Senior Quality Engineer

Job Overview

While Mainspring is growing rapidly to scale production of its linear generators, quality is a crucial element to the success of our mission. The Senior Quality Engineer serves as Mainspring Energy's on-site quality representative embedded at global contract manufacturer Monterrey facility. This role is the critical bridge between Mainspring Energy's engineering and quality organization and global contract manufacturer's local quality team, enabling and empowering the global contract manufacturer to meet Mainspring Energy's product quality, inspection, and test requirements. Rather than functioning as an individual contributor on the floor, this person leads through influence: equipping, aligning, and supporting the global contract manufacturer quality team to own and execute quality outcomes on Mainspring Energy's behalf.

Responsibilities

Inspection Enablement

• Ensure global contract manufacturer inspectors are trained and aligned on Mainspring Energy-specific requirements for incoming, in-process, and final inspection of power generation assemblies, sub-assemblies, and critical components

• Review and approve in-process and final inspection plans and control plans developed by the global contract manufacturer quality team; provide timely feedback and clarification on Mainspring Energy engineering intent

• Support global contract manufacturer's MRB (Material Review Board) process by facilitating rapid disposition decisions and connecting the global contract manufacturer quality team with Mainspring Energy engineering to resolve NCRs and prevent production holds from stalling the line

• Enable global contract manufacturer to own FAI (First Article Inspection) execution; review completed packages on behalf of Mainspring Energy and coordinate approval with the engineering team

• Ensure global contract manufacturer has current, controlled copies of all applicable Mainspring Energy drawings, specifications, and workmanship standards; manage document updates and communicate changes proactively

Test Enablement

• Align global contract manufacturer's test team with Mainspring Energy-approved test procedures and acceptance criteria for power generation units, including load bank testing, voltage/frequency regulation, transient response, and factory acceptance tests (FAT)

• Review and provide guidance on test plans and procedures developed or executed by global contract manufacturer; identify gaps and work with Mainspring Energy test engineering to resolve ambiguities before they impact throughput

• Support global contract manufacturer in reviewing and accepting test data packages; coach the team on identifying out-of-tolerance conditions and escalating appropriately to Mainspring Energy test engineering

• Facilitate rapid resolution of test anomalies by connecting global contract manufacturer test technicians with the right Mainspring Energy engineering and quality resources

• Ensure global contract manufacturer maintains a compliant calibration program for all measurement and test equipment (M&TE) used in Mainspring Energy product acceptance

• Lead cross-functional Root Cause Corrective Actions (RCCA) alongside internal software/test engineering teams to reduce automated test station faults and NTF (No Trouble Found) yields

Quality System & Relationship Management

• Act as the day-to-day quality liaison and trusted partner between Mainspring Energy and global contract manufacturer quality and operations leadership; build a collaborative, high-accountability relationship that drives shared ownership of quality outcomes

• Coach and mentor global contract manufacturer quality engineers on Mainspring Energy's quality expectations, root cause analysis methodologies (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone), and CAPA rigor; elevate the team's capability over time

• Enable global contract manufacturer to lead internal process and product audits to Mainspring Energy standards; participate as an observer and provide structured feedback rather than conducting audits independently

• Own the quality performance reporting cadence - consolidate KPIs (yield, first-pass test rate, NCR rate, open CAPA aging) from global contract manufacturer’s systems, validate accuracy, and present findings to Mainspring Energy quality leadership

• Identify systemic quality risks through data review and floor observation; work through the global contract manufacturer quality team to drive corrective actions, rather than bypassing them

• Champion continual improvement initiatives jointly with global contract manufacturer aimed at reducing defect rates, improving test cycle time, and building long-term quality system maturity at the Monterrey site

• Partner with Manufacturing and Quality to review incoming Engineering Changes (ECs) and ensure that the inspection checklists, and gauges are fully updated and validated at global contract manufacturer prior to the clean point of new EC implementation

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related discipline

• 5+ years of Manufacturing Quality Engineering experience in a fast paced and high growth environment (industrial and/or automotive a plus)

• Knowledge and experience with implementing APQP, PPAP and Root Cause Analysis

• Six Sigma, Lean, and ASQ Certification and trainings are preferred

• The position will require up to 10% travel to Mainspring HQ

Must-Have

• You have a strong mechanical background and have successfully launched, into volume production, complex components and assemblies using quality planning from prototype through mass production stages

• You have actively participated in a product development effort and thus know what it takes to transition from prototype to volume production

• You have a good understanding of and have successfully implemented gates within a product development process

• You can thrive in structured and unstructured environments and are not dissuaded at the prospect of making hard decisions about what is important and urgent against a backdrop of limited resources

• You have used data collection/analysis/dashboarding to inform effective decision making

• Problem-Solving Expertise: Demonstrated track record of leading root-cause investigations for complex manufacturing escapes using structured methodologies (e.g., 8D, 5 Whys, Fishbone, DMAIC) to implement robust, permanent corrective and preventive actions

Like to have

• You have used collaboration tools like Basecamp, Asana or Trello and relational databases like Airtable or Quickbase to achieve results with X-functional teams