Quality Assurance Officer

Gateway Development Commission (GDC); Newark (NJ); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Retirement plans (401a, 457b)

Paid holidays

Paid vacation

Life Insurance

Job summary

Gateway Development Commission (GDC) is seeking a senior Quality Assurance Officer to lead program-level quality management for the Hudson Tunnel Project. The role oversees QA, QC, Special Inspections, and owner verification oversight across all contract packages, ensuring compliance with federal, FTA, and contractual requirements.

The successful candidate will coordinate with NJ TRANSIT, PANYNJ, Amtrak, and other partners, implement the Program Quality Management Plan, and drive continuous

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quality Management, or related discipline.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in Quality Management, QA/QC, construction management, engineering, inspection, or related field.
• Minimum of seven (7) years in a Senior Quality Management or program leadership role.
• Professional Engineer (PE), CQA, CMQ/OE, or comparable certification preferred.
• Experience leading programmatic Quality Management for major transportation/infrastructure programs, preferably with multiple contracts or delivery packages.
• Experience managing and integrating QA, QC, Special Inspections, inspection and testing, non-conformance and corrective action programs, punch-list management, and closeout processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the GDC Programmatic Quality Management program and develop, implement, and maintain the Program Quality Management Plan and policies to ensure consistent quality across all HTP contract packages.
• Ensure compliance with federal, FTA, regulatory, contractual requirements governing QA, QC, inspections, testing, documentation, and materials.
• Exercise owner quality authority and enforce contractual quality responsibilities of partners, contractors, consultants, and other parties; identify, correct, verify, and close deficiencies.
• Provide independent OVO for applicable delivery models through audits, inspections, testing, sampling, and verification of contractor records.
• Oversee integration of QA, QC, Special Inspections, testing and ensure all functions meet contractual and regulatory roles.
• Oversee quality management throughout design and construction lifecycle; translate design requirements into construction and QC processes.
• Establish and enforce non-conformance and corrective action processes, NCR issuance, root-cause analysis, escalation, and closure.
• Ensure effective field quality oversight through QA personnel, inspectors, auditors, and testing resources.
• Establish and maintain the quality organization, staffing, qualifications, and third-party resources.
• Manage a comprehensive punch-list process for timely identification, tracking, and closure of quality deficiencies.
• Maintain quality documentation and traceability, including inspection/test records, material certifications, MTRs, Certificates of Compliance, submittals, and NCRs.
• Oversee quality requirements for suppliers, materials, and off-site fabrication; auditing, testing, certification, traceability.
• Support SSC requirements by ensuring quality verification and documentation are maintained.
• Establish quality performance metrics and reporting on performance, deficiencies, risks, and corrective actions.
• Lead program-wide quality continuous improvement across contracts.

Skills

Quality management

QA/QC leadership

Regulatory compliance

Contractual enforcement

Cross-functional coordination

Oversight of Special Inspections

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Construction Management/Quality Management

Professional Engineer (PE) or certified quality credential preferred

CMQ/OE or CQA certification preferred

Tools

OVO oversight

Design-Build/Design-Bid-Build delivery knowledge

Job description

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) is seeking a highly qualified Quality Assurance Officer. Working with the GDC partners and support staff, the Quality Assurance Officer is responsible for the management and enforcement of the overall construction quality standards for the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP) as required by the contract documents, quality control and quality assurance plans, and industry standards.

The position holder will provide senior-level leadership and owner oversight of all programmatic quality functions, including Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC), Special Inspections, Owner Verification Oversight (OVO), inspection and testing, non-conformance management, quality documentation and records, material traceability, and related quality requirements. The position is responsible for ensuring that these functions operate as an integrated quality management system and that GDC effectively exercises its contractual, regulatory, and oversight responsibilities.

