Quality Manager

The Mandate

SkyCan Systems is a Canadian defence manufacturer of uncrewed aircraft systems for the Department of National Defence and allied governments. We are establishing our first production facility in Barrie, Ontario, building aircraft to our design partner's approved design and progressively qualifying Canadian suppliers. Our customers expect us to operate to aerospace and defence quality standards from the first unit we deliver, and we are building our quality management system to AS9100D, with NATO AQAP 2110 requirements where our contracts invoke them.

The Quality Manager leads quality at SkyCan. The role owns the quality management system, leads the company to AS9100D certification, and ensures that every aircraft we deliver conforms to its approved design and to our customers' requirements. The Quality Manager is SkyCan's Management Representative for quality and the principal contact for customer and government quality assurance.

The role reports to the Chief Operating Officer, independent of production, and has the authority to stop work, hold product and withhold release where conformity is in doubt. This is a hands-on role in a start-up facility: in the first year the Quality Manager builds the function and performs inspection personally during first production.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Management System and Certification

• Own the Quality Manual and the quality procedures, and keep them current, effective and aligned with how the business operates
• Lead SkyCan through AS9100D certification: readiness assessment, a full internal audit cycle, management review, and Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits with the certification body, then maintain certification through surveillance
• Run document control and records management for the quality management system, including the master list, revision control and point-of-use access
• Plan and run the internal audit program, and train and qualify internal auditors
• Prepare quality inputs to management review, and track quality objectives and performance measures monthly
• Own the quality management system risk register

Knowledge Management

• Own SkyCan's organizational knowledge process, so that the knowledge needed to build conforming aircraft is captured, controlled and kept, not held only by individuals or partners
• Work with the Principal Engineer to make sure knowledge transferred from our design partner, through training, delegation visits and supported builds, is recorded, verified against released design data, and turned into controlled work instructions, inspection plans and training
• Maintain the lessons-learned register, drawing on nonconformances, corrective actions, first article inspections, audits, supplier issues and field feedback, and make sure it is reviewed when planning new contracts, products and process changes
• Set handover requirements so that critical knowledge is retained when people change roles or leave, and identify back-ups for critical roles with Human Resources
• Ensure employee improvement suggestions are recorded, answered and reported at management review

Product Quality, Inspection and Release

• Define inspection and test requirements with the VP, Manufacturing and the Principal Engineer in each Product Quality Plan
• Perform and lead receiving, in-process and final inspection during first production, and build the inspection team as volumes grow
• Lead first article inspection to AS9102 for SkyCan assemblies, and review supplier first article reports
• Authorize the people who may release product, and ensure every unit is released with complete records and a certificate of conformity
• Chair the material review board, control nonconforming product, and notify customers of any escape
• Maintain identification and traceability from material lot to delivered aircraft
• Manage the calibration program for measuring and test equipment

Supplier Quality

• Approve Class A and Class B suppliers and maintain the approved supplier list with the Supply Chain Manager, keeping quality approval independent of commercial selection
• Audit suppliers, perform or arrange source inspection, and issue and close supplier corrective action requests
• Maintain the Supplier Quality Manual and the requirements flowed down on purchase orders
• Lead counterfeit parts prevention with the Supply Chain Manager
• Work with the Principal Engineer and the design partner to qualify Canadian suppliers to approved specifications

Customer and Government Quality Assurance

• Act as the principal contact for customer quality matters and for government quality assurance representatives, including access, notifications and contract quality requirements
• Review the quality requirements of bids and contracts, including invoked standards, acceptance requirements and deliverable documents
• Lead the response to quality complaints, deficiencies and field failures, and report results to the customer

Corrective Action and Improvement

• Own the corrective action process, ensuring root causes are found and actions are verified as effective
• Report the cost of poor quality with the Chief Financial Officer, and lead improvement of quality performance
• Build a quality culture on the production floor, so that people stop and raise a concern rather than pass a doubt down the line

How We Will Measure Success

Year 1 targets, confirmed with the Chief Operating Officer once three months of production data are available.

• Customer: zero escapes of nonconforming product to the customer; 100% of customer and government quality assurance findings closed by the agreed date
• Product: 100% of first article inspections completed and approved before delivery; first-pass yield at final inspection and test and cost of poor quality baselined by month 3, then improving each quarter
• Suppliers: supplier lot acceptance at or above SkyCan's Green rating threshold; 90% or more of supplier corrective actions closed on time
• System: 90% or more of corrective actions closed on time and 100% verified effective; internal audit program completed to plan; zero measuring equipment overdue for calibration
• Certification: AS9100D certification audit passed with no major nonconformities
• People: 100% of inspectors and release-authorized staff qualified for their tasks

The Person

Required

• Degree or diploma in engineering, science or a related technical field, or equivalent experience
• At least eight years in quality roles in aerospace, defence or similarly regulated manufacturing, including at least three years leading a quality function
• Hands-on experience implementing and maintaining a certified quality management system to AS9100 or ISO 9001, including certification or surveillance audits
• Working knowledge of AS9102 first article inspection, nonconformance and material review, and structured root cause analysis such as 8D
• Experience auditing suppliers and managing supplier corrective action
• Able to obtain and maintain a security assessment under the Controlled Goods Program, and eligible for a Government of Canada security clearance if required

Asset

• AS9100 experience in aerospace or defence. Where a candidate does not have AS9100, ISO 9001 experience is the next best
• AS9100 lead auditor, or ASQ Certified Quality Manager or Quality Engineer
• Experience with NATO AQAP 2110 or Department of National Defence government quality assurance
• Experience standing up a quality function in a new facility or start-up, including capturing knowledge transferred from a partner or another site
• Knowledge of electronics and harness workmanship standards (IPC J-STD-001, IPC-A-610, IPC/WHMA-A-620), composites or UAV assembly
• Experience with ERP and quality management software, and with AS9145 product quality planning

How You Work

• Independent judgement and the confidence to hold product or stop work when conformity is in doubt
• Practical, hands-on approach, comfortable inspecting on the floor as well as building the system
• Clear communicator with customers, auditors, suppliers and production teams
• Organized and disciplined about records, with an eye for what an auditor will look for
• Builds a team and a culture that treats quality as everyone's responsibility

The Details

• Reports to: Chief Operating Officer
• Location: Barrie facility, on site
• Type: Full-time, permanent; no direct reports at start
• Works with: VP, Manufacturing; SVP, Industrialization; Principal Engineer; Supply Chain Manager; Facilities Manager; Chief Administrative Officer; customers and their quality assurance representatives; certification body; suppliers
• Conditions: Regular time on the production floor (safety footwear, eye protection, ESD controls). Occasional travel to suppliers in Canada and to customer and partner sites, including in Europe
• Benefits: Group health and dental, virtual care and EAP
• Start: January 2027

This posting is for an existing vacancy. SkyCan uses AI tools to help screen and assess applications. We will follow up with every candidate we interview within 45 days of their last interview. This role requires a Controlled Goods Program security assessment; eligibility is assessed under Canadian law and Canadian work experience is not required. SkyCan welcomes applications from all qualified candidates and provides accommodation on request throughout the hiring process, in accordance with the AODA and the Ontario Human Rights Code.