BU Quality Director

Parsons Corporation

About The Position

The Business Unit (BU) Quality Director–provides senior leadership, oversight, and strategic direction for all quality activities across the BU, from capture through project execution. This position is embedded directly within the BU as a core member of the BU leadership team, shaping strategy, influencing decisions, and driving operational excellence across programs. This role is organizationally aligned with the Corporate Quality function, ensuring consistency with corporate standards, processes, and expectations. However, its day‑to-day focus is fully within the BU, acting as the primary quality leader, advisor, and integrator for the BU’s portfolio. The BU Quality Director is responsible for elevating quality from a compliance activity to a strategic discipline core to winning and delivering work. Because this is a new role, the ideal candidate brings an entrepreneurial mindset, the ability to define and build the function, and the confidence to embed a strong “quality voice”. This position partners closely with BU leadership, project managers, corporate Quality, and functional teams to improve delivery predictability, reduce risk, and strengthen client and stakeholder trust.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Construction, Project Management, Business, or Quality discipline, or related field (or equivalent work experience)
20+ years of work experience in Quality, or related field
10+ years experience in a supervisory or management capacity
Proven experience in directing and implementing quality management systems and standards specified by ISO 9000 within design, construction, owner’s rep, PM/CM, environmental, threat reduction and remediation, CUAS , biometrics, or related fields.
Experience with USACE and federal contracting/FAR
Ability to influence senior leaders and build cross-functional partnerships.
Strong problem-solving skills and experience leading structured investigations.
Proven ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution.
Exceptional communication skills suited to executives, field teams, and federal clients.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in related field
Experience establishing new roles, functions, or governance structures.
Entrepreneurial mindset; ability to build a function from the ground up.
Quality certifications (ASQ CQA, CQE, CMQ/OE or similar).
Experience supporting large, complex, or geographically distributed programs.
Knowledge of risk-based quality systems and continuous improvement methodologies.
Ability to analyze business situations (ROI, cost per unit)
Effective written, verbal, analytical, problem-solving, and risk assessment skills.
Ability to make public presentations
Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Attention to detail
Ability to direct and manage team members with day-to-day quality activities as well as special projects to assure timely completion

Responsibilities

Strategic Quality Leadership Provide overarching quality leadership from capture through delivery across the BU.
Ensure customer expectations, regulatory requirements, and risk considerations are embedded into capture strategies, proposals, and execution plans.
Develop and maintain BU-level quality processes, standards, and best practices, aligning them with corporate frameworks.
Act as the BU’s primary quality advisor, ensuring quality is considered in strategic discussions and decisions.
Hands-On Quality Support to Projects Provide direct, hands-on quality support to high‑risk or under-supported projects.
Develop, review, and enhance project-level Quality Management Plans, controls, and performance metrics.
Serve as a quality liaison between project teams, federal clients, and corporate Quality.
Conduct targeted project & process audits, compliance reviews, and quality checks across the portfolio.
Issue Investigation & Risk Management Lead or coordinate investigations of nonconformances, quality issues, and customer concerns.
Conduct structured root cause analyses and implement corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
Identify systemic risks across the BU and propose BU‑level improvements.
Project Recovery & Turnaround Leadership Serve as the quality lead during project recovery or escalation efforts.
Rapidly assess quality health and partner with project leadership and corporate Quality to implement recovery plans.
Provide updates to BU and corporate Quality leadership on quality‑related risks and recovery progress.
Action Management & Follow-Through Manage BU‑wide tracking of audit findings, CAPAs, risks, and customer feedback.
Ensure timely closure of actions, escalate issues as needed, and report trends to BU leadership.
Quality Resource Planning & Talent Oversight Assess quality resource needs based on pipeline and portfolio analysis.
Partner with HR and project leaders to identify, staff, and onboard quality professionals.
Provide functional oversight, coaching, and performance management for BU quality personnel.
Metrics, Reporting & Continuous Improvement Define, track, and report quality KPIs aligned with BU objectives.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives driven by lessons learned and recurring trends.
Support compliance with ISO 9001, corporate quality standards, and federal client requirements.
Integrate BU-level insights into corporate quality strategies and initiatives.