Certification lead

Qualifications & competency

• Education: Engineering degree (Electronics / Electrical / Mechanical preferred)
• Experience: 610 years in aerospace quality or regulatory compliance,
• Certifications required: AS9100D • FAI (AS9102)
• Skills: Regulatory relationship management must be credible and respected by CEMILAC and DGAQA personnel • Technical writing for agency submissions • Meticulous document control • Cross-functional coordination • Ability to make rapid judgement calls on change impact under production pressure

Key Responsibility

• Approvals calendar management: Maintain a live register of all active approvals with renewal dates, responsible contact at the agency, and 90/30-day alert thresholds. No approval lapses — ever.
• CEMILAC (Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification): Manage type approval lifecycle for all cables used in military aircraft, helicopters, and UAVs. Submit amendment applications for any design or process change. Coordinate CEMILAC surveillance visits.
• DGAQA (Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance): Manage the relationship with the resident DGAQA inspector. Ensure every defence production lot has a complete quality dossier ready for DGAQA review and clearance before despatch.
• AS9100 registrar (in coordination with QA per IF-8): Act as the sole point of contact with the registrar for scheduling, audit logistics, formal finding correspondence, and certificate renewal. QA provides the internal evidence and gap closure; Certification presents it to the registrar and manages the external relationship. Does not own the QMS itself — that is QA.
• Customer QPL management (HAL, BEL, ISRO, DRDO, foreign OEMs): Maintain source approval status on customer qualified products lists. Manage qualification test programmes, customer witnessing, and submission of qualification data packages.
• Change impact assessment: Review all ECNs within 3 working days to determine whether CEMILAC amendment, DGAQA re-qualification, FAI, or customer notification is required.
• Certificate of Conformance (CoC) issuance: Issue all CoCs for every shipment. Verify 100% accuracy — part number, specification revision level, test values, lot number, quantity, and authorised signatory. CoC issued with or before shipment — never after.
• First Article Inspection (FAI) management: Compile AS9102-compliant FAI packages (Form 1, Form 2, Form 3) for every new part number and every significant design or process change. Manage customer review cycles.
• Lot traceability: Maintain complete forward and backward traceability for every production lot — raw material certification through to shipment record. Zero traceability breaks. Instant retrieval on customer or agency request.
• Record retention: Ensure all quality records are retained per contractual and regulatory requirements (typically 10 years for aerospace). Implement archiving systems with defined retrieval SLAs.
• Engineering change notice documentation: Ensure all ECN-driven changes are reflected in updated specifications, drawings, and quality documents before revised product is shipped.