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At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainably. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business.

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Leidos’ Defense Systems Mission Assurance is seeking a Manufacturing Quality Engineer to serve as the quality engineering focal point on the production floor, owning process control, inspection execution, and product acceptance for manufacturing operations as they scale to rate. This role is embedded in day-to-day production - fabrication, machining, mechanical and composite assembly, welding, painting and coating, and flight hardware assembly - and is responsible for ensuring that what is built is executable, inspectable, and demonstrably conforming at the point of manufacture. This position is based in the Huntsville / North Alabama, AL area.

This is a hands-on individual contributor position reporting to the Manufacturing Quality Manager, Defense Systems Mission Assurance. The Manufacturing Quality Engineer partners with manufacturing engineering, production, and design engineering to make work instructions executable and inspectable, to establish inspection and metrology capability at the point of manufacture, and to resolve nonconformances at the source. The role provides day-to-day technical direction to Quality Inspectors and Technicians on the floor but carries no direct supervisory responsibility.

If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading!

Leidos Defense Systems Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions. To explore and learn more, click here!

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Primary Responsibilities.

Manufacturing Process Quality & Process Control

• Serve as the quality engineering point of contact for assigned production areas, cells, and manufacturing processes.
• Establish and maintain in-process inspection points, acceptance characteristics, and objective evidence requirements within the production routing.
• Develop, qualify, and monitor special and key manufacturing processes - including welding, composites, coatings, heat treat, and bonding - against applicable specifications.
• Support process qualification, tooling and fixture acceptance, and gauge and metrology selection for new and transitioning work.
• Monitor process performance and initiate containment when a process drifts out of control.

Work Instruction, Configuration & Acceptance Baseline

• Review manufacturing and engineering work instructions to confirm they are both executable and inspectable - covering sequence, drawing and specification references, configuration and effectivity, required tools and gauges, acceptance characteristics, workmanship criteria, inspection, witness, and hold points, and required objective evidence.
• Provide quality inputs to work instruction, traveler, and inspection plan changes while maintaining clear ownership boundaries with Engineering for technical content.
• Verify that the floor works from authoritative, current, point-of-use data and drive elimination of uncontrolled reference sets and locally downloaded copies.

Product Conformance, Inspection & Material Review

• Execute and disposition First Article Inspections (FAI/AS9102) and support supplier part approvals for parts entering the production line.
• Participate in Material Review Board activities, perform or coordinate engineering evaluation, and disposition nonconforming material with documented acceptance.
• Provide day-to-day technical direction and inspection guidance to Quality Inspectors and Technicians on the production floor.
• Support internal and external quality audits, including AS9100 surveillance, customer audits, and government source inspection.

Quality Data, Metrics & Statistical Analysis

• Develop and maintain manufacturing quality metrics - including first-pass yield, escape and defect rates, process capability studies, control charts, and measurement system analysis.
• Build and maintain statistical data collection and analysis to surface trends affecting product quality at the operation and cell level.
• Translate quality data into actionable reporting for manufacturing and program leadership, including rate-readiness inputs.

Root Cause Analysis & Continuous Improvement

• Lead root-cause analysis and structured problem-solving (8D, 5-Why, fishbone) on floor-generated nonconformances, escapes, and rework drivers.
• Initiate and execute quality improvement activities, such as Kaizen and Six Sigma projects, to reduce defects, rework, and inspection cycle time.
• Support value-stream mapping and flow improvement activity, including point-of-manufacture inspection and adjacent metrology cell implementation that shortens the loop between manufacture and acceptance.
• Verify that implemented corrective actions are effective and sustained.

Inspection Capability, Qualification & Rate Readiness

• Size inspection, calibration, and metrology demand by operation, shift, skill, inspection type, and production-rate profile to support capacity planning and proposal basis of estimate development.
• Support workmanship proficiency qualification of inspection and manufacturing personnel, including structured job instruction, mentor-observed task demonstration, and requalification triggers.
• Support rate-readiness assessments and production readiness reviews for assigned areas.

Cross-Functional, Supplier & Government Interface

• Partner with manufacturing engineering, production, design engineering, and supply chain to resolve quality issues at the source.
• Collaborate with DCMA and other government and/or customer quality assurance organizations.
• Interface with supplier and customer quality representatives on quality issues and verify effective corrective action is implemented.
• Travel occasionally for in-person engagements with internal customers and suppliers across multiple Leidos sites.
• All other reasonable duties, as assigned.

Basic Qualifications.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline and 4-8 years of prior relevant experience; or master’s degree with two (2) years of prior relevant experience. Additional years of direct experience working in manufacturing operations in support of defense contracts may be substituted for the degree.
• Four (4+) years of hands-on quality engineering experience in a manufacturing or production environment. Eight (8+) years of relevant experience is acceptable in lieu of a degree.
• Working knowledge of:
  • AS9100 / ISO 9001 requirements
  • AS9102 First Article Inspection
  • Engineering drawings, specifications, and GD&T
  • Manufacturing processes, tooling, fixturing, and inspection methods
  • Government and customer quality assurance requirements
• Demonstrated experience with root cause analysis and corrective action methodologies in a production setting.
• Demonstrated experience with statistical process control, process capability, and measurement system analysis.
• Ability to work on the production floor and in shop environments, including exposure to manufacturing operations and personal protective equipment requirements.
• Must be proficient in utilizing Microsoft Office products.
• Key Competencies
  • Manufacturing Quality Engineering
  • Process Control & Process Qualification
  • First Article Inspection & Part Approval
  • Root Cause & Corrective Action
  • Statistical Analysis & Process Capability
  • Nonconformance Disposition & Material Review
  • Drawing & GD&T Interpretation
  • Work Instruction & Inspection Plan Development
  • Technical Problem Solving
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Written & Verbal Communication
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present technical findings to manufacturing, program, and customer stakeholders.
• Candidate must be a resident of the North Alabama area or willing to relocate to the Huntsville - North Alabama, AL area.
• Ability to obtain security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) or equivalent certification
• Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification
• AS9100 internal auditor training or experience
• Experience with Solumina or a comparable MES/quality management system
• Experience building quality dashboards and reporting in Power BI
• Familiarity with statistical analysis tools such as Minitab
• Experience with flight hardware, composites, welding, or coatings quality requirements
• Experience with CMM programming, inspection method development, or metrology capability planning
• Experience supporting a production rate increase, line transition, or factory transformation
• Working knowledge of Lean manufacturing principles, takt-based flow, and value-stream analysis
• Prior experience supporting DCMA or government source inspection activities

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.

Original Posting:

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and 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.