Lead Quality Systems Engineer - Maritime

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Maritime Division operates across multiple sites and business lines, producing advanced undersea systems for national defense. As the division scales from a single-product facility to a multi-site, multi-business-line operation, maintaining a unified and audit-ready quality management system is critical. This role sits within the Corporate Quality organization but is fully dedicated to the Maritime Division, serving as the connective tissue that keeps quality systems aligned across every site, product line, and certification boundary.

ABOUT THE JOB

We are looking for a Lead Quality Systems Engineer, Maritime to join our team and own the end-to-end AS9100 quality management system across the Maritime Division. In the near term, you will support ongoing AS9100 certification and surveillance activities. Looking ahead, your primary mission is solving a much harder problem: as new product lines and manufacturing sites come online, the AS9100 certification scope expands to cover multiple sites, multiple product lines, and multiple business lines operating under shared facilities. You will be responsible for designing and maintaining a QMS architecture that keeps all of these threads audit-ready, ensuring that growth in one area does not create certification risk in another. This role requires deep expertise in AS9100 and aerospace quality systems, experience managing multi-site certification scopes, and the ability to work across organizational boundaries. If you are someone who can see the big picture of a quality system while managing the granular documentation and process discipline required to pass rigorous third-party audits, this role is for you.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• AS9100 Certification Ownership: Own the Maritime Division's AS9100 QMS, including all documentation, internal audit programs, corrective action tracking, and management review processes. Ensure the system remains audit-ready at all times across all sites.
• Multi-Site QMS Architecture: Design and implement a quality management system structure that accommodates multiple manufacturing sites operating under a single or coordinated AS9100 certification scope. Address the complexity that arises when product lines span multiple facilities and when multiple business lines share a single site.
• Audit Preparation and Liaison: Serve as the primary point of contact for third-party certification body audits, customer audits, and regulatory reviews. Manage audit schedules, coordinate site readiness, and ensure findings are closed on time. Guide the organization through the evolution from a single-site audit scope to a multi-site, multi-product scope.
• Cross-Site Process Harmonization: Establish standardized quality processes, procedures, and documentation practices that work across all division manufacturing sites. Ensure that shared processes meet AS9100 requirements regardless of which site or business line is being audited, while allowing for site-specific procedures where necessary.
• Risk and Gap Analysis: Continuously assess QMS gaps and certification risks as new product lines and sites are brought online. Proactively identify where the expansion of audit scope creates exposure and develop mitigation plans before issues surface in formal audits.
• Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA): Own the division-wide CAPA process. Track nonconformances, drive root cause analysis, and ensure corrective actions are implemented and verified across all sites. Monitor trends to identify systemic issues before they become repeat audit findings.
• Training and Culture: Build quality awareness across the Maritime Division. Develop and deliver training programs that ensure personnel at all sites understand AS9100 requirements, their role in maintaining certification, and the implications of nonconformance in a multi-site environment.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Work across Corporate Quality, site leadership, production teams, and business line leads to ensure QMS requirements are integrated into operational planning. Participate in site battle rhythm meetings and provide regular quality status updates to division leadership.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of experience in quality management within aerospace, defense, or government-contract manufacturing
• Direct experience managing or significantly contributing to AS9100 certification and surveillance audits
• Demonstrated experience with multi-site or multi-scope quality management systems
• Strong knowledge of CAPA processes, internal auditing, and management review requirements under AS9100
• Effective communicator who can work across organizational boundaries and present to leadership
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• AS9100 Lead Auditor certification (e.g., through Exemplar Global, RABQSA, or equivalent)
• Experience in a scaling or startup manufacturing environment where QMS processes were being built or significantly expanded
• Familiarity with other aerospace/defense quality standards (e.g., AS13100, NADCAP, ISO 9001, ITAR/EAR compliance as it relates to quality documentation)
• Experience managing AS9100 scope expansions, including adding new sites or product lines to an existing certificate
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or a related field
• Experience with ERP/MES systems and their integration with quality management processes
• Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement certification or experience

US Salary Range 129000 - 175000 USD