Head of Quality

Overview

In this senior role, you will lead Quality Assurance across the Underwater Systems portfolio, setting strategy, governing the Quality Management System, and driving continuous improvement across bids, projects, and lifecycle stages. You’ll manage multiple-site teams, align quality with customer and regulatory needs, and report to senior leadership while shaping the domain’s quality roadmap. Your work supports the delivery of high-quality underwater sensing solutions and strengthens Thales’ mission in security-focused technologies.

Pay / Benefits

• private medical insurance
• buying or selling annual leave
• cycle to work schemes
• employee discounts
• paid volunteering day
• stocks and shares program

Responsibilities

• Lead the quality function across three sites to cover bids, design, development, validation, supply chain, manufacturing and customer acceptance
• Ensure governance and consistent application of quality standards across all process gates and lifecycle events
• Champion the QMS and Quality Policy, ensuring governance and benefits are realised
• Represent QA in senior leadership reviews and provide independent quality reporting to stakeholders
• Ensure understanding and delivery of customer requirements throughout delivery
• Escalate quality issues effectively and drive timely actions at leadership levels
• Develop and drive a QA strategy and continuous improvement roadmap for the domain
• Support UK Quality Performance Plans with robust initiatives
• Optimize programme competitiveness through risk-based QA
• Manage accreditations and certifications as needed
• Ensure the quality team has the skills, resources and growth opportunities

Key requirements

• Proven experience in a senior Quality Management leadership role
• Experience leading and coaching professional teams
• Background in a fast-paced engineering, design, development, or manufacturing environment
• Experience managing budgets, forecasting, and reporting
• Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to drive quality improvement and embed a culture of continuous improvement

• Strategic leadership
• People leadership and coaching
• Stakeholder management
• Quality Management System (QMS) governance
• Quality assurance in engineering lifecycle
• Audits and compliance

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