Technical Lead — First Article Inspection & Metrology (2 Day Assessment) in St. Paul, Minnesota at SQA Services

For more than 30 years, SQA Services has been a leader in providing managed supplier quality services — including audits, assessments, corrective actions, inspections, remediation, and engineering — to manufacturers across all industries. We deliver these services by deploying experienced quality professionals across the United States and in 90+ countries to support client and supplier sites on demand.

SQA Services is seeking a Technical Lead – First Article Inspection & Metrology to support two supplier readiness assessments at a casting supplier and a custom worm gear manufacturer.

The Technical Lead will evaluate the suppliers’ ability to reliably verify product design characteristics through First Article Inspection (FAI), CMM programming, dimensional metrology, measurement systems, calibration, and MSA. You will work alongside an SQA commodity SME at each supplier and contribute technical findings to the final assessment report.

• Support Requirements Consumption Reviews (RCR) covering product definition, GD&T, critical/key characteristics, and inspection/test plans.
• Lead reviews of First Article Inspection Reports (FAIRs) for completeness, characteristic accountability, ballooning, and linkage to material and special-process certifications.
• Evaluate FAI trigger and delta-FAI practices.
• Review CMM programs for datum/alignment structure, GD&T interpretation, program validation, revision control, probe qualification, and operator competency.
• Evaluate measurement systems where CMMs are not used, including equipment suitability, resolution, gauging methods, and environmental controls.
• Review MSA / Gauge R&R studies for critical characteristics, along with calibration status, traceability, and recall controls.
• Evaluate commodity-specific measurement capabilities, including casting dimensional inspection and gear inspection methods such as gear analyzers, single-/double-flank roll testing, and contact-pattern checks.
• Identify and assess FAI and measurement-system gaps based on risk to product specifications.
• Provide technical findings and report sections to the SQA commodity SME for the consolidated assessment report.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, metrology, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent education and 10+ years of directly related experience.
• 7+ years of dimensional metrology, quality engineering, or precision inspection experience.
• Hands-on CMM programming and program validation experience using PC-DMIS, Calypso, or equivalent software.
• Expert-level GD&T / ASME Y14.5 knowledge, including datum reference frames and translating drawing requirements into CMM alignments.
• Demonstrated experience preparing and reviewing AS9102 First Article Inspection Reports.
• Hands-on experience planning, conducting, and interpreting MSA / Gauge R&R studies using AIAG MSA principles.
• Working knowledge of calibration systems and measurement traceability, including ISO/IEC 17025 concepts.
• Ability to travel to and work onsite at both supplier facilities for the full two-day assessments.

• Experience with aerospace or other highly regulated precision manufacturing environments.
• Experience with casting inspection and dimensional layouts.
• Experience with precision gear inspection, including gear analyzers, single-/double-flank testing, or contact-pattern inspection.
• Supplier quality or supplier readiness assessment experience.
• Experience identifying and risk-ranking measurement and inspection system gaps.