About this opportunity
Powerus lists this Head of Quality opportunity in rock hill, South Carolina. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
Powerus is building a next-generation American autonomous systems platform for defense, national security, critical infrastructure, and commercial operations. We are scaling through manufacturing expansion, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and international growth, with a focus on moving technology into production and real-world operations.
Our Mission
To deliver resilient autonomous technologies that strengthen national security, protect critical infrastructure, and give our customers greater operational capability.
Why Join Powerus Now
Powerus is entering a significant phase of manufacturing growth. We are expanding assembly, integration, and test operations and need a quality leader who can build the systems, team, and technical capability to support that growth.
This is an opportunity to establish how quality operates across the business, from supplier and incoming inspection through manufacturing, product testing, and final acceptance. Your work will directly influence product reliability, customer confidence, and our ability to deliver at scale.
The Opportunity
We are seeking a Head of Quality to own quality assurance, quality control, and product quality testing across a fast-moving defense manufacturing operation.
You will build and lead a practical quality function that prevents defects, identifies problems quickly, and verifies that products meet their requirements before release. Working closely with manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, and program leadership, you will establish clear acceptance criteria, effective controls, and disciplined resolution of quality issues.
You must have operated in a high-intensity manufacturing environment where demanding delivery schedules and exceptionally high quality standards were both essential. Experience in a startup or rapid manufacturing scale-up is required.
We need a technically credible, hands‑on leader who can make sound decisions under pressure, challenge weak evidence, and find innovative ways to improve quality and testing as output increases.
Key Responsibilities
Quality Assurance
Own the quality strategy and quality management system, establishing processes that are effective on the factory floor and can support rapid growth.
Translate product, customer, and applicable regulatory requirements into clear quality plans, controls, and acceptance criteria.
Establish document control, traceability, configuration discipline, training requirements, and auditable quality records.
Lead internal audits and readiness for customer, supplier, and external quality assessments.
Embed risk assessment and defect prevention into new product introduction, manufacturing readiness, and engineering changes.
Quality Control
Own incoming, in-process, and final inspection, with appropriate inspection methods, sampling plans, and escalation criteria.
Establish controls for critical characteristics, workmanship, assembly integrity, and product conformity.
Lead nonconformance management, material review, containment, disposition, and corrective action with the relevant technical authorities.
Ensure defective or suspect material is identified, segregated, and controlled.
Define clear release authority and stop‑work criteria, taking decisive action when product quality or safety is at risk.
Product Quality and Testing
Own the quality requirements and governance for product acceptance testing, working with engineering to define methods, limits, and evidence.
Build reliable inspection and test capability, including equipment, fixtures, procedures, calibration, and measurement system validation.
Ensure test coverage addresses critical performance, reliability, and safety requirements.
Work with engineering to distinguish design issues, manufacturing defects, and test‑system faults.
Drive improvements in test repeatability, coverage, cycle time, and automated data capture.
Use failure analysis and test results to improve product design, manufacturing processes, and supplier performance.
Leadership and Continuous Improvement
Recruit, develop, and lead QA, QC, inspection, and quality test personnel as the business scales.
Build a culture in which manufacturing teams own quality and issues are raised early.
Lead supplier quality activity with supply chain, including qualification, performance monitoring, and corrective action.
Track first‑pass yield, defect rates, rework, scrap, customer escapes, and corrective‑action effectiveness.
Resolve recurring problems through structured root‑cause analysis and verify that corrective actions work.
Use AI tools, automation, digital inspection, and manufacturing data where they improve defect detection, analysis, traceability, and decision‑making.
Give leadership a clear view of quality performance, emerging risks, and actions required.
What We’re Looking For
Leadership across QA and QC: You have owned both the systems that prevent defects and the inspection and testing that verify product conformity.
Experience under pressure: You have maintained very high quality standards in an operation with demanding schedules, complex hardware, and significant consequences of failure.
Startup or scale‑up experience: You have built quality capability while products, processes, teams, and manufacturing volumes were evolving.
Defense manufacturing experience: You understand the reliability, traceability, configuration control, and acceptance requirements associated with defense hardware.
Strong experience with complex electromechanical products, ideally autonomous systems or similarly demanding hardware.
Practical knowledge of product inspection, acceptance testing, failure analysis, and manufacturing process controls.
Experience developing and operating quality management systems aligned with relevant standards, such as ISO 9001 or AS9100.
Strong capability in root‑cause analysis, corrective action, process risk assessment, and measurement system validation.
Experience managing supplier quality and resolving issues across external manufacturing partners.
Evidence of improving yield, reducing defects and customer escapes, and strengthening product reliability during a manufacturing ramp.
The judgment to make timely, evidence‑based decisions and communicate clearly when a product or process does not meet requirements.
A hands‑on approach to leadership, with the ability to build teams and earn credibility with engineers, technicians, and manufacturing leaders.
The Powerus Environment
We move quickly, set demanding goals, and expect people to take ownership. Our quality leader must bring urgency, technical judgment, and the ability to solve problems as the business evolves.
We value innovative approaches to inspection, testing, and defect prevention. You will be expected to question inefficient methods, introduce better tools, and build processes that people can use consistently under pressure.
This is an on‑site leadership role requiring substantial time on the manufacturing floor and in test areas, with flexibility during critical builds, ramp activity, and customer deliveries.
What Success Looks Like
Quality requirements and acceptance criteria are clear, understood, and consistently applied.
Inspection and testing provide reliable evidence that products meet requirements before release.
Manufacturing output increases while quality remains controlled.
Defects are detected early, contained quickly, and prevented from recurring.
Suppliers and internal teams are accountable for quality performance.
Product and process records provide dependable traceability.
Quality data drives measurable improvements in reliability, yield, and manufacturing performance.
What We Look For in Our People
Ownership, practical judgment, technical curiosity, and a strong bias for action. We value team players who communicate directly, challenge assumptions constructively, and deliver on their commitments.
We want people willing to get into the detail, work across functions, and build a business that delivers capability that matters.
Work Authorization & Security Clearance
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States, be U.S. citizens, and be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
Equal Opportunity & Accessibility
Powerus is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the recruitment process.
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Worksite address
rock hill, SC, 29732, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.