Food Safety Quality Manager Jobs in Decatur, AL (NOW HIRING)

UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers' success. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing-for our customers, our people, and our communities.

THE MISSION

Leidos is a key partner to multiple government programs that support the defense strategy and readiness mission. As we transition from development into full-rate production, Leidos continues to expand our Huntsville-based operations to ensure system performance, readiness, and mission assurance.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Leidos Defense Sector is seeking an experienced Site Manufacturing Quality Manager to lead all program-level quality efforts in support of production, integration, and delivery. This individual will directly manage the program quality team and maintain a dotted-line relationship with the Leidos site quality team. The Quality Manager will also serve as the primary interface with external quality stakeholders, including the customers, government agencies, Project Office, and DCMA.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead the quality team, ensuring compliance with AS9100, ISO, and manufacturing quality standards.
• Provide hands-on leadership to the quality team members including mentoring and developing quality engineers and inspectors to ensure efficient operational support and continuous improvement.
• Coach, train, and guide program quality staff to align with the corporate Quality Management System and Defense Systems Sector requirements.
• Foster a program quality strategy and culture committed to excellence and Leidos values, enabling rapid manufacturing scaling.

Quality Program Management & Compliance

• Maintain close coordination with the Leidos site quality team to ensure consistent process control, product acceptance, and effective execution of corrective actions.
• Oversee inspection and test documentation, ensuring compliance with customer requirements and configuration baselines.
• Support production readiness reviews, configuration audits, and fulfillment of contractual deliverables related to quality data and acceptance.

Customer & Supplier Interface

• Serve as the primary interface with external quality stakeholders, including the US Government Program Office, Customers, Project Office, and DCMA.
• Maintain oversight of supplier quality performance, ensuring supplier metrics, audits, and corrective actions align with program standards.

Metrics, Analysis & Improvement

• Establish, monitor, and analyze quality metrics (yield, rework, NCR rates, escape rates) and target KPIs to drive performance visibility, process health, improvement, and compliance.
• Analyze KPI trends and inspection data to proactively identify systemic issues, drive root cause investigations, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Drive continual improvement initiatives to enhance product conformity, reduce rework, and strengthen mission assurance.

Process & Issue Management

• Develop, implement, and oversee inspection strategies, including statistically valid sampling plans aligned with customer, regulatory, and corporate standards.
• Drive Material Review Boards (MRB), Failure Review Boards (FRB), and ensure timely closure of root cause and corrective actions across all program areas.
• Ensure 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 manner.

Business Lifecycle & Reporting

• Serve as a stakeholder for quality throughout the business lifecycle, including new business capture, procurement, program execution.
• Partner with engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams to achieve first-pass yield and product reliability objectives.
• Report regularly to senior leadership on inspection results, KPI performance, audit outcomes, and quality improvement progress.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or related discipline in Manufacturing and Quality environment with 10-13 years of experience, including prior leadership of quality or mission assurance teams in defense/aerospace production.
• Proven experience in AS9100/ISO9001 systems, configuration management, and corrective action systems.
• Strong background in production quality management for complex defense hardware or weapon systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead customer interactions with Army quality offices and DCMA.
• U.S. Citizenship required; must have or be eligible for a Secret clearance.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Relevant experience with all aspects of quality in a defense and space-focused manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in root cause analysis and continual improvement.
• Prior experience with implementing AS9100.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Must be a US Citizen.
• 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

• Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) or Six Sigma Black Belt.
• Experience with Earned Value Management (EVM) and metrics-based quality reporting.
• Familiarity with IBCS integration and Army missile system production.
• Experience with Deltek Costpoint, Windchill, Oracle Agile, or Solumina MES systems.
• Experience in medium-volume/high-mix production environments.
• Experience in both component fabrication and assembly/integration production environments.

WHY LEIDOS

Leidos' Defense Systems Sector delivers trusted solutions that protect people and critical assets. From system design and development to sustainment and modernization, our teams are solving the world's toughest defense challenges for customers with "can't fail" missions.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

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.