Quality Specialist, Rocket Motor Systems

About the Role

As a Quality Specialist for Rocket Motor Systems, you will be the boots on the ground at our McHenry, Mississippi facility -- the quality team's daily presence on the production floor. You will work alongside manufacturing operations to ensure that solid rocket motor hardware is built right, inspected right, and that when something goes wrong, it is contained and corrected before it moves downstream. This role combines hands-on inspection, internal auditing, nonconformance management, and the situational awareness to identify safety and quality risks proactively in an energetics manufacturing environment. You are not sitting at a desk reviewing reports -- you are walking the floor, watching the process, talking to operators, and making sure the quality system works where it matters most: at the point of manufacture. If you are someone who takes pride in catching problems early, keeping a production floor disciplined, and being the person the team turns to when something doesn't look right, this role is for you.

What You Will Do

• Provide daily shop floor quality support to manufacturing operations, serving as the accessible, on-the-ground quality resource for operators, technicians, and production supervisors -- answering questions, clarifying work instruction requirements, and helping resolve quality issues in real time before they become escapes.
• Manage product containment activities when nonconforming material or process deviations are identified, ensuring suspect product is physically segregated, clearly identified, and controlled until disposition is complete -- preventing nonconforming hardware from advancing through subsequent manufacturing operations.
• Conduct internal process audits across RMS manufacturing operations, verifying that production activities conform to work instructions, manufacturing planning, quality procedures, and AS9100 requirements -- documenting findings and tracking corrective actions through to closure.
• Perform in-process and final inspection sampling on solid rocket motor components and assemblies using calibrated measurement equipment, verifying conformance to engineering drawings, GD&T requirements, and acceptance criteria at critical manufacturing checkpoints.
• Monitor the shop floor for safety and quality risks that can be proactively mitigated, including FOD (foreign object debris) control, electrostatic discharge (ESD) compliance, propellant and energetic material handling practices, cleanliness and contamination controls, and environmental condition requirements -- escalating concerns before they result in product impact or personnel hazard.
• Support the Material Review Board (MRB) process by documenting nonconformances, gathering objective evidence, and assisting quality engineers with root cause investigation -- ensuring MRB records are accurate, complete, and closed in a timely manner.
• Manage internal rework activities resulting from MRB dispositions, coordinating with manufacturing to ensure rework instructions are clearly communicated, properly executed, and re-inspected to verify conformance before releasing hardware back into the production flow.
• Maintain nonconformance and containment data with accuracy and discipline, ensuring that defect types, quantities, locations, and dispositions are recorded in the quality management system and available for trend analysis, corrective action prioritization, and management reporting.
• Support First Article Inspection (FAI) execution per AS9102 requirements for new or revised RMS hardware, coordinating dimensional data collection, material certifications, and process documentation to complete FAI packages.
• Assist in developing and refining inspection plans for incoming material, in-process verification steps, and end-of-line acceptance criteria, working under the direction of RMS quality engineers to ensure inspection methods are practical, repeatable, and aligned with critical-to-quality characteristics.
• Train production operators and technicians on quality expectations, inspection techniques, proper use of measurement equipment, and the importance of accurate data capture at the point of manufacture -- building quality awareness into the daily habits of the production team.
• Verify calibration status of inspection equipment and tooling used on the shop floor, ensuring that measurement instruments are within calibration intervals, properly stored, and that out-of-tolerance conditions are flagged and contained per procedure.
• Participate in continuous improvement activities by identifying recurring quality issues, process inefficiencies, and inspection bottlenecks -- proposing practical improvements and working with quality engineering and manufacturing to implement them.

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in a quality role within aerospace, defense, munitions, or similarly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Hands-on experience with calibrated measurement equipment -- calipers, micrometers, height gauges, pin gauges, CMM, optical comparators, or equivalent -- and the ability to perform accurate dimensional inspections on machined, cast, or composite components.
• Ability to read, interpret, and inspect to engineering drawings, including application of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) per ASME Y14.5.
• Experience with nonconformance documentation, containment procedures, and Material Review Board (MRB) processes in a production environment.
• Working knowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, or equivalent quality management system requirements, including familiarity with internal audit principles and procedures.
• Comfort working on a manufacturing floor in an energetics or safety-critical environment, with the discipline to follow handling, ESD, FOD, and housekeeping controls rigorously and consistently.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, particularly in data entry, record-keeping, and maintaining traceability of inspection results and nonconformance records.
• Effective communicator who can work across functions -- with operators, technicians, manufacturing engineers, and quality engineers -- and who is comfortable raising concerns and stopping work when quality or safety standards are not met.
• Self-starter who can work independently with minimal oversight while exercising sound judgment about when to escalate issues to quality engineering or management.
• S. Person status is required as this position needs to access export-controlled data and materials.

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical degree or associate's degree in quality, manufacturing, mechanical, or aerospace engineering technology -- or equivalent military or trade school training in inspection or quality assurance.
• Experience working in or supporting solid rocket motor, propellant, ordnance, or pyrotechnic manufacturing operations -- including familiarity with the unique safety protocols, personnel limits, and environmental controls these facilities require.
• ASQ Certified Quality Inspector (CQI), Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA), or equivalent certification.
• Experience with nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods such as radiographic inspection, ultrasonic testing, or visual inspection standards used in aerospace hardware acceptance.
• Familiarity with AS9102 First Article Inspection processes, including the ability to compile FAI data packages and coordinate with engineering for characteristic accountability.
• Experience conducting internal audits in a manufacturing environment, including audit planning, checklist development, finding documentation, and corrective action follow-up.
• Knowledge of Lean manufacturing principles, 5S, and continuous improvement methodologies as applied to quality and inspection operations.
• Experience with manufacturing execution systems (MES), ERP systems, or quality data management tools (e.g., Jira, Teamcenter, Oracle, or equivalent).
• Experience with inspection of composite structures, bonded assemblies, or insulation/liner systems used in aerospace or propulsion applications.