Senior Manager of Quality & Mission Assurance

Location: On-Site (Baton Rouge, LA, Phoenix AZ, or St. Louis, MO)

Position Overview

Bascom Hunter is seeking a highly experienced and hands-on Senior Manager of Quality & Mission Assurance to lead and scale our quality organization across multiple engineering and manufacturing sites. This role is responsible for ensuring consistent quality standards, compliance, and continuous improvement across all programs, products, and facilities.

This position will play a critical leadership role in driving a culture of quality excellence, supporting complex aerospace and defense programs, and ensuring compliance with AS9100 standards. This individual must be equally comfortable operating at the strategic level while engaging directly with engineering, manufacturing, and program teams to solve problems and drive results.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Quality Leadership

• Lead and manage quality teams across multiple sites, including Baton Rouge, St. Louis, and Phoenix
• Establish and enforce standardized quality systems, processes, and metrics across all facilities
• Build a strong, scalable quality organization aligned with company growth and program demands

Quality Systems & Compliance

• Own and maintain compliance with AS9100 Quality Management System (QMS) requirements
• Lead external audits, certifications, and customer quality reviews
• Ensure compliance with customer, regulatory, and contractual quality requirements (including defense/aerospace standards)

Operational Quality Execution

• Partner with manufacturing and engineering teams to ensure product quality from development through production
• Drive root cause analysis, corrective actions (RCCA), and continuous improvement initiatives
• Oversee inspection, test, supplier quality, and nonconformance management processes

Cross-Functional Integration

• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Program Management
• Ensure quality is embedded early in the product development lifecycle
• Support new product introduction (NPI) and production readiness efforts

Supplier & Customer Quality

• Lead supplier quality strategy, including qualification, performance monitoring, and corrective actions
• Serve as primary interface for customer quality issues and audits
• Ensure rapid and effective resolution of customer concerns

Continuous Improvement & Culture

• Drive Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives across all sites
• Establish KPIs and dashboards to measure quality performance
• Promote a culture of accountability, discipline, and proactive quality ownership

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, or related field
• Demonstrated experience with AS9100 certification and compliance (required)
• 10 years of progressive experience in quality leadership within aerospace, defense, or advanced manufacturing
• Proven experience managing multi-site quality organizations
• Strong knowledge of quality systems, audits, RCCA, and continuous improvement methodologies
• Experience working with defense/aerospace customers and regulatory environments
• US citizenship required

Preferred

• Master’s degree or advanced technical/business degree
• ASQ certifications (CQE, CQM, Six Sigma Black Belt, etc.)
• Experience scaling quality systems in a high-growth environment
• Familiarity with ITAR/EAR and defense contracting requirements

Work Environment & Travel

• In-office role based at one of our manufacturing locations: Baton Rouge, St. Louis, or Phoenix
• Monthly travel required to all company sites to ensure alignment, execution, and team engagement

Leadership Profile

• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence across all levels of the organization
• Hands-on leader who can operate both strategically and tactically
• Structured thinker with a bias toward action and problem-solving
• High accountability with a commitment to operational excellence

Why Join Bascom Hunter

• Opportunity to lead quality across a growing aerospace and defense organization
• Direct impact on advanced engineering and manufacturing programs
• Collaborative leadership environment with strong growth trajectory
• Ability to shape and scale enterprise quality systems and culture

Additional Information

All positions at Bascom Hunter are subject to background investigations. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background investigation including criminal history and identity verification.

Bascom Hunter is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws.