Vice President, Mission Assurance

Leidos•Reston, VA

About The Position

The Vice President of Mission Assurance is the senior-most executive accountable for the strategic and operational leadership of the Mission Assurance function across a $17B portfolio. This role owns the direction, execution, and continuous evolution of assurance practices that directly impact national security, multi-billion dollar program performance, and the integrity of global corporate credentials. Operating through a tiered leadership structure of Senior Directors and Directors, the VP sets the multi-year strategy, resolves high-consequence cross-enterprise issues, and serves as the principal advocate to executive stakeholders for modern, risk-based assurance models.

Requirements

Tier-1 Executive Experience: 15+ years of experience in the Aerospace & Defense industry with a proven track record of managing a complex, global function within a $10B–$20B+ environment.
Proven Strategic Impact: Demonstrated success in leading strategy and operations with enterprise-level impact on multi-billion dollar programs.
Influencing at the Highest Levels: Proven ability to influence Executive leadership and lead through extreme ambiguity and high-stakes conflict.

Nice To Haves

Large-Scale Modernization: Experience modernizing legacy quality/assurance operating models within a Tier-1 Defense Prime.
Complex Program Support: Direct experience supporting "Program of Record" deliveries for major DOD or Intelligence Community customers.
Security Clearance: Active Top Secret (TS/SCI) is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Strategic & Operational Leadership at Scale
Functional Ownership: Lead the strategic direction of the Mission Assurance function for the Leidos enterprise, ensuring absolute alignment between quality operations and long-term corporate business objectives.
Enterprise Strategy Translation: Convert corporate-level growth and performance goals into executable assurance plans across diverse business sectors (e.g., Defense, Homeland, Intelligence).
High-Level Resource Optimization: Establish workforce strategies to ensure that the Leidos portfolio is supported by a technically elite and appropriately scaled assurance organization.
Enterprise Impact & Decision Authority
Final Decision Authority: Serve as the executive authority for Mission Assurance matters affecting $1B+ programs, multi-sector portfolios, and critical delivery milestones.
High-Consequence Risk Management: Lead initiatives with significant impact on corporate financial performance, delivery confidence, and the defensibility of corporate credentials.
Strategic Trade Decisions: Address highly complex, ambiguous issues requiring expert judgment and enterprise-level trade decisions between schedule, cost, and mission integrity.
Influence, Communication & Executive Engagement
Enterprise Influence: Influence Sector Leadership, Growth Officers, and Program Management teams to adopt and fund modern assurance concepts and operating models.
Strategic Stakeholder Engagement: Influence and manage the corporation’s strategic interface with external certification bodies and government regulators ensuring that enterprise certifications (AS9100, CMMI, ISO) serve as a validated foundation for mission success.
Executive Decision Forums: Lead briefings and forums involving the organization's most sensitive and high-value program portfolios.
Program, Product & Risk Oversight
Lifecycle Integrity: Ensure the assurance of critical engineering and program products that drive downstream cost and performance for the nation's most complex systems.
Enterprise Governance: Oversee the governance of quality plans, global audit systems, and systemic corrective action frameworks.
Systemic Resolution: Drive the resolution of difficult, multi-year systemic issues that span multiple programs, global sites, or international customers.
Compliance, Credentials & External Interface
Global Credential Management: Maintain enterprise-wide compliance and certification integrity for AS9100, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 20000-1, CMMI-DEV, and CMMI-SVC.
Modernization of Compliance: Lead the digital transformation of compliance execution to increase defensibility and efficiency across the Leidos portfolio.
Organizational Leadership & Workforce Planning
Tiered Leadership Management: Direct an expansive Mission Assurance organization managed through a cadre of Senior Directors and Directors across multiple geographic regions.
Executive Talent Development: Exercise full hiring, promotion, and reward authority, focusing on building a pipeline of future leaders in Mission Assurance.