LIGO Quality Assurance Engineer (CEBEX)

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community. Job Summary The Caltech/MIT Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) seeks a highly motivated, skilled, and experienced Quality Assurance Engineer to join its team at the LIGO Hanford Observatory to: Review and interpret design/engineering drawings/specifications to identify key technical characteristics and advise/assign appropriate quality requirements to supplier contracts for Mechanical/Electrical/Optical Parts and assemblies utilizing standard (LIGO) quality clauses. Extensively interface with and train LIGO Laboratory scientists, engineers, and staff to ensure that the appropriate levels of quality requirements and practices are implemented for all assembly, acceptance testing, installation, and commissioning. A majority of the effort will be to advance the design, procurement, and installation of the CEBEX beamtube project, a 1m diameter x 120m beamtube system to be installed in a new facility at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. This role sits at the critical intersection of engineering and procurement, serving as the primary technical liaison between LIGO's science and engineering teams and the external suppliers who fabricate the precision components our instruments depend on. Day to day, this person evaluates supplier quality systems and inspection data against demanding specifications (think MIL-PRF-grade optics, custom-fabricated assemblies, and other tightly toleranced hardware), investigates and resolves nonconformances when parts arrive out of spec, and expedites orders to keep fabrication schedules aligned with the observatory's construction and upgrade timelines. The problems this person solves are the ones that quietly threaten every complex build: a supplier drifting toward the edge of tolerance, a schedule slipping because a vendor under-communicated, a dispute over whether a delivered part actually meets the drawing. Left unresolved, these issues become instrument performance problems, budget overruns, or NSF-reportable delays — caught early by this role, they simply become handled. The work is deeply collaborative: this person will work closely with LIGO scientists and engineers to translate technical requirements into supplier-facing specifications, with contracts and legal staff when disputes escalate, and directly with supplier quality engineers and account managers to drive corrective action. They'll influence real decisions — whether a shipment is accepted or rejected, whether a supplier relationship continues or a new vendor is sourced, how a nonconformance gets resolved and at what cost to the project — all exercised with genuine autonomy and sound engineering and regulatory judgment (familiarity with standards like MIL-PRF and general QA/ISO frameworks is essential). By strengthening the reliability of everything that comes through the supply chain, this role protects the schedule, budget, and scientific integrity of one of the most ambitious instruments ever built. It's a position for someone who enjoys being the person in the room who can speak both engineering and contracts, who takes satisfaction in tracking down the root cause of a defect and following it through to resolution, and who wants their attention to detail to matter at a scale that few QA roles offer — knowing that when LIGO listens for the universe's faintest signals, every component was ready to perform because they made sure of it. This is an in-person role at the LIGO Hanford Observatory in Washington state; however, it requires significant travel for vendor visits. Essential Job Duties Review and interpret design/engineering drawings/specifications to identify key…

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