---
title: 'Quality Control Engineer at KH Aerospace'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/quality-control-engineer-kh-aerospace-hayward-qz8fh2w9p3dh'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-14'
---

# Quality Control Engineer at KH Aerospace

- **Company:** KH Aerospace
- **Location:** Hayward, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-09-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-14
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/khaerospace/jobs/4737387005

## Job description

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace (KHA) is an aerospace company specializing in long-endurance unmanned aerial platforms for a wide variety of industries. KHA supports a number of customers to carry out missions involving aerial reconnaissance, survey, communication relay and communications provisioning. Endurance, enabled by effective design, is key to these applications and KHA aircraft utilize cutting-edge aircraft design together with on-board intelligence to deliver value for these customers.

Location: Hayward, CA Reporting To: Director of Manufacturing Travel: Approximately 25%, including domestic and international travel as business needs require

## About the Role

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace is seeking a hands-on and detail-oriented Quality Control Engineer to support product and manufacturing quality across the development and production of our Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The Quality Control Engineer will work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and external manufacturing partners to ensure components, assemblies, manufacturing processes, and completed products consistently meet KHA technical and quality requirements. This role will help establish and maintain inspection requirements, manage nonconformances, support root-cause and corrective-action activities, and drive continuous improvement throughout the manufacturing process.

As KHA expands production through external manufacturing partners, this position will also play an important role in establishing consistent quality standards, inspection processes, and controls across the broader manufacturing network. The successful candidate should be comfortable working directly on the production floor as well as with suppliers and contract manufacturers in the U.S. and internationally.

## Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing Quality & Inspection

- Develop, implement, and maintain quality-control and inspection requirements for components, subassemblies, and completed UAS products.
- Ensure inspection requirements are properly incorporated into manufacturing processes, work instructions, and production documentation.
- Support incoming, in-process, and final inspection activities, including dimensional, visual, documentation, bench, and functional inspections as applicable.
- Review drawings, specifications, Bills of Materials (BOMs), manufacturing work instructions, and other technical data to determine appropriate quality and acceptance requirements.
- Partner with Manufacturing and Engineering to ensure production processes consistently produce conforming hardware.
- Identify opportunities to improve inspection effectiveness, product quality, process capability, and manufacturing consistency.

Nonconformance & Corrective Action

- Review and validate reported nonconformances and ensure affected material is properly identified, segregated, documented, and contained.
- Lead or support investigation of nonconforming material to determine the scope and potential impact on other products, processes, or inventory.
- Participate in Material Review Board (MRB) activities and coordinate with Design Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering on appropriate dispositions.
- Support disposition of nonconforming material, including rework, repair, use-as-is, scrap, or return-to-vendor actions.
- Lead or support root-cause investigations and corrective and preventive actions for recurring product or process issues.
- Track quality issues through closure and verify that corrective actions are effectively implemented.

Supplier & Contract Manufacturing Quality

- Support qualification, approval, and ongoing quality oversight of suppliers and contract manufacturing partners.
- Conduct or support supplier surveillance, capability assessments, and quality audits based on supplier risk and production requirements.
- Ensure KHA drawings, specifications, inspection requirements, and quality expectations are properly communicated and flowed down to manufacturing partners.
- Support First Article Inspection (FAI), process validation, and other production-readiness activities at supplier and contract manufacturing locations.
- Monitor supplier quality performance, identify trends, and work with Supply Chain and suppliers to address quality concerns.
- Travel to supplier and contract manufacturing locations to support production launches, quality investigations, process validation, and corrective-action activities.
- Help establish consistent quality-control practices across KHA's internal and external manufacturing network.

Quality Systems & Process Improvement

- Support development, implementation, and continuous improvement of manufacturing quality processes and procedures.
- Ensure quality activities and records are completed in accordance with KHA procedures and applicable quality-system requirements.
- Develop and monitor appropriate quality metrics to identify trends and areas requiring improvement.
- Support statistical process control and other data-driven methods for monitoring critical manufacturing processes where appropriate.
- Maintain clear and accurate inspection, nonconformance, corrective-action, and quality records.
- Participate in internal and external quality audits as required.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Work closely with Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Manufacturing Test Engineering, Production, and Supply Chain to resolve product and process quality issues.
- Provide quality input during new product introduction, manufacturing-readiness, and production-transition activities.
- Participate in design, manufacturing, and production-readiness reviews to ensure quality requirements are addressed early in the product lifecycle.
- Provide practical feedback to Engineering and Manufacturing regarding recurring quality issues, design concerns, process weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
- Promote a culture of quality, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization and external manufacturing network.

