Description
The Leidos Mission Assurance organization currently has an opening for the Director of Manufacturing Quality for the Defense Systems Sector, a rapidly growing engineering and manufacturing enterprise. This position reports to the Senior Director of Quality Engineering & Control for Defense. The Director of Manufacturing Quality will lead a growing team of Quality professional across multiple manufacturing facilities in the Defense Sector.
Primary Responsibilities:
Provide 'hands-on' leadership to the Quality Engineering and Control management teams and to provide efficient support to operations while improving product integrity.
Partner with Manufacturing Senior Leadership to support and drive scaling initiatives across multiple sites and programs.
Establish and maintain a quality strategy and culture committed to excellence and Leidos values while enabling rapid manufacturing scaling across numerous Defense Sector programs.
Direct multiple teams responsible for all aspects of quality (quality assurance, quality engineering, quality control, supplier quality), calibration, and continual improvement for multiple locations.
Lead quality management across multiple defense production sites, ensuring compliance with ISO 9001, AS9100, AS6500, CMMI-Dev and contract-specific quality requirements.
Develop, implement, and oversee inspection strategies, including statistically valid inspection sampling plans aligned with customer, regulatory, and corporate standards.
Establish and track targeted Key Process Indicators (KPIs) to measure product quality, process health, and compliance performance across all assigned sites.
Analyze KPI trends and inspection data to proactively identify systemic issues, drive root cause investigations, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Partner with site quality teams to standardize inspection practices, auditing methods, and corrective action processes.
Serve as the primary quality liaison with operations and engineering leadership to ensure contract deliverables meet or exceed customer expectations.
Provide oversite of internal, customer and third-party quality audits, ensuring site readiness and timely closure of findings.
Ensure the timely and sustained resolution of internal and external audit findings and requirement escapes by conducting root cause analysis and implementing corrective and preventive measures.
Effectively address escalated quality issues in a timely way.
Provide coaching, training, and leadership to site-level quality staff, ensuring alignment to the corporate Quality Management System and Defense Systems Sector requirements.
Drive continual improvement initiatives that enhance product conformity, reduce rework, and strengthen mission assurance within a hardware-oriented Quality Engineering organization.
Serve as a stakeholder for quality and mission assurance in all aspects of the business lifecycle including new business capture, procurement, program execution, and merger/acquisition.
Report regularly to senior leadership on inspection results, KPI performance, audit outcomes, and quality improvement progress.
Basic Qualifications:
Typically requires bachelor's degree and twelve (12) years of prior relevant experience; or master's with ten (10) years or prior relevant experience.
Seven (7) + years of experience supervising or leading large teams or projects.
Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Relevant experience with all aspects of quality in a defense and space-focused manufacturing environment.
Demonstrated leadership experience in Corrective Action Board(s)
Experience with building teams and driving change
Experience with implementation of structured sampling inspection plans and/or inspection reduction plans, preferably in machining/mechanical hardware and electronics hardware production.
Experience with development and implementation of structured cause code and defect code tracking, analysis, and collective corrective action.
Proven track record developing and implementing quality strategy.
Demonstrated leadership experience in scaling an organization for volume and efficiency.
Demonstrated expertise in root cause analysis and continual improvement.
Prior experience deploying compulsory continuous improvement programs and expectations within a hardware-oriented Quality Engineering organization.
Knowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, AS6500 and CMMI.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Must be a US Citizen.
Must have the ability to obtain a Secret Clearance and maintain other clearances as needed.
Must be able to obtain and maintain credentials to access government installations.
Must be proficient in utilizing Microsoft Office products.
Must have exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience leading a geographically dispersed, multi-site team
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt Certification (or equivalent)
Experience in medium-volume/high-mix production environments
Experience in both component fabrication and assembly/integration production environments
Working knowledge of Manufacturing Execution Systems, MRP Systems, and Non-conformance management systems
Experience developing and deploying new business processes to a team.
Come break things (in a good way). Then build them smarter.
We're the tech company everyone calls when things get weird. We don't wear capes (they're a safety hazard), but we do solve high-stakes problems with code, caffeine, and a healthy disregard for "how it's always been done."
Original Posting:
October 14, 2025
For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
Pay Range:
Pay Range $134,550.00 - $243,225.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.
REQNUMBER: R-00168700
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. Leidos will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in accordance with relevant Laws. Leidos is an equal opportunity employer/disability/vet.
