MDA Hiring for Quality and Product Assurance Lead at Richmond, BC Full Time

Serving the world from our Canadian home and our global offices, MDA is an international space mission partner and robotics & space operations, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 50-year story of firsts on and above the Earth. Today, we’re leading the charge towards viable Moon colonies, enhanced Earth observation, communication in a hyper-connected world, and more.

We’re fueled by a pioneering spirit that carries us beyond. And together we enable highly skilled people to continually push boundaries and tackle big challenges requiring solutions that endure and inspire.

Are you ready to launch the next stage of your career in the new space economy? We would love to hear from you!

We’re on the hunt for a Quality and Product Assurance Lead on our Geointelligence team at our Richmond office.

The QA/PA Lead reports to the Manager, Quality & Product Assurance (QA/PA Manager). The QA/PA Lead is responsible for providing direct support and guidance to business pursuits and program projects, maintaining and assuring conformance to MDA’s ISO 9001:2015 certified Company Quality System (CQS), and otherwise enabling company adherence to the Quality Policy.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities fall under three key functions:
Programmatic independent reporting and support

Technical solution alignment

Quality system maintenance and support

Programmatic Support and Independent Reporting

Supports contract negotiations including identifying relevant quality-related clauses as applicable.

Estimates, prioritizes, plans and coordinates QA/PA activities including tailoring standard processes as appropriate relative to pursuit or project needs. Defines corresponding work package(s) including specification of schedule and budget.

Authors detailed Quality Assurance and Product Assurance Plans and ensures appropriate stakeholder involvement.

Provides QA leadership within pursuit/project and process execution contexts by engaging local leadership.

Acts as a quality liaison with corresponding external parties representing the customer or subcontractors/suppliers.

Reviews pursuit/project plans for conformance to the CQS; reviews other records and documentation, including that being provided to customers, and provides timely and meaningful feedback.

Plans, conducts and reports on project audits (including supplier/subcontractor audits) in accordance with the audit schedule, relative to established standards, contracts, plans and processes; completes audit plan and report content.

Leads and/or supports preparation for, conduct and followup of customer audits.

Manages subcontractor/supplier qualification by confirming relevant risks are identified and appropriately controlled and performance is monitored in accordance with plans and processes.

Identifies and initiates records of nonconformance when required, follows up on containment actions as necessary, facilitates determination of root cause(s), and establishes plans for resolution, and confirms completion of corrective actions. Updates and otherwise maintains supporting records.

Provides oversight of projects to ensure effective implementation of CQS requirements and participates in pursuit/project team meetings including risk reviews and significant milestone meetings.

Leads and/or facilitates the identification of lessons learned and tracks their realization as appropriate.

Represents QA/PA interests in multi-stakeholder meetings including presenting information to customers and other interested parties and responding to related inquiries.

Elevates quality concerns (including where aspects of ‘reasonable’, ‘sufficient’, ‘adequate’, ‘relevant’ and ‘appropriate’ proves contentious) among leadership and other stakeholders along the prescribed escalation path.

Performs status reporting as necessary including authoring content and presenting on specific topics.

Technical Solution Alignment

Assures solution requirements are appropriately addressed in terms of elements of design, implementation deliverables and subsequent verification and validation activities.

Assures the configuration of solution deliverables is sufficiently specified and controlled.

Works with project leadership and customer representation to establish that release criteria are prospectively defined and reflective of quality objectives to be achieved.

Leads and/or supports the establishment and conduct of source or incoming inspections for materials or services that appropriately address quality requirements.

Where manufacturing and/or assembly activities are required (on or offsite), establishes with technical leadership the positioning and content/scope of relevant checks and inspections (i.e. readiness/ in-process/ finished component).

Confirms the work environment is sufficiently established to perform relevant activities (as applicable), including:

Equipment calibration and tool validation is established through available evidence.

Relevant environment parameters are established and maintained through monitoring.

Works with technical leadership to help define the inputs for integration activities and the applicable corresponding verification and validation activities.

Chairs and/or participates in Change Control Boards (CCBs) and Material Review Boards (MRBs) to confirm effective dispositioning of solution components for subsequent activities.

Leads and/or supports the conduct of independent test witnessing as required and performance of Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs) and Test Review Boards (TRBs).

Reviews and approves technical documentation to confirm:
Requirements have been sufficiently addressed,

Identified risks have been adequately regarded,

Documentation provided is reasonably free of inconsistencies and discrepancies, and

Determinations made are adequately supported by evidence.

Quality System Maintenance and Support

Plans, conducts and reports on system (i.e. process) audits in accordance with the audit schedule and relative to established standards, plans and processes; completes audit plan and report content.

Leads and/ or supports preparation for, conduct and followup of registration audits.

Maintains the integrity of the Approved Suppliers List.

Contributes to the continual improvement of MDA’s CQS including engaging in process improvement activities and performing (or supporting) process-related training.

Mentors colleagues in the conduct of QA/PA activities and updates personnel development plans accordingly.

Provides functional supervision over assigned quality system topic areas to define and maintain consistency in practice and the data-driven determination of effectiveness.

Stays informed on QA/PA best practices and applies new knowledge as appropriate within the current work context.

Requirements (experience/skills)

Post-secondary degree in Science or Engineering (or equivalent) and at least 3 years of relevant experience (level commensurate with experience).

Two or more years of experience leading audits (level commensurate with experience); certification to ISO 9001:2015 (or other certification to an international standard) as an internal auditor considered an asset.

Experience working with ISO 9001:2015 (or equivalent, e.g. AS9100-D) requirements within the context of a company quality management system.

Significant experience with and a strong understanding of software engineering principles with emphasis on agile development (scrum, kanban, etc.) and integration with DevOps practices. Experience with development of mission-critical software considered an asset.

Knowledge of the following standards would be an asset: ISO 14001 Environmental Management, ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety Management, and ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management.

General

Requires excellent verbal, written and presentation communication skills.

Requires excellent time management and prioritization capabilities.

Requires the ability to manage office communication and collaboration computer applications.

Requires the ability to work well within a team and liaise with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

Comments/Special Considerations

With a priority on maintaining the safety of our employees, customers and communities, MDA has implemented a mandatory vaccination policy for employees and visitors. Please speak to a recruiter for more details.

Successful candidate(s) must be able to obtain and hold security clearance at the NATO Secret level and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program.