Program Quality Manager

Leidos•Huntsville, AL

About The Position

Leidos Defense Mission Assurance is seeking a Program Quality Manager to serve as the accountable leader for program-level Mission Assurance integration. The manager establishes the program assurance strategy, ensures Product Assurance and Execution Assurance are planned and resourced, and verifies that Program Quality Engineers perform—or confirm qualified performance of—assurance activities before products are baselined, released, or delivered. The role leads the program quality team, owns the Program Quality Plan and assurance sampling strategy, establishes and analyzes program quality metrics and Confidence Pulse inputs, and drives corrective and preventive action through verified closure. The manager interfaces directly with customers and program management and is accountable for assurance effectiveness rather than routine execution of assurance activities. The role ensures compliance with AS9100, ISO 9001, and contractual quality requirements. Leidos Defense Sector provides systems, solutions, and services across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide, including enterprise and mission IT, intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. The position works across program management, customers, Operations, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and quality functions to support mission-critical defense programs. The Program Quality Manager owns program quality deliverables, including the Program Quality Plan, Acceptance Criteria Matrix, Assurance Readiness package, monthly Confidence Pulse, program risk and quality dashboard, baselined engineering-review checklists, delivery evidence packages, and Quality Status Reports. The role leads, mentors, and develops program quality staff; manages program assurance, audit readiness, metrics, risks, and corrective actions; and promotes continual improvement, product conformity, and reduced rework.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Quality Management, Engineering, Industrial Management, Business Administration, or a related field is preferred.
At least 8 years of experience in quality engineering, program quality, or quality systems management within the defense, aerospace, or regulated manufacturing industry.
At least 3 years leading or managing a quality team.
Experience owning program-level quality planning, including quality plans, acceptance criteria, and inspection or sampling strategy.
Working knowledge of AS9100 and/or ISO 9001, government contract quality requirements, contractual quality clause flowdown, configuration management and baseline control, and internal quality management systems.
Experience with root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and verification of effectiveness.
Experience establishing and reporting quality metrics and KPIs to program leadership and customers.
Experience supporting internal and external audits and closing findings with objective evidence.
Ability to interpret contracts, specifications, drawings, technical documents, and regulatory requirements.
Ability to interface directly with Government or prime customers and program leadership.
Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple program deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Strong attention to detail and evidence accuracy.
Ability to obtain a security clearance.

Nice To Haves

ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE).
ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE).
ISO 9001 or AS9100 Lead Auditor certification.
Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt.
Experience supporting DoD contracts or prime contractors.
Familiarity with AS9102 first article inspection and APQP or AS9145 practices.
Familiarity with ERP/MRP and PLM systems, preferably Windchill.
Experience with quality data analytics and dashboard reporting tools such as Power BI.
Experience serving as a voting member of a program risk board.
Security clearance eligibility or an active clearance.
Bachelor’s degree in Quality Management, Engineering, Industrial Management, Business Administration, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Establish the program assurance strategy and ensure Product Assurance and Execution Assurance are planned and resourced.
Ensure Product Assurance is performed on decision-based products, including plans, requirements, designs, test artifacts, verification evidence, acceptance data, supplier deliverables, and other products that drive downstream execution.
Ensure Product Assurance is risk-based, performed or confirmed by a qualified role, recorded, and closed before a product is used as a downstream baseline or delivered to the customer.
Develop and maintain the Program Assurance Sampling Plan within the Program Quality Plan and adjust sampling based on assurance evidence and results.
Ensure quality clauses and standards identified through Assurance Readiness are flowed into quality plans, acceptance criteria, supplier controls, inspection strategies, and assurance activities; coordinate unclear or changing requirements with Contracts and Quality Strategic Planning.
Ensure inspection and Product Assurance sampling strategies, including statistically valid sampling where appropriate, align with customer, regulatory, corporate, product-risk, and configuration requirements.
Ensure Execution Assurance is performed against Product-Assured, approved, and baselined plans, including the PMP, SEMP, CMP, IMS, test plans, supplier plans, and program-specific quality commitments.
Ensure lifecycle reviews, peer reviews, testing, configuration changes, supplier execution, manufacturing or production-readiness activities, and acceptance events occur as planned, meet applicable entry and exit criteria, and leave controlled objective evidence.
Verify in real time that the program is executing according to its plans and that objective evidence is complete, controlled, and accessible.
Coordinate internal- and external-audit readiness, ensure applicable findings are recorded in CAD or the approved system of record, and verify corrective-action closure with required effectiveness evidence.
Maintain the current-state program assurance record in the Program Assurance Tracker and post results to CAD when formal records are required.
Establish, monitor, and analyze program quality metrics, including yield, rework, NCR rates, escape rates, and targeted KPIs for performance visibility, process health, improvement, and compliance.
Ensure assurance results, dispositions, systemic trends, and escalations are recorded in CAD or the approved system and used for Performance Assurance, Predictive Prevention, and monthly Confidence Pulse inputs.
Report inspection results, KPI performance, audit outcomes, and quality-improvement progress to senior program leadership.
Report program quality risks, corrective actions, and progress to the customer, and serve as a voting member of the program risk board.
Analyze KPI trends and inspection data to identify systemic issues, lead root cause investigations, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Identify and escalate predictive program risks before customer impact, including insufficient engineering maturity, configuration, or documentation.
Ensure corrective actions, nonconformances, audit findings, requirement escapes, and customer concerns receive timely containment, root cause analysis, corrective action, and effectiveness verification.
Ensure requirement escapes on delivered product are recorded, classified, reviewed, and closed under the applicable requirement escape procedure.
Ensure improvement actions have accountable owners, due dates, measurable outcomes, and sustained-effectiveness evidence; report status to the Mission Assurance Business Area Manager.
Drive continual improvement initiatives that enhance product conformity, reduce rework, and strengthen mission assurance.
Lead the program quality team and ensure compliance with AS9100, ISO 9001, and contractual quality standards.
Provide hands-on leadership, mentoring, and development to program quality staff, and coach and train the team to align with the corporate Quality Management System and Defense Sector requirements.
Ensure Program Quality Engineers inspect products or confirm full inspection by a qualified role and verify execution in real time to prevent failures.
Translate strategy into clear direction and priorities, develop successors, delegate meaningfully, and address performance issues promptly.
Conduct one-on-one status meetings with direct reports at least every other week, subject to reasonable exceptions for travel and leave.
Oversee team use of Artificial Intelligence tools under applicable policies and procedures, and ensure AI output informing a decision, finding, record, or deliverable is verified by a qualified human before use.
Address escalated quality issues promptly and surface systemic issues with proposed solutions; foster a program quality culture committed to excellence and Leidos values.
Interface directly with customers and program management as the program quality authority.
Collaborate with Operations on production readiness for contract delivery and partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to achieve first-pass yield and product reliability objectives.
Collaborate with Manufacturing Quality, Supplier Quality, and Compliance Quality teams; coordinate with the Site Compliance Manager on ISO/AS certification readiness, program evidence, and finding closure for program activity at certified sites.
Serve as a quality stakeholder throughout the business lifecycle, including new business capture, procurement, and program execution.
Own and deliver program quality products, including the Program Quality Plan, Acceptance Criteria Matrix, Assurance Readiness package, monthly Confidence Pulse, program risk and quality dashboard, baselined engineering-review checklists, delivery evidence packages, and Quality Status Reports.