Directing quality is at the heart of this role, which involves establishing, maintaining, and continually improving the company's Quality Management System (QMS). The Director of Quality ensures products, processes, and suppliers consistently meet customer, contractual, regulatory, and internal requirements. This operational leader will build a proactive quality culture that prevents defects, reduces the cost of poor quality, improves on-time delivery, and protects customer confidence.
Responsibilities
Develop and execute a quality strategy aligned with the company's growth plan, operational objectives, customer commitments, and risk profile
Establish annual quality objectives, operating plans, staffing models, capital needs, and improvement roadmaps
Serve as the senior authority for product quality, QMS effectiveness, release readiness, audit response, and regulatory/customer quality matters
Build a culture in which quality is owned by every function—not merely inspected at the end of production
Partner with the COO, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Program Management to integrate quality into SIOP, program reviews, production readiness, make/buy decisions, supplier selection, and new-product introduction
Lead management-review processes and provide clear executive reporting on quality performance, key risks, corrective actions, and resource needs
Own the design, maintenance, certification, and continual improvement of the QMS, including policies, procedures, work instructions, records, document control, training, and internal-audit processes
Maintain AS9100D and/or ISO 9001 certification, as applicable; prepare the organization for registrar, customer, government, and regulatory audits
Ensure controlled processes for nonconformance, corrective action, preventive action, root-cause analysis, change control, risk management, calibration, inspection, traceability, and record retention
Ensure quality requirements are incorporated into operating procedures, engineering processes, work instructions, purchasing documents, and supplier flow-downs
Oversee compliance with customer, contractual, statutory, and regulatory requirements, including export-controlled information where applicable
Lead quality planning from proposal through design, prototype, qualification, production launch, sustainment, and field support
Establish robust quality gates for contract review, design transfer, first article inspection, production readiness, in-process inspection, final acceptance, and shipment release
Ensure effective use of APQP-like planning, PFMEA, control plans, first article inspection (FAI), process validation, capability studies, and risk-based inspection plans as appropriate
Drive containment, root-cause analysis, and permanent corrective actions for internal defects, escapes, returns, customer complaints, and field failures
Millions of jobs, with real people getting hired every day
200,000+
New jobs added daily
7,000,000+
Verified job listings
1,000,000+
Tailored applications submitted
Ensure material, product, and configuration traceability requirements are met throughout the value stream
Approve or oversee disposition of nonconforming material, including material review board (MRB) processes, use-as-is/rework decisions, and escalation of significant quality risk
Lead the supplier-quality program, including supplier qualification, risk segmentation, audits, scorecards, source inspection, receiving inspection strategy, and supplier development
Establish quality flow-down requirements in purchase orders and supplier agreements
Partner with Supply Chain to improve supplier delivery, incoming quality, responsiveness, and capacity reliability
Lead supplier corrective action requests (SCARs), verification of corrective-action effectiveness, and escalation for chronically underperforming suppliers
Support supplier selection and make/buy decisions with a clear assessment of technical, quality, compliance, and supply-continuity risk
Serve as the primary quality representative for customers, government representatives, registrars, and third-party auditors
Lead preparation for and response to customer audits, surveillance audits, source inspections, quality reviews, and corrective-action requests
Communicate material quality issues promptly, factually, and constructively with customers and internal executives
Ensure audit findings, customer complaints, and corrective actions are closed on time and validated for effectiveness
Support major proposals, customer reviews, production readiness reviews, and new program launches by demonstrating QMS maturity and execution readiness
Establish a practical quality operating system using KPIs, daily/weekly management routines, layered process audits, quality alerts, escalation paths, and recurring problem-solving reviews
Deploy Lean, Six Sigma, 8D, A3, 5 Whys, Ishikawa, DOE, statistical process control, and mistake-proofing methods at the appropriate level of rigor
Reduce cost of poor quality through prevention, early detection, process capability improvement, and supplier-performance improvement
Use data to identify systemic issues across product lines, sites, programs, processes, and suppliers
Develop team capability through coaching, certification, cross-functional problem solving, and succession planning
Requirements
10+ years of progressive quality leadership experience in aerospace, defense, electronics, industrial manufacturing, or another highly regulated environment
5+ years leading a quality organization with responsibility for QMS, quality engineering, inspection, supplier quality, and audit performance
Demonstrated experience leading and maintaining AS9100, ISO 9001, or an equivalent regulated-industry QMS
Working knowledge of design assurance, configuration management, document control, product traceability, first article inspection, MRB, calibration, inspection/test, and supplier-quality management
Strong command of structured problem solving and corrective action, including 8D, 5 Whys, fishbone analysis, FMEA, CAPA, and verification of effectiveness
Experience leading customers, registrar, government, or regulatory audits and closing audit findings
Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional leaders and make sound risk-based decisions under schedule and delivery pressure
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, quality, operations, manufacturing, or a related technical discipline; equivalent experience may be considered
U.S. Citizenship is required, as only U.S. Citizens are authorized to access information under this program/contract
Nice to have:
ASQ certifications such as Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), or Certified Quality Auditor (CQA)
Experience with FAA Part 21 production approval, DCMA/customer source inspection, Nadcap, special processes, or mission-critical electronics
Experience in a private-equity-backed, high-growth, turnaround, or acquisition-integration environment
Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt certification and demonstrated deployment of measurable improvement programs
Experience with ERP, MES, QMS, PLM, statistical-analysis, and dashboard tools
Master’s degree in engineering, operations, quality, or business administration
Important Details
Travel requirement: Up to 15-25%, including supplier and customer visits as needed
About the Company
ARA is a leading C5ISR company that designs, manufactures, tests and installs innovative technologies that provide the national security community with unparalleled situational awareness, threat detection, and communications capabilities. The company's disruptive, integrated solutions, assemblies and subsystems rise to the challenging demands of discerning, mission-critical customers. They leverage their capabilities to meet and exceed the requirements of their customers and empower them to remain ahead of evolving threats and complexities in a dynamic security landscape.