and compliance with regulated industry standards.

This role serves as the company's quality leader, overseeing quality systems, product verification, supplier quality, audit readiness, and New Product Introduction (NPI) quality activities. The Senior Quality Director will identify and close gaps within the QMS, ensure compliance with standards such as ISO 9001:2015, and help prepare the organization for future certifications including AS9100 and IATF 16949.

Working closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Program Management, Supply Chain, and executive leadership, this position ensures quality is embedded throughout the product lifecycle, from development and qualification through production and customer delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Systems Leadership

• Own and maintain Luminit's Quality Management System (QMS), ensuring processes consistently deliver compliant, repeatable, and measurable outcomes.
• Develop, implement, and maintain quality policies, procedures, work instructions, and supporting documentation.
• Conduct QMS gap assessments and drive corrective actions to improve system maturity and effectiveness.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing, engineering, and business processes.
• Support the company's readiness for future certifications and customer requirements, including AS9100, IATF 16949, supplier assessments, and regulated market expectations.
• Establish quality governance processes that support product verification, traceability, and compliance throughout the product lifecycle.

Quality Management System & Product Governance

• Ensure the QMS effectively supports product verification, process control, and customer quality requirements.
• Establish and maintain documented quality frameworks that support internal audits, customer audits, supplier assessments, and certification activities.
• Define and monitor quality performance indicators to evaluate system effectiveness and drive improvement.
• Ensure quality records, documentation, and traceability systems support regulatory and customer expectations.
• Develop scalable quality systems capable of supporting company growth, manufacturing expansion, and entry into increasingly regulated markets.

Quality Control & Assurance

• Oversee incoming inspection, in-process quality, and final product release processes.
• Establish and monitor quality metrics, including defect rates, yield, and corrective actions.
• Ensure consistent application of inspection and testing standards across operations.
• Coordinate stress and structural analysis for abuse and inertia load cases, addressing safety factors and margins of design.

Supplier Quality Management

• Develop and manage supplier quality programs, requirements, and performance expectations.
• Partner with Supply Chain to evaluate, qualify, and monitor suppliers.
• Establish supplier qualification, monitoring, and corrective-action processes to ensure long-term supplier quality performance.
• Address supplier-related quality issues and drive root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Support qualification of new suppliers, materials, and manufacturing partners.

New Product Introduction (NPI)

• Serve as the Quality representative on cross-functional NPI and phase-gate teams, defining quality entry and exit criteria and providing quality approval for production-readiness decisions.
• Process FMEA
• Own process risk management for new products and processes — facilitate PFMEAs, contribute to design FMEAs, and ensure identified risks are tied to control plans and closed out before launch.
• Translate engineering and customer specifications into production control plans and inspection plans, including acceptance criteria for optical and material characteristics (e.g., diffraction efficiency, diffusion angle/FWHM, coating uniformity, lamination integrity).
• Establish and approve First Article Inspection and product qualification; lead process validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) and capability studies (Cpk/Ppk) for new roll-to-roll and lamination processes.
• Drive measurement-system readiness for new characteristics — gauge/metrology selection and MSA (Gage R&R) — so new specs are measurable and repeatable before production release.
• Lead customer-facing advance quality planning and submissions (APQP/PPAP for automotive programs; FAI and qualification packages for aerospace/defense programs) and manage customer-specific quality requirements through launch.
• Qualify new suppliers and materials introduced during NPI (photopolymers, glass, films, adhesives), coordinating with procurement on incoming acceptance and first-lot validation.
• Define design-transfer and production-readiness criteria, verifying that documentation, training, tooling, and inspection capability are in place before a product reaches the floor.
• Drive closed-loop learning — feed qualification, pilot, and early-production data back into FMEAs, control plans, and design standards.
• Establish launch-phase controls (e.g., safe-launch / heightened inspection) and define the data thresholds for transitioning a product from launch monitoring into steady-state QC under the quality supervisor.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Program teams to resolve quality issues and improve processes
• Support root cause analysis, corrective actions, and preventive measures (CAPA)
• Ensure quality considerations are integrated into product development and manufacturing scale-up

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead and develop the Quality team, including the Quality Supervisor, technicians, inspectors, and future quality personnel.
• Establish performance expectations, training programs, and career development pathways.
• Develop internal audit capability by training and mentoring additional qualified internal auditors.
• Foster a culture of quality, accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or related technical field (Master's preferred).
• 8+ years of progressive experience in quality engineering, quality management, or manufacturing quality environments.
• 3+ years of experience leading quality teams and/or owning Quality Management Systems.
• Demonstrated experience maintaining and improving ISO 9001-compliant quality systems.
• Experience leading audits and managing compliance with regulatory, customer, and certification requirements.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, inspection methodologies, process controls, and quality management principles.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to interface effectively with customers, suppliers, auditors, and executive leadership.
• Ability to understand and communicate technical concepts across engineering, manufacturing, and quality functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in optics, photonics, aerospace, automotive, or defense industries
• Familiarity with additional standards such as IATF 16949 or AS 9100
• Certification in Six Sigma, Lean, or related quality methodologies
• Experience implementing SPC, FMEA, and advanced quality tools
• Internal Auditor Training

Who You’ll Work With

• Manufacturing and Operations leadership
• Optical Engineering
• Program Management and customer-facing teams
• Supply Chain and supplier partners
• External auditors and certification bodies

Work Environment & Logistics

• On-site role based in Torrance, CA
• Cross-functional collaboration across manufacturing, engineering, and quality teams
• Participation in audits, customer visits, and supplier interactions

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive compensation package
• Comprehensive benefits
• Opportunity to shape and scale the quality systems of a growing advanced manufacturing company serving aerospace, automotive, defense, and industrial markets.

Luminit develops advanced optical technologies used across automotive, aerospace, defense, and industrial applications. Employees work on cutting-edge holographic and photonic systems in a collaborative, technically driven environment with opportunities to contribute directly to next-generation mobility and display technologies.