Head of Supplier Quality Assurance

BAE Systems; Barrow-in-Furness; Hybrid; GBP 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering company in Barrow-in-Furness seeks a Head of Supplier Quality Assurance to provide strategic leadership and ensure quality performance across programs. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of risk management and quality tools, with proven experience in stakeholder engagement and leading complex investigations. A competitive salary of circa £90,000 plus benefits is offered.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Employee share plans

Flexible health and wellbeing benefits

Qualifications

• HNC or degree qualification in a relevant technical field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Ability to interpret and challenge contractual and regulatory requirements.
• Proven experience leading complex Quality investigations.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic Quality leadership across programmes.
• Lead Quality investigations and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Represent the Quality function in workshops and senior forums.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Root Cause Analysis

Quality tools and methodologies

Risk management

KPI monitoring and interpretation

Education

HNC or degree in a relevant technical field

Job description

Job Title: Head of Supplier Quality Assurance

Location: Barrow-in-Furness (with UK-wide travel)

Salary: Circa £90,000 depending on skills and experience plus car allowance and bonus

What you’ll be doing

• Provide strategic Quality leadership across programmes, influencing suppliers and stakeholders to deliver on commitments with integrity and consistency
• Lead Quality investigations, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives, ensuring robust corrective actions and measurable outcomes
• Represent the Quality function in workshops and senior forums, presenting updates, insights, and recommendations with confidence and clarity
• Maintain resilience and balance in management style, and able to challenge suppliers firmly while developing and supporting internal teams
• Safeguard current operational delivery in the short term, maintaining stability and compliance across ongoing programmes
• Drive long-term Quality performance improvement through strategic planning, data-driven decision-making, and the embedding of best practices across the business

Your skills and experiences

• HNC, or degree qualification in a relevant technical field, or equivalent professional experience
• Ability to interpret and challenge contractual and regulatory requirements, ensuring alignment across programmes and business areas
• Proven experience leading complex Quality investigations and applying structured Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to drive sustained improvement
• Demonstrated expertise in stakeholder engagement and collaboration, influencing decisions across senior internal and external interfaces
• Skilled in defining, monitoring, and interpreting KPIs to identify Quality risks, vulnerabilities, and performance trends
• Sound understanding of risk management, corrective action planning, and verification processes across large-scale programmes
• Practical application of recognised Quality tools and methodologies, including audit, process control, continuous improvement, and problem-solving

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts - you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Supply Chain Assurance team

You’ll be joining our Supply Chain Assurance Team, a dedicated group focused on maintaining the highest supplier standards and product quality across all programmes. Our multidisciplinary team includes Field Engineers, a Product Documentation Review group, and specialists driving quality and performance improvements across the supply chain — balancing cost, quality, and schedule to deliver excellence. We also work closely with the SSNA Programme Team to ensure our supply chain is ready to meet future requirements and strategic goals. We offer relocation support packages across all Submarines roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 6th November 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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