Senior Supplier Development and Manufacturing Readiness Engineer

ACT1 Federal • Arlington, VA

4d • $120,000 - $150,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

ACT1 Federal seeks a Senior Supplier Development and Manufacturing Readiness Engineer to support Department of the Navy production-acceleration initiatives across the defense industrial base, particularly missile production and critical supplier capacity. The position is part of the Transformation, Acceleration, and Supplier Capacity Team (TASC), is hybrid, and involves work at the Pentagon, Government sites, and supplier locations as assigned. Frequent domestic travel is required, including supplier-site deployments and Government meetings.

The engineer will conduct hands-on manufacturing assessments, identify constraints limiting conforming output, develop executable recovery plans, and support approved improvements through implementation and verification of sustained results. The role calls for substantial experience working inside manufacturing plants and directly improving supplier performance, with personal responsibility for successful launches, supplier recoveries, or sustained increases in production output. Automotive supplier-development, manufacturing-engineering, program-launch, and production-ramp experience is strongly encouraged, with automotive practices applied to defense production while observing program-specific engineering, safety, qualification, configuration-control, and quality requirements.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance. An active Secret or Top Secret clearance is preferred but not required to apply. Clearance sponsorship may be available for qualified candidates, subject to contract requirements and Government authorization. Assignments before clearance approval will be limited to authorized unclassified duties. The stated salary range is $120,000–$150,000.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial, manufacturing, mechanical, systems, or another relevant engineering discipline; an equivalent combination of technical education and substantial hands-on manufacturing experience may be considered where permitted by applicable contract and Government requirements.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in manufacturing engineering, supplier development, supplier quality, industrialization, production launch, or manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated responsibility for a successful supplier recovery, new-program launch, production transfer, or production-rate increase.
• Significant experience diagnosing and resolving problems directly on the production floor.
• Experience evaluating supplier performance across multiple manufacturing processes or commodities.
• Strong working knowledge of APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, control plans, SPC, MSA, 8D, Lean manufacturing, standardized work, and error proofing.
• Demonstrated understanding of capacity, tooling, equipment, labor requirements, process capability, material flow, and production dependencies.
• Experience developing recovery plans with measurable milestones and verifying sustained results.
• Ability to interpret production, quality, schedule, and material data and document assumptions and limitations.
• Strong technical writing, executive communication, and stakeholder-coordination skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage concurrent priorities, and travel extensively.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance; current Top Secret clearance and citizenship are subject to verification.

Nice To Haves

• Significant automotive OEM or Tier 1/Tier 2 supplier-development, launch, or manufacturing experience.
• Fifteen or more years of relevant experience.
• Experience recovering distressed suppliers or supporting multiple production launches under demanding schedules.
• Aerospace, defense, missile, propulsion, or other regulated manufacturing experience.
• Experience with precision machining, castings, or forgings.
• Experience with stamping, metal forming, welding, or joining.
• Experience with heat treatment or other special processes.
• Experience with injection molding or composites.
• Experience with electronics, printed circuit assemblies, or electrical harnesses.
• Experience with motors, actuators, or electromechanical assemblies.
• Experience with tooling, capital equipment, or complex mechanical assemblies.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Supplier Quality Professional, or comparable credential.
• Experience translating commercial manufacturing practices into defense program requirements.
• An active Secret or Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Assess suppliers’ ability to achieve required production rates, quality, delivery, cost, and readiness objectives.
• Evaluate manufacturing processes, equipment, tooling, labor, maintenance, material flow, inspection, testing, and lower-tier dependencies.
• Distinguish theoretical, rated, available, and demonstrated capacity using traceable production evidence.
• Analyze cycle times, changeovers, equipment availability, scrap, rework, first-pass yield, work in process, process capability, and schedule adherence.
• Identify binding constraints and determine whether proposed interventions will increase usable output at the required point in the production system.
• Validate capacity assumptions through production observation, data analysis, and appropriately authorized run-at-rate or capacity-demonstration activities.
• Deploy to critical suppliers experiencing production, quality, delivery, launch, or capacity challenges.
• Develop recovery plans with root causes, corrective actions, owners, resources, dependencies, milestones, escalation paths, and completion evidence.
• Establish daily or weekly recovery reviews with supplier, prime-contractor, and Government stakeholders, as authorized.
• Support implementation of approved supplier actions and verify effectiveness against agreed measures.
• Identify structural issues requiring engineering decisions, capital investment, alternate sourcing, qualification, technical data, workforce development, or Government action, and escalate constraints that cannot be resolved through incremental process improvements.
• Assess readiness for new-product introductions, production transfers, additional shifts, equipment installations, facility expansions, and major production-rate increases.
• Apply APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, control plans, SPC, MSA, and structured problem solving as appropriate to applicable program requirements.
• Support readiness gates covering tooling, equipment, workforce, material, process controls, inspection, testing, qualification, and production documentation.
• Evaluate whether pilot or initial production results demonstrate readiness for repeatable, sustained production.
• Adapt automotive launch practices to defense production without bypassing required technical approvals or qualification processes.
• Develop practical manufacturing-improvement alternatives, including process changes, standardized work, error proofing, tooling improvements, maintenance, overtime, additional shifts, alternate sourcing, and capital equipment.
• Work with cost and investment analysts to compare implementation time, cost, risk, and expected production benefit.
• Assess whether investments address the actual limiting constraint and whether downstream operations can absorb increased output.
• Track improvements through action completion, equipment installation, process qualification, capacity demonstration, and sustained delivery benefit.
• Support improvements that preserve product safety, quality, configuration, and contractual requirements.
• Coordinate authorized activities with Government program offices, prime contractors, suppliers, engineering organizations, procurement teams, and quality representatives.
• Identify critical lower-tier and long-lead dependencies affecting supplier recovery and coordinate findings with the TASC supply-chain lead.
• Prepare supplier assessments, recovery plans, capacity analyses, risk registers, site-visit reports, executive briefings, and recommendations.
• Maintain action, risk, decision, and dependency records supporting TASC execution reporting.
• Communicate findings clearly to technical specialists and senior leaders.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• ACT1 Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• Company-paid life and AD&D insurance
• Company-paid short-term disability
• Voluntary long-term disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid time off
• Paid holidays
• Parental leave
• Military leave
• Education, training, and professional development
• Voluntary accidental injury, critical illness, and hospital care coverage
• Voluntary pet insurance, legal resources, and identity protection
• Flexibility and collaboration, whether working in person or remotely

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior