Quality Assurance Engineer Lead

Leidos has an opening for a Quality Assurance Engineer Lead to support the U.S. Army C5ISR Center Defensive Cyber Solutions Branch (DCSB) Cerberus Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) Support program in Adelphi Maryland. This is an opportunity to lead Quality Engineering and Mission Assurance for a complex mission-critical cyber program supporting the U.S. Army and Department of Defense. As the programs senior quality subject matter expert and primary quality advisor to the Program Manager you will help ensure contractual and mission requirements are translated into effective quality controls measurable performance and objective evidence of successful execution. You will partner with program leadership technical teams functional leads subcontractors and Leidos QEC leadership to identify performance risks early drive effective corrective action strengthen program execution and lead continual improvement across the program.

Location: Hybrid - 3 days on site at Adelphi MD

Clearance: U.S. Citizenship with an active Secret clearance

The Quality Assurance Engineer Lead will be responsibile for:

• Serve as the lead Quality Engineering subject matter expert and primary quality advisor to the Program Manager.

• Lead implementation maintenance and continual improvement of the DCSB Cerberus DCO Support Quality Control Plan (QCP).

• Establish and maintain traceability between the Performance Work Statement (PWS) Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRLs) program quality controls performance measures and objective evidence.

• Monitor program performance against the Governments PRS performance requirements and identify emerging risks and adverse trends before they affect mission or contractual performance.

• Develop and maintain quality and performance measures dashboards trend analyses and management-level reporting.

• Plan and conduct internal quality reviews process assessments audits inspections and other quality-control activities.

• Coordinate internal quality reviews of contractual deliverables and CDRLs prior to Government submission.

• Evaluate nonconformities requirement escapes recurring deficiencies Government/customer concerns and other quality or performance issues.

• Lead or facilitate Causal Analysis and Root Cause Analysis (CA/RCA) for significant systemic or recurring issues.

• Develop monitor and verify corrective actions through implementation effectiveness verification and closure.

• Maintain quality records and objective evidence supporting contractual compliance and Government performance surveillance.

• Support and/or facilitate Quality Management Reviews (QMRs) Performance Management Working Groups (PMWGs) Monthly Operating Reviews (MORs) and other program governance activities.

• Provide independent assessment and escalation of significant quality technical contractual schedule staffing security property procurement and performance risks.

• Support subcontractor quality and performance oversight in coordination with Program and Subcontract Management.

• Identify and lead continual improvement risk-reduction and process-improvement initiatives using data-driven quality methodologies.

• Support internal and independent QMS assessments and ensure findings and resulting actions are effectively resolved.

• Collaborate with QEC and Mission Assurance leadership and escalate significant unresolved quality or performance concerns through appropriate governance channels.

Success in this role means:

• Program leadership has timely objective visibility into quality and performance.

• PRS performance is proactively monitored and emerging risks are identified before they become contractual deficiencies.

• Contract deliverables are complete accurate timely and supported by appropriate quality reviews.

• Quality issues are identified early causes are understood and corrective actions are effective.

• Quality records provide clear objective evidence of program performance.

• Technical and functional teams view Quality as an integrated partner in mission execution rather than a final inspection function.

• Lessons learned performance data and customer feedback result in measurable improvements to program execution.

• Leverage enterprise tools and platforms (e.g. SharePoint Configuration Management repositories AI-enabled analytics tools and program governance systems) to enhance reporting transparency operational visibility and decision support.

• Contribute to enterprise-level quality strategy development governance alignment and program maturity progression initiatives.

• Partner closely with Program Manager and functional leaders to reinforce operational discipline strengthen governance rigor and ensure alignment during program transition or contract structure changes.

• Proactively identify areas where early engagement can prevent downstream impacts reinforcing a prevention-first quality culture.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in a related discipline with 4-8 years of professional experience; or a Masters degree in a related discipline with 2-6 years of professional experience. Additional experience can be considered in lieu of a degree.

• Currently possess a DoD Secret Security Clearance.

• Experience working with SharePoint and MS Office Products (Word Excel PowerPoint)

• Experience with Microsoft Power BI Power Automate Visio Microsoft Project Jira and Confluence.

• Strong customer engagement skills.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills

• Excellent documentation skills

• Ability to multi-task and function in a dynamic fast-paced environment

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification

• Experience leading internal audits quality investigations Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Corrective Action Requests (CARs) and continual improvement initiatives.

• Experience developing executive dashboards quality metrics and performance reporting.

• Knowledge of requirements traceability configuration management and quality verification throughout the system development lifecycle.

• Knowledge of procurement documentation e.g. PO packing slips MIRRs experience with material inspections and traceability practices familiarity with RMA processes and attention to detail in documentation review.

• Experience conducting site visit inspections familiarity with configuration management ability to interpret engineering drawings and technical specifications and effective communication with stakeholders in field environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Quality Engineering or Quality Management experience supporting DoD Army cybersecurity IT engineering or mission-critical programs.

• Working knowledge of ISO 9001 quality-management principles risk-based thinking and continual improvement.

• Experience with Government QASPs PRSs CDRLs PWS requirements and performance-based service contracts.

• Experience supporting Defensive Cyber Operations cybersecurity IT service delivery software/engineering or technical integration programs.

• Experience with Lean Six Sigma DMAIC structured problem solving or comparable continual-improvement methodologies.

• Experience performing or facilitating Root Cause Analysis using techniques such as 5 Whys Fishbone Pareto Change Analysis or similar methods.

• Experience supporting subcontractor quality and performance management.

• Relevant quality certification such as ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE) Lean Six Sigma or equivalent.

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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.