Principal Product Quality Engineer

About Epirus E pirus is a high-growth technology company dedicated to overcoming the asymmetric challenges inherent to the future of national security. Epirus' flagship product, Leonidas, is a software-defined system built using intelligent power management techniques which allow power-hungry systems to do more with less. Job Summary: This is an exciting Principal Product Quality Engineer role with an innovative, high-growth defense technology company. The ideal candidate for the position is an agile, collaborative, and hands-on leader who thrives in fast-paced environments and can balance technical rigor with agility to support growth initiatives. As an external and internal facing leader, you are a skilled communicator who can translate Epirus' quality expectations to all parties with a hands-on approach to problem solving and process improvement. This role will serve as the technical authority for product quality partnering closely with design, manufacturing, supply chain, and program management to ensure robust, reliable, and mission-ready products. You will architect and implement scalable quality systems, drive risk-based decision making, and embed quality into the product lifecycle focusing on new product development, design assurance, and reliability. Responsibilities: New Product Introduction (NPI) Lead quality planning and execution for NPI programs from concept through production ramp Establish and deploy advanced quality mechanisms in the product development process to drive production readiness Drive and support implementation of design reviews, process readiness reviews, and production readiness gates Ensure effective transfer from engineering to manufacturing with robust control plans Verify effectiveness of actions and share lessons learned across product and programs Design Assurance Own and drive Design for Quality (DfQ) principles across engineering teams Support and implement risk management activities including DFMEA, PFMEA, and hazard analyses Ensure requirements are traceable to applicable customer, program and industry requirements with robust and effective verification/validation plans Partner with engineering to define critical-to-quality (CTQ) and/or key characteristics and acceptance criteria Influence design decisions using data, reliability modeling, and failure analysis Reliability Partner with engineering to develop and execute product reliability strategies and test plans Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions for design, integration, and test failures Establish reliability metrics/targets and track performance over time Drive failure reporting, analysis, and corrective action systems (FRACAS) Quality Strategy Build scalable and modular processes aligned with AS9100 and customer requirements to support rapid growth initiatives Develop metrics and dashboards to analyze trends to monitor and improve quality performance. Serve as the technical interface for customers and regulatory audits related to product quality Mentor engineers and build a culture of proactive quality ownership Cross-Functional Leadership Act as the bridge between engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and program teams Influence without authority in a high-growth, ambiguous environment Support supplier quality and ensure external partners meet design and reliability standards Collaborate with manufacturing and engineering to drive system wide quality initiatives to meet quality and reliability objectives Basic Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in manufacturing, Mechanical, Electrical or Industrial Engineering, or related field 8+ years of experience in quality, manufacturing, or engineering working in aerospace/defense or similar regulated and/or complex hardware environments Experience leading cross-functional teams to solve highly visibility quality issues, drive continual improvement initiatives, and facilitate the adoption of quality requirements in the product development process Familiarity with system integ