Essential Skills & Experience

- Professional experience in quality engineering, manufacturing quality, supplier quality, or a related role involving complex manufactured products.
- Experience with manufacturing inspection, nonconformance management, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and process improvement.
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, Bills of Materials, work instructions, and other manufacturing documentation.
- Working knowledge of manufacturing quality systems and structured quality-control processes.
- Experience developing or applying inspection criteria and acceptance requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to investigate technical quality problems and drive issues through resolution.
- Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to work effectively in a hands-on manufacturing environment and interact directly with production personnel.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to clearly document and communicate technical quality issues.
- Ability to work independently, take ownership of problems, and collaborate effectively across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and external partners.
- Ability and willingness to travel approximately 25%, with the potential for more concentrated travel during manufacturing launches, supplier qualification, or major quality activities.

## Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant technical experience.
- U.S. citizenship.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government SECRET security clearance.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience in aerospace, UAS, aviation, robotics, autonomous systems, electronics, or another complex electromechanical manufacturing environment.
- Experience with AS9100, ISO 9001, or comparable formal quality management systems.
- Experience with First Article Inspection, including AS9102 or similar processes.
- Experience with Material Review Board processes and disposition of nonconforming material.
- Experience with supplier quality management, supplier audits, or contract manufacturing oversight.
- Experience with corrective and preventive action systems, root-cause analysis, and structured problem-solving methods.
- Familiarity with Statistical Process Control (SPC), process capability, and manufacturing quality metrics.
- Experience supporting prototype builds, NPI, low-rate production, or transition into higher-volume manufacturing.
- Familiarity with inspection and measurement equipment used in mechanical, electrical, or electromechanical manufacturing.

Personal Attributes

- Highly detail-oriented with a strong commitment to product quality and safety.
- Practical and hands-on with the ability to investigate problems directly on the production floor.
- Analytical and methodical when evaluating quality issues and determining root causes.
- Comfortable making sound technical decisions based on available data and requirements.
- Self-motivated, dependable, and accountable.
- Takes ownership of problems and follows them through resolution.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment where products and processes are still evolving.
- Collaborative and able to work constructively across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and external partners.
- Willing to raise concerns, ask questions, and challenge processes when necessary to protect product quality.

## Who We Are

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace develops the world’s longest endurance fully electric Unmanned Aircraft System in our size and weight category. We solve large-scale worldwide problems by providing persistent overhead services to help our soldiers remain safe in theater, provide rapid emergency communications for disaster relief efforts, enable search-and-rescue services to assist emergency response efforts, help protect endangered species, and provide geospatial data to assist in slowing climate change.

## What We Offer

- Opportunity to work on cutting-edge UAS technology.
- Collaborative and innovative engineering environment.
- Exposure to the full product development lifecycle.
- Professional development and training opportunities.
- Competitive salary and benefits package.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and contact information. We will reach out directly regarding next steps.

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, Inc. (“Company”) collects and uses Personal Information (as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”)) for human resources, employment, health and safety, and business-related purposes and to be in legal compliance. For more information, please read the full [notice](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZYLxxUzH5V5Vew7FmM4ho5og3Jr9gHVr/view?usp=sharing).

If you are an EU applicant, by sharing your personal information with Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, Inc. you hereby (a) acknowledge and consent to the international transfer of your personal information to the United States, despite the risks associated due to the absence of an adequacy decision and appropriate safeguards, and (b) acknowledge that you have carefully read and understood this [notice](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A2YkRHyWbcV_nMnOQry2vXHvKLQvb-Ul/view?usp=sharing).

## EEO Statement

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace is committed to providing Equal Opportunity in Employment, to all applicants and employees regardless of, race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, military status, veteran status, handicap, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law.

