Quality Engineer in Chisago City, Minnesota at Kendall Howard

Why Kendall Howard?

We’re a growing manufacturer serving the IT infrastructure field, with a no-nonsense attitude: stay humble, work hard, and take on challenges head-first. Around here, you won’t just “do your job” — you’ll be part of a team that builds, solves, and delivers products we’re proud to put our name on. The benefits and pay are solid, but the real perk is being part of something that matters alongside people who care just as much as you do.

Our Benefits

We know benefits matter, and we’ve got you covered. Full-time employees enjoy:

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• Supplemental insurance options
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid holidays
• Online apparel store

Job Summary:

The Quality Engineer is accountable for supporting the development, implementation, and improvement of product and process quality controls used in the production of the company's products. This position works cross-functionally with Quality, Engineering, Production, Purchasing, and other departments to ensure that quality standards are understood, measurable, and effectively maintained throughout manufacturing.

Essential Functions:

1. Support the development, implementation, and maintenance of quality requirements for manufactured products, including fabricated components, machined parts, press brake/forming operations, welded assemblies, purchased components, and final assemblies.

2. Develop and maintain inspection plans, control plans, check sheets, first article requirements, and quality documentation needed to verify product conformance to drawings, travelers, work orders, and customer requirements.

3. Interpret engineering drawings, specifications, tolerances, and GD&T requirements and translate them into practical inspection and process control methods for production and quality personnel.

4. Lead or support root cause analysis and corrective action activities for internal defects, customer concerns, supplier issues, scrap, rework, and repeat nonconformances.

5. Analyze quality data, inspection results, defect trends, scrap/rework activity, and process performance to identify systemic issues and recommend improvement actions.

6. Support NPI, APQP-style planning, prototype builds, production readiness reviews, and the transition of new or revised products into manufacturing.

7. Work with Engineering, Production, Purchasing, and Quality to resolve drawing, process, manufacturability, inspection, and workmanship concerns.

8. Participate in material review activity and provide technical input for containment, rework, use-as-is, return-to-vendor, scrap, or corrective action recommendations.

9. Support supplier quality activities by documenting supplier nonconformances, communicating technical issues, reviewing responses, and verifying corrective action effectiveness.

10. Develop or improve measurement methods, gaging approaches, inspection fixtures, and data collection practices used to verify product quality.

11. Conduct process audits, layered audits, and quality system checks to verify compliance with internal procedures, work instructions, inspection requirements, and customer expectations.

12. Prepare quality reports, corrective action summaries, improvement plans, and other technical documentation for review by the Quality Manager and cross-functional leadership.

13. Provide technical guidance and mentoring to Quality Assurance Technicians, Quality Control Technicians, Inspectors, and production team members as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, manufacturing, quality, industrial technology, or equivalent combination of education and manufacturing/quality experience.

• 2-5 years of experience in quality engineering, manufacturing engineering, process improvement, or a related quality/manufacturing role.

• Experience in a manufacturing environment involving assembly, sheet metal fabrication, machining, press brake/forming, welding, finishing, or related production processes.

• Working knowledge of blueprint reading, GD&T, inspection methods, root cause analysis, corrective action, quality data analysis, and basic quality management system requirements.

• Ability to communicate effectively with production, engineering, purchasing, suppliers, customers, and leadership.

Kendall Howard provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability. We are dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants with disabilities.