Office-based | Early Friday finish
Mon – Thur: 08:00 – 17:00
Fri: 08:00 – 14:00

Quality Engineer

Our Company

We are currently recruiting a Quality Engineer to join our engineering team.

Northern Hydraulics Ltd is proud to be one of the UK’s top manufacturers of industry leading precision hydraulic cylinders. Throughout our 35 years in the industry, our global clients in the excavator, mining and quarrying and materials handling industry, have come to expect the highest quality products.

Accredited with Investor in People Silver Status, and recently recognized as a Best Managed Company by Deloitte (2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022), the business has undergone considerable expansion in recent years. Northern Hydraulics continues to invest in both its people & technology today.

OBJECTIVES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Reporting directly to the Engineering Manager, the role of the Quality Engineer is a critical position within Northern Hydraulics Ltd. The post holder will be responsible for a variety of daily duties to ensure optimum quality levels are achieved and maintained throughout our engineering and shopfloor manufacturing processes.

The postholder will be dedicated to actively contributing to the company’s continued success, whilst maintaining our company reputation as a leading manufacturer of high-quality hydraulic cylinders. They will assume full responsibility for implementing and continually driving the company forward in terms of its manufacturing effectiveness and establishing a culture of high-quality manufacturing. The successful person will have a can-do attitude and be able to demonstrate an ability to add value to the organisation by completing their duties in a timely and effective manner.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Monitor the quality of incoming parts and raw materials to ensure they are up to standard
Working alongside the supply chain function, ensure active communication between NHL and suppliers to resolve any supplier related quality issues and document accordingly
Work closely with the supply chain function acting as a technical resource to develop an approved supplier listing
Review new NCs raised and ensure all mandatory information is captured and preventative actions put in place to prevent reoccurrence
Monitor and approve closure of NC actions
Conduct quality training workshops, completing quality toolbox talks and alerts
Attend daily and weekly production, quality and scorecard meetings acting as a quality representative reporting on quality trends and preventative actions taken
Ensure quality trends are clearly visible, communicated, and meaningful feedback conveyed to production teams on preventative actions
Organise the return of defective goods (internal and warranty) to the supply chain and customers and ensure corrective actions are put in place to prevent reoccurrence
Responsible for the creation and issuing of the rework schedule to production, ensuring turnaround times are met
Lead product failure investigations to ensure swift and thorough investigation and manage product recalls
Management of internal and ISO audit schedules
Responsible for maintenance of and ensuring compliance to the company’s ISO 9001 – 2015 accreditation
Act as a chief representative for external quality auditors
Work with customers to reach agreement for on all warranty claims and provide recommendations to management for approval of warranty payments
Any other duties within reason and capability
Set detailed guidelines on what needs to be checked and what the quality standards are
Update our Quality Management System (QMS) with incidents, fixes, and improvements
Audit our systems based on ISO 9001:2015 requirements
Monitor the entire production cycle and perform regular tests to identify potential malfunctions as early as possible
Identify the root of technical issues and recommend fixes
Coordinate with external quality assurance auditors and technicians to ensure legal compliance
Work with internal teams to increase customer satisfaction by improving the quality of the products.

This description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties; the post holder will be responsible for all duties aforementioned in addition to all other aspects of the role as considered by the Engineering Manager to fall into the Quality Engineering role remit.

KEY COMPETENCIES:

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams.
Demonstrated leadership ability.
Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:

KPI’s and measurable figures are reviewed on an annual basis
Investigate product quality in order to make improvements to achieve better customer satisfaction.
Oversee continuous improvement projects.
Plan, create and manage the overall Quality Planning strategy.
Prepare and present reports and metrics to Senior Management.
Test current products and identifying deficiencies.
Collaborate with the Product Development team to ensure consistent project execution.
Collect quality data.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS:

3rd level mechanical / manufacturing or quality engineering qualification or QBE
A minimum of 2 years’ experience working within quality assurance & control in an engineering manufacturing environment.
Strong knowledge of special processes (e.g. welding, painting) including WPS.
Demonstrable experience of using value added quality principles and facilitating improvement throughout the quality assurance process, by utilising practical problem-solving techniques such as 5Y, 8D, cause and effect analysis etc.
Working knowledge of QC tools.
Ability to demonstrate commercial astuteness with a strong focus particularly on managing the COQ and reducing the COPQ.
Previous experience of working in line with ISO 9001 (2015) or a strong understanding the principles of ISO standards.
Experience of driving NC process with a demonstrated ability to use NC process, root cause analysis and quality SOP’s to reduce the COPQ.
Understanding of Kaizen and lean manufacturing tools and techniques an advantage.
Understanding of APQP.
Excellent communication skills both verbally and written.
Proven ability to work in a team as well as on their own initiative.
Candidate must be self-motivated with a proven track record of driving tasks to completion in and effective and efficient manner ensuring long term continuous improvement is sustained.
Strong willed & resilient in nature with the best interests of the quality function within NHL at the core of their intent.
Excellent interpersonal skills.
Excellent numeracy & literacy skills.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

Knowledge of the hydraulic cylinder manufacturing process.
Experience within a precision engineering environment is advantageous.
Previous MRP/ERP experience is desirable.
ISO Internal Auditor Qualified.
Strong understanding of customer expectations.

Northern Hydraulics Ltd reserves the right to enhance essential criteria for shortlisting purposes in the event of a high volume of applicants. In such an instance, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Hours of Work:

Mon-Thurs: 08:00 – 17:00
Fri: 08:00 – 14:00

In return the successful candidate will receive: