What are the responsibilities and job description for the Advanced Quality Engineer position at GrowTech Industries, LLC?
Advanced Quality Engineer
Location: Goodyear, AZ (On-Site)
Department: Quality Assurance / Operations
Reports To: Director of New Product Introduction
Employment Type: Full-Time | Exempt
Department: Quality Assurance / Operations
Reports To: Director of New Product Introduction
Employment Type: Full-Time | Exempt
About GTI Fabrication
GTI Fabrication is a leader in industrial modular fabrication, serving the energy, defense, and heavy industrial markets. With facilities in New York and Arizona, GTI designs and builds custom steel structures, containerized energy systems, and modular enclosures that power mission-critical applications around the world.
As GTI continues to expand production capacity and introduce new product lines, we are building a world-class Quality organization focused on proactive systems, process capability, and continuous improvement.
Position Overview
The Advanced Quality Engineer (AQE) plays a key role in ensuring that new and existing products meet GTI’s high standards for quality, safety, and performance. This position will lead new product introduction (NPI) quality activities, develop advanced quality plans, and partner with cross-functional teams to drive process capability and defect prevention in a custom, high-mix steel manufacturing environment. This positions works closely with Advanced Manufacturing Team to ensure manufacturing processes are designed to meet customer quality requirements.
The ideal candidate has hands-on experience supporting fabrication, welding, assembly, and mechanical/electrical integration, along with a strong understanding of APQP, PPAP, FMEA, and control plan development.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) activities for new product introduction and engineering changes, ensuring manufacturability and quality readiness.
- Develop and maintain Control Plans, FMEAs, Process Flow Diagrams, and Inspection Standards for new and existing products.
- Identify critical dimensions and features with customer input, define input variables to control, develop tooling and methodologies to measure features, build systems to record and track measurements, ensure capability to implement SPC in processes.
- Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain during the design and prototype phases to identify potential quality risks and implement preventative measures.
- Establish and validate process capability (Cp, Cpk) for key manufacturing operations, including steel fabrication, welding, machining, and assembly.
- Drive First Article Inspection (FAI) and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) documentation for new or modified parts and assemblies.
- Support supplier qualification and evaluation, ensuring critical materials and outsourced processes meet GTI’s specifications and standards.
- Use root cause analysis and structured problem-solving tools (8D, 5 Whys, Ishikawa) to address quality issues and implement effective corrective actions.
- Partner with Operations to ensure quality standards are built into manufacturing processes — “quality at the source.”
- Develop inspection and test methods, work instructions, and quality documentation to support standardization across production.
- Lead continuous improvement projects targeting scrap reduction, rework elimination, and first-pass yield improvements.
- Support internal, customer, and third-party audits; ensure compliance with ISO 9001 and other applicable standards.
- Provide technical training and guidance to technicians and operators on quality methods and measurement techniques.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field.
- 5–10 years of quality engineering experience in a manufacturing environment — preferably custom steel, structural fabrication, or heavy industrial manufacturing.
- Demonstrated success leading NPI and APQP processes.
- Strong understanding of fabrication processes, GD&T, welding, machining, and assembly.
- Hands-on experience developing and maintaining Control Plans, FMEAs, and PPAP documentation.
- Proficiency in root cause analysis tools (8D, 5 Why, Fishbone, DMAIC).
- Working knowledge of ISO 9001 or equivalent quality management systems.
- Proficiency in MS Office, Minitab, Power BI, or other quality analytics tools.
- Excellent problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Certification in CQE, Six Sigma Green/Black Belt, or related continuous improvement disciplines.
- Experience implementing digital inspection or measurement systems.
- Exposure to electromechanical systems or integrated modular assemblies.
- Familiarity with weld inspection standards (AWS D1.1) and NDT principles.
Working Conditions
- Full-time, on-site position based in Goodyear, AZ.
- Work performed in both office and manufacturing floor environments.
- Occasional travel to other GTI facilities, suppliers, or customer sites may be required.