## About KH Aerospace

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Kraus Hamdani Aerospace (KH Aerospace) develops ultra-long-endurance, fully electric, AI-powered unmanned aerial systems for persistent airborne infrastructure, defense, and emergency response missions.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; total funding $2.3M)
- **Headquarters**: Emeryville, California, United States (with offices in Hayward, CA; Reno, NV; and Glasgow, UK)
- **Founded**: 2016
- **Founders**: Stefan Kraus (CTO) and Fatema Hamdani (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Defense & Space / Aerospace Manufacturing
- **Target Customers**: U.S. and allied military, national security agencies, emergency response organizations, critical infrastructure operators, and commercial geospatial/data customers (B2G, B2B)
- **Mission Statement**: “To empower the people responsible for national security, critical infrastructure, and emergency response with the trusted autonomous systems and persistent connectivity they need to operate with confidence in any environment.”

## Products & Services
- **K1000ULE**: Ultra-long-endurance, fully electric, AI-enabled unmanned aerial system (UAS). Proven in operational environments (world record flight of 75 hours, 53 minutes). On DIU’s Blue UAS Cleared & Select Lists. No runway required, no fuel logistics.
- **ATNE++ (Aerial Tier Network Extension ++)**: Airborne communications mesh that provides self-healing, multi-waveform voice and data bridging across legacy and modern tactical data links. Supports connectivity across sea, land, air, and space.
- **MD-ACT (Multi-Domain Autonomous Collaborative Teaming)**: AI-driven coordination of manned and unmanned platforms across domains, reducing operator cognitive load and optimizing mission outcomes.
- **Autonomous Tasking / Persistent Monitoring**: Real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance for defense, oil & gas pipeline monitoring, environmental data collection, and disaster response.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Total Funding**: $2.3 million (Seed round of $1.5M in March 2016; government grant of ~$799k in January 2021)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Integrated into U.S. Army’s Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) ecosystem via Anduril’s Lattice platform. Listed on DIU Blue UAS Cleared & Select Lists. Partners include U.S. Customs, AEWE (Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment).
- **Growth Signals**: 45 employees (as of mid-2025), with offices in the US, UK, Switzerland, and Australia. LinkedIn follower growth of +41.4% year-over-year. Proven operational deployments with government and commercial customers (over 6k hours flown globally). Team includes many military veterans and former defense/aerospace engineers.

## Competitive Advantages
- **World’s longest endurance fully electric UAS** in its size/weight class (75+ hour flight record).
- **No runway required** – vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability.
- **Solar-assisted, zero-emissions** – onboard AI enables silent gliding and energy harvesting.
- **Self-healing mesh network** (ATNE++) ensures resilient comms in contested/denied environments.
- **Blue UAS Cleared & Select status** accelerates military procurement.
- **Operator cognitive offload** through AI-driven multi-domain teaming.

## Strategic Focus
- Continue scaling production and fielding of the K1000ULE for defense and national security missions.
- Expand ATNE++ integration across joint and allied forces to become a standard airborne communications bridge.
- Develop autonomous teaming capabilities (MD-ACT) for manned-unmanned collaboration.
- Pursue commercial applications (pipeline monitoring, environmental sensing, disaster communications) while maintaining core defense focus.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: “Mission First. Team Built.” – many employees are engineers, technologists, and military veterans united by a purpose to save lives and support critical missions.
- **Impactful work**: Build next-generation autonomous aerospace systems that are already deployed and battle-tested.
- **Growth environment**: Privately held with a dedicated team (~45 people across multiple locations); opportunities to take ownership in engineering, manufacturing, and operations.
- **Work locations**: Offices in Emeryville/Hayward, CA; Reno, NV; and Glasgow, UK. Engineering roles are on-site (manufacturing, technician, supply chain). Remote/hybrid policy not specified.
- **Perks**: Working on cutting-edge AI, UAS, and communications tech with a small, agile team; direct exposure to leadership and real-world customer missions.

## Sources
1. [khaero.com](https://www.khaero.com/)
2. [khaero.com/about](https://www.khaero.com/about)
3. [LinkedIn - Kraus Hamdani Aerospace](https://www.linkedin.com/company/kraus-aerospace)
4. [Greenhouse - KH Aerospace Jobs](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/khaerospace)

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