Quality Assurance Specialist

About Us

A career at Hitachi Rail will help create a legacy. With operations in every corner of the world, our work goes to the cutting-edge of digital transformation and technology. From the multi-cultural strength of our global organisation to the sustainable and innovative ways we work to bring people together, there’s something for everyone to get stuck into. And that’s where you come in.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Hybrid)

As a Quality Assurance Specialist, you will help to promote a culture of Quality within the organization, providing leadership and guidance in Quality Assurance issues to Project Management, Engineering, Industry & Supply Chain, and Services. In this role, you will be allocated to manage project Quality, as a Quality Assurance Manager (QAM), on high to critical complexity bids, projects, or products supporting all disciplines and underlying processes. The QAM represents the Quality authority ensuring that the level of quality provides value and satisfaction to customers.

Main missions include:
- Assuring that the concerns of customers are appropriately captured, understood, and efficiently and effectively handled by the project team.- Cascading and/or managing the Quality Assurance requirements.- Adjusting Quality Assurance activities with a risk-driven mindset, anticipating and mitigating risks, considering the maturity of the Bid/Project team, and focusing on core Quality value-added activities.- Guiding the project team in the definition and tailoring of the project baseline and validating the resulting plans.- Controlling the execution of the Bid/Project/Product (in relation to the plans): evaluating achievements at key milestones and deliverables and providing visibility through “Quality Advice.”- Managing Quality based on objective data (Product/Project KPIs such as OTD, OCD, etc.), to achieve quality excellence in execution across the company’s entire lifecycle (products, bids, projects, and services).

Key Accountabilities:
- Perform compliance assessment for Contractual Quality Assurance requirements.- Write and execute Project/Product Quality Assurance and Software Quality Assurance Plans.- Prepare Quality Assurance estimates for bids and perform documentation review as per bid submittal requirements.-
- Participate in Bid/Project Gates/milestones review meetings, providing Quality input and assessments.- Provide visibility to management and alert when necessary; raise a veto in case of non-compliance or critical events requiring mitigation.- Prepare and deliver the Quality Management Report to demonstrate the effectiveness of quality management processes.- Participate in Safety Case reviews and Safety Certification Readiness Reviews.- Monitor customer feedback (positive and negative) with the Customer Satisfaction Lead.- Perform Quality Assurance approval for various project artifacts to ensure compliance with customer requirements, regulations, and standards.- Prepare monthly reports on project health status through quality metrics for the Project Core Team.- Conduct QA assessments of engineering artifacts and record and analyze findings to identify trends and address issues.- Conduct Root Cause Analyses as required in collaboration with engineering, Safety, and PMO groups.- Participate in Lessons Learned and Risk Review meetings and ensure evidence for compliance is available.- Support Customer audits and perform internal In-Process audits (if required by contracts); monitor resolution of corrective action plans.- Promote quality methods within projects (e.g., problem-solving, root cause analysis, risk analysis, prevention, feedback).- Train and coach other Quality team members as required.

Key Requirements:
- Skills:
- Solid understanding of Quality Assurance practices and procedures.- Ability to conduct investigations and Root Cause Analysis across multiple disciplines (System, Software, Hardware, PMO).- Strong problem-solving, written, verbal, and communication skills.**Experience**:
- 10+ years of hands-on experience in Engineering System/Software development or as a Quality Assurance Specialist/Manager in technology or manufacturing.**Education**:
- Minimum B.S. in Computer Science, Electrical/Mechanical/Computer Engineering, or equivalent field.Technical Knowledge:
- Industry standards (e.g., CENELEC, AREMA, IEEE).- ISO 9001, Project Lifecycle and Deployment, Product Lifecycle, System/Software/Hardware development.- Knowledge of Process Improvement methodologies (e.g., Six Sigma, DMAIC).Certifications:
- ASQ Certification (CQE, CQA) is desirable.**Language**:
- Mandatory - English.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Hands-on engineering system/software development or Quality Assurance experience within complex system environments (e.g., Transportation, Aerospace, Medical Devices, Nuclear, Cybersecurity).- Familiarity with Transportation domain / CBTC systems.- Rail signaling knowledge as an asset.


At Hitachi Rail, there is a place for everyone. We welcome and value