Director of Quality

DIRECTOR, QUALITY OPERATIONS & CONFIGURATION STRATEGY

Location: Franklin, MA

Travel: Up to 25% domestic travel with occasional international travel

Compensation: $189,000–$238,000 base salary + annual bonus

POSITION SUMMARY

A growing U.S. defense and advanced-technology organization is seeking an experienced Director of Quality Operations & Configuration Strategy to provide enterprise leadership across product quality, configuration management, supplier quality, compliance, and production readiness.

This executive-level role will lead quality and configuration activities supporting both complex hardware manufacturing and technical-service programs across multiple U.S. operations.

A key near-term focus will be supporting major defense hardware programs as they transition from qualification and first-article activity into sustained production and customer acceptance .

The successful candidate will combine deep aerospace and defense quality experience with strong operational leadership, configuration-management expertise, supplier-quality knowledge, and the ability to build scalable systems and high-performing teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Quality Leadership & Organizational Strategy

• Lead a team of approximately 25 Quality and Configuration Management professionals across multiple locations.
• Establish and execute an enterprise quality strategy aligned with program, customer, manufacturing, and business objectives.
• Strengthen organizational capability by improving processes, systems, metrics, governance, and accountability.
• Drive consistent quality practices across multiple business units and operating locations.
• Build an organization focused on prevention, predictable performance, and continuous improvement.

Program & Manufacturing Quality

• Lead quality execution for complex defense hardware programs throughout the product lifecycle.
• Support programs through:
• Qualification testing
• First Article Inspection
• Production readiness
• Acceptance testing
• Rate production
• Customer and Government acceptance
• Partner with Manufacturing and Operations to improve:
• Rolled throughput yield
• Process capability
• Delivery performance
• Ensure quality requirements are embedded within production planning, manufacturing execution, and program schedules.

Nonconformance, MRB & Corrective Action

• Provide leadership over Material Review Board activities, nonconformance management, root-cause investigation, and corrective-action closure .
• Ensure corrective actions are sustainable, data-driven, and supported by objective evidence.
• Reduce recurring defects, quality escapes, rework, and cost of poor quality.
• Establish processes that identify and resolve quality issues before they affect final test or customer delivery.

Customer & Government Quality Engagement

• Serve as a senior quality representative with customers, prime contractors, Government Quality Representatives, and DCMA .
• Lead responses to:
• Customer quality concerns
• Audits and assessments
• Corrective-action requests
• Deviations
• Waivers
• Production and acceptance issues
• Build productive relationships with customer, Government, supplier, and internal quality stakeholders.

Continuous Improvement & Performance Management

• Drive structured improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, Root Cause Analysis, and related problem-solving methodologies .
• Establish and monitor quality performance metrics, including:
• Defect and escape rates
• Cycle time
• Corrective-action closure
• Cost of poor quality
• Develop dashboards and executive-level reporting to communicate performance, risk, trends, and improvement priorities.

Enterprise Quality Management System

• Lead the continued development and maturity of the organization’s Quality Management System.
• Ensure compliance with contractual, customer, regulatory, and industry requirements.
• Maintain and support standards and certifications including:
• AS9100D
• AS9102
• ISO 9001:2015
• CMMI-SVC ML3
• Standardize and harmonize quality processes across multiple business entities and facilities.
• Improve audit readiness, process consistency, and organizational quality maturity.

Configuration & Change Management

• Provide leadership for hardware configuration management throughout the complete product lifecycle.
• Maintain configuration integrity between engineering design, manufacturing records, and as-built product .
• Lead and support:
• Configuration Control Boards
• Baseline management
• Deviations and waivers
• Product configuration records
• Maintain strong configuration discipline during periods of simultaneous engineering change and active production.
• Ensure complete data integrity, traceability, and contractual compliance.
• Establish supplier quality requirements, contractual flow-downs, and supplier performance expectations.
• Oversee:
• Source inspection
• Quality performance monitoring
• Partner with Supply Chain and Engineering to resolve supplier-related quality and delivery risks.
• Ensure compliance with applicable DFARS requirements and counterfeit-parts prevention controls .

Team Development

• Recruit, mentor, develop, and retain high-performing Quality and Configuration Management professionals.
• Develop Quality Managers, Quality Engineers, and Configuration Management personnel.
• Establish clear accountability, performance expectations, development plans, and succession strategies.
• Build organizational depth to support expanding program and production requirements.

Cross-Functional Integration

• Partner closely with:
• Manufacturing
• Operations
• Supply Chain
• Program Management
• Contracts
• Integrate quality and configuration requirements into:
• Integrated Master Schedules
• Production readiness activities
• Material flow
• Program execution
• Anticipate and address quality risks before they affect test, production, schedule, or customer delivery.
• Influence decisions across matrixed organizations without relying solely on formal reporting authority.
• Serve as a senior advisor to executive leadership on quality, configuration management, production readiness, and program risk.
• Present concise executive briefings covering:
• Quality performance
• Corrective actions
• Organizational capability
• Strategic improvement initiatives
• Facilitate cross-functional resolution of complex issues affecting production, customer commitments, and business performance.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline .
• 12+ years of Aerospace & Defense quality and/or configuration-management experience within hardware manufacturing environments.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience managing Quality Managers, Quality Engineers, or comparable technical teams .
• Demonstrated ownership of quality outcomes on at least one DoD or federal hardware program from qualification or first article through production delivery and Government/customer acceptance.
• Strong operational and manufacturing quality background, including:
• Material Review Board
• Nonconformance management
• Corrective Action
• Process control
• Quality Management Systems
• Hands‑on experience with hardware configuration and engineering change control , including:
• Configuration baselines
• Deviations
• Waivers
• Configuration Control Boards
• Strong working knowledge of AS9100D and AS9102 .
• Experience working directly with DCMA, Government Quality Representatives, or equivalent federal quality organizations .
• Demonstrated success building, scaling, or substantially improving a Quality organization.
• Experience leading teams across multiple facilities or geographic locations.
• Strong executive communication, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Proven ability to influence Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Program Management organizations.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving capability.
• Must meet applicable U.S. Person requirements under ITAR/EAR .

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in Engineering, Business, Operations, or a related discipline.
• ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE) .
• Configuration Management certification such as CMII or EIA-649 .
• Advanced experience with:
• ISO 9001:2015
• CMMI
• EIA-649
• DFARS quality requirements
• Experience standardizing or harmonizing Quality Management Systems across multiple operating locations.
• Experience supporting U.S. Department of Defense hardware programs.
• Supplier Quality leadership involving critical defense suppliers and subcontractors.
• Experience transitioning programs from development and qualification into sustained-rate production.
• Experience with Costpoint or comparable ERP platforms .
• Experience with PLM-based Configuration Management tools.
• Eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.