Senior Quality Engineer (Systems Auditor)

Company Description

General Dynamics Mission Systems engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of more than 13,000 top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defence and scientific arenas. In the UK, we are leading the way in avionics and communication systems. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency.

Job Description

Make an impact through quality, assurance and continuous improvement

We looking for an experienced Senior Quality Engineer (Systems Auditor) to help maintain, evaluate and continually improve our management systems.

Reporting to the Head of Quality, you will act as an ambassador for quality across the business. You will independently assess the effectiveness and compliance of our management systems, support external certification activity and help embed a culture of “Right First Time, Every Time.”

This is an excellent opportunity for a qualified Lead Auditor who enjoys working collaboratively across projects, programmes and departments within a complex engineering environment.

Typical activities will include:

• Developing and maintaining a risk-based system audit programme
• Planning and conducting internal system audits against the agreed schedule
• Evaluating compliance with contractual, regulatory and management system requirements
• Preparing clear audit reports and recording non-conformances and opportunities for improvement
• Agreeing appropriate corrective actions with auditees and monitoring actions through to effective closure
• Maintaining the Audit Action Tracker and analysing findings to identify trends, recurring issues and areas of risk
• Supporting external certification audits, including coordinating audit itineraries and acting as an escort for external assessors
• Liaising with auditors and internal stakeholders to manage non-conformances and corrective action plans
• Contributing to management reviews for the company’s ISO certifications
• Supporting the administration and change control of the business process library
• Conducting special audits and appraisals in response to emerging business requirements
• Providing practical quality guidance and promoting awareness across projects and departments
• Working collaboratively with Quality Engineers supporting engineering projects and programmes
• Contributing to the continued improvement of Quality-owned processes 

Qualifications

You will be an experienced quality professional who can communicate confidently and constructively with stakeholders at every level of an organisation. You will be comfortable working independently, challenging existing practices where appropriate and helping teams identify practical, sustainable improvements.

Essential experience and qualifications:

• A Quality Assurance diploma, or an HNC, HND or degree in a relevant engineering discipline
• Lead Auditor qualification for ISO 9001
• Practical experience of ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100:D
• Quality Engineering experience within a design, development or manufacturing environment
• Experience of conducting audits and managing findings, non-conformances and corrective actions
• The ability to support auditees with root cause analysis
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Confidence working across different functions and organisational levels
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• A self-motivated and collaborative approach
• Flexibility to travel to other company locations, including overseas when required

Knowledge and experience that would be beneficial:

• AQAP 2110 and AQAP 2105
• UK Defence Standard 05-61
• ISO 14001 Environmental Management
• ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management
• ISO 20000 IT Service Management
• ISO 27001 Information Security Management
• Quality techniques including APQP, FMEA and SPC
• Membership of the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI)
• Experience working with or familiarity with AI/ML models is preferred 
• Identifies opportunities to apply AI for continuous improvement and innovation

Why join us?

You’ll have the opportunity to apply your auditing and quality expertise across a varied and technically complex business. Working with colleagues across Quality, Engineering, projects and functional departments, you will help protect our certifications, strengthen business processes and drive meaningful, sustainable improvement.

If you are a qualified quality auditor who combines attention to detail with sound judgement, collaboration and a genuine commitment to continuous improvement, we would welcome your application.

Additional Information

Salary for this position is £40,000 to £50,000, depending on experience plus our excellent flexible benefits package.

We offer hybrid working - for this role ideally we are looking for a minimum of 2 days per week on site.  Travel to our other sites and locations is required, this includes our sites in Hastings.

We pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose, offering impressive benefits: 

• A compressed nine-day fortnight and compressed hours - which means every other Friday off. 
• A personalized career development plan, alongside regular progress reviews - supporting and valuing your progression within the Company. 
• A flexible working environment where your contributions are recognized and rewarded with flexible benefits 

We believe in maintaining a diverse workplace - inclusive of beliefs, cultural background, job experiences, thoughts and ideas. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we welcome you to join our inclusive team!

Our success is fuelled by our colleagues and the wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills they bring to the Company.

We are a Disability Confident Employer, as such we offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job.
Please email [email protected] if you would like your application to be considered under the DC Scheme.

All successful/appointed applicants must be able to obtain a level of UK Security clearance that is appropriate for the role and undertake suitable Right to work checks

Every application matters to us. We want you to know that each application we receive is reviewed by a real person—not just an algorithm. Our screening questions are also carefully considered to help us understand your experience and fit for the role.

We appreciate the time you take to apply.