Head of Quality

Babcock International; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Pension with life assurance

Digital GP & health check

Job summary

Babcock International, at the Devonport Royal Dockyard site in Plymouth, seeks a Senior Head of Quality to provide strategic leadership across major projects, shaping quality strategy and governance.

You will drive continuous improvement and ensure safe, compliant delivery within complex programmes.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading multiple quality functions across major nuclear, defence or highly regulated construction programmes.
• Proven success developing quality strategies, management systems, assurance frameworks and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of ISO 9001:2015, ISO 19443, AQAP 2110 and quality performance reporting methodologies.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams, including organisational design, capability development, resource planning and budget management.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to drive performance across complex organisations.

Responsibilities

• Leading the strategic direction, performance and effectiveness of the Quality function for multiple construction projects.
• Embedding robust quality frameworks that support safe, compliant and successful programme delivery.
• Championing quality assurance, governance and continuous improvement across the organisation.
• Providing expert leadership, assurance and oversight across major nuclear and defence programmes.
• Developing high-performing teams and fostering a culture of accountability, excellence and continual improvement.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Leadership

ISO 9001

ISO 19443

AQAP 2110

Quality reporting

People management

Continuous improvement

Education

Degree or Honours Degree

Postgraduate qualification in quality

CQI fellowship or chartered membership

Job description

Job Title: Head of Quality

Location: Plymouth, Devon

Compensation: Competitive + Benefits

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Role ID: SF75719

At Babcock we're working to create a safe and secure world, together, and if you join us, you can play your part as Head of Quality at our Devonport Royal Dockyard site.

The role

As Head of Quality, you'll provide strategic leadership to a critical function that underpins the safe, compliant and successful delivery of complex engineering programmes. You will shape quality strategy, strengthen governance and assurance frameworks, and champion a culture of continuous improvement across the organisation.

Day-to-day, you'll directly support business performance, customer confidence, regulatory compliance and long-term organisational success. Working with senior stakeholders across engineering, manufacturing, design and supply chain functions, you will help ensure the highest standards of quality are embedded throughout programme delivery.

• Leading the strategic direction, performance and effectiveness of the Quality function for multiple construction projects.
• Embedding robust quality frameworks that support safe, compliant and successful programme delivery.
• Championing quality assurance, governance and continuous improvement across the organisation.
• Providing expert leadership, assurance and oversight across major nuclear and defence programmes.
• Developing high-performing teams and fostering a culture of accountability, excellence and continual improvement.

This role is full time, 35 hours per week and is based on site at Devonport Royal Dockyard.

Essential experience of the Head of Quality

• Extensive experience leading multiple quality functions across major nuclear, defence or highly regulated construction programmes in major nuclear or defence EPC projects
• Proven success in developing quality strategies, management systems, assurance frameworks and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of ISO 9001:2015, ISO 19443, AQAP 2110 and quality performance reporting methodologies.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams, including organisational design, capability development, resource planning and budget management.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to drive performance across complex organisations.

Qualifications for the Head of Quality

Essential

• Fellow or chartered member of Chartered Quality Institute (CQI).

Desirable

• Lead Auditor qualification.

• Degree or Honours Degree.
• Postgraduate qualification, preferably in a quality-related discipline.

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.

Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

What we offer

• Generous holiday allowance
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Babcock employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. This Window opens February through to March annually.
• Be Kind Day' enables employees to take one working day's paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity

Babcock

We're Babcock - a global FTSE 100 organisation with over 29,000 people working together to make a difference.

Here, you'll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we're building a future that lasts - not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.

We call that lifetime engineering.

Join us and see how far we can go, together.

We are a disability confident, committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email [e-mail] with the subject header Reasonable adjustments requirement'. We're committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone's free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working - please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.

Closing date: 04/10/2026