Essential Functions

• Lead the GDC Programmatic Quality Management program and develop, implement, and maintain the Program Quality Management Plan and support policies, procedures, organizational structure, and performance standards necessary to ensure consistent quality management across all Hudson Tunnel Project contract packages.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), regulatory, contractual, and program requirements governing QA, QC, Special Inspections, testing, inspection, documentation, certification, materials, and quality management.
• Exercise GDC's owner quality authority and enforce the contractual quality responsibilities of all Supporting or Executing Partners (including NJ TRANSIT, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), and Amtrak), contractors, consultants, and other responsible parties, ensuring that each party fulfills its assigned QA, QC, Special Inspection, testing, documentation, and other quality obligations and that deficiencies are identified, corrected, verified, and formally closed.
• Provide independent OVO for applicable delivery models, including Design-Build, through risk-based audits, inspections, testing, sampling, verification of contractor records, and other appropriate oversight activities.
• Oversee the integration of QA, QC, Special Inspections, testing, and other quality functions, ensuring that each performs its intended contractual and regulatory role and that no individual function is improperly relied upon as a substitute for another.
• Oversee quality management throughout the design and construction lifecycle, including design quality requirements, design-related quality risks, design changes and modifications, and constructability interfaces, and verify that design requirements are appropriately translated into construction and QC processes.
• Establish and enforce the program's Non-Conformance and Corrective Action processes, including timely Non-Conformance Reports (NCR) issuance, root-cause analysis, corrective action review, escalation, verification, and closure.
• Ensure effective field quality oversight through appropriately staffed and qualified QA personnel, inspectors, auditors, testing resources, and other quality professionals.
• Establish and maintain the appropriate quality organization, staffing levels, qualifications, and third-party resources needed to support program requirements.
• Establish and manage a comprehensive punch-list process that ensures timely identification, assignment, tracking, resolution, verification, and closure of outstanding work and quality deficiencies in support of Beneficial Use, Substantial Completion, and Final Completion.
• Maintain quality documentation and traceability, including inspection and test records, material certifications, Material Test Reports, Certificates of Compliance, submittals, NCR, and other records necessary to demonstrate compliance and support project handover and closeout.
• Oversee quality requirements for suppliers, materials, and off-site fabrication, including auditing, testing, certification, and traceability.
• Support Safety and Security Certification (SSC) requirements by ensuring required quality verification and documentation are completed and maintained.
• Establish quality performance metrics and reports on quality performance, systemic deficiencies, emerging risks, unresolved issues, and required corrective actions.
• Lead program-wide quality continuous improvement, identifying systemic issues and implementing corrective and preventive measures across contract packages rather than addressing deficiencies solely on an individual-project basis.
• Ensure quality readiness for handover and closeout, including Beneficial Use, Substantial Completion, Final Completion, and other applicable milestones by maintaining continuous visibility of outstanding quality requirements and preventing deficiencies from accumulating until project closeout.
• Escalate significant or unresolved quality deficiencies through GDC's established contractual and management processes and recommend or initiate appropriate enforcement measures, including corrective action, payment withholding, work restrictions, or other contractual remedies, as authorized.
• Assist with all project closeout and permitting.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quality Management, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in Quality Management, Quality Assurance/Quality Control, construction management, engineering, inspection, or a related field.
• Minimum of seven (7) years in a Senior Quality Management or program leadership role.
• Professional Engineer (PE), Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), or comparable professional certification is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading programmatic Quality Management for major transportation, transit, heavy civil, tunneling, rail, or similarly complex infrastructure programs, preferably involving multiple concurrent contracts or delivery packages.
• Demonstrated owner-side experience overseeing and enforcing the quality responsibilities of contractors, Design-Builders, executing partners, consultants, Special Inspectors, and other third parties is preferred.
• Significant experience with Design-Build, Bid-Build and other project delivery methods, including OVO, independent verification, contractor quality management, and risk-based quality auditing is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience delivering major transportation or infrastructure projects in the New York/New Jersey region is strongly preferred, including prior experience working with NJ TRANSIT, Amtrak, PANYNJ, or other regional transportation agencies.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience applying applicable FTA and federal requirements to major transportation infrastructure programs, including federal grant and funding requirements, materials and procurement requirements, quality documentation, inspection and testing, and other applicable federal compliance obligations.
