Sr. Principal QA Engineer - Livermore, CA, United States
$136,200 - $178,815 USD yearly
Originally posted 6 August 2026 by the employer.
Lead key elements of the enterprise Quality Management System (QMS) and drive continuous improvement across global operations.
About the role
This role leads key elements of the enterprise Quality Management System (QMS) and drives continuous improvement across global operations. You will serve as the business process owner for critical quality system processes, including corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), audit programs, and change control governance.
What you'll do
- Lead development, implementation, optimization, and governance of enterprise QMS across multiple sites and business functions.
- Ensure compliance with ISO 9001, IATF 16949, customer-specific requirements, and semiconductor industry standards.
- Lead enterprise internal audit programs, including planning, execution, reporting, corrective actions, and effectiveness verification.
- Own enterprise CAPA governance processes and ensure effective management of quality issues, nonconformances, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Lead Enterprise Change Control Board (CCB) governance processes, ensuring appropriate risk assessments, impact evaluations, approvals, and implementation controls.
- Serve as business process owner for assigned quality system modules, workflows, and governance processes within the electronic Quality Management System (eQMS).
What you'll need
- 8+ years of experience in Quality, Manufacturing, Engineering, Operations, or Quality Systems.
- Strong knowledge of ISO 9001, IATF 16949 standards, quality management systems, and audit processes.
- Experience leading internal audits, certification audits, customer audit readiness, and CAPA programs.
- Experience with document control platforms, CAPA systems, quality workflows, and quality data analysis tools.
- Strong understanding of structured problem solving, root cause analysis, corrective action effectiveness, and risk-based thinking.
- Experience with eQMS platforms and workflow-based quality systems.
Nice to have
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or related technical field.
- Experience with MES, SPC, ERP, Power BI, and quality data analysis or manufacturing information systems.
- Knowledge of risk management tools such as FMEA, control plans, process validation, process risk assessments, and risk-based thinking methodologies.
- Familiarity with semiconductor manufacturing processes and cleanroom operations.
- Experience working within an Integrated Management System (IMS) environment.
- Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Quality Lead Auditor, Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), or similar certification.
- Green Belt or Black Belt certification, IPC standards experience, and Lean methodologies experience.
Skills: Quality Management System, CAPA, ISO 9001, IATF 16949, audit programs
This role has been open 73 days — well above the 54-day median for Reliability Engineering roles.
Reliability Engineering · Reliability Engineering
|
Open roles in category
425
|
Median days open
54 d
|
Median salary
$154k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | FormFactor | All employers we track in this specialty (425 roles · 71 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 3 | 425 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 109 | 9897 · 109 employers |
| Median days open | 46 d | 54 d (−8 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $154k |
Skills observed across this category: Quality Management System, CAPA, ISO 9001, IATF 16949, audit programs
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 75 open roles · median 135 d
- Infineon Technologies · 31 open roles · median 45 d
- Renesas Electronics · 22 open roles · median 39 d
- STMicroelectronics · 19 open roles · median 25 d
- Analog Devices · 18 open roles · median 54 d
- onsemi · 17 open roles · median 72 d
How we counted: 425 open Reliability Engineering (Reliability Engineering) roles from 71 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 18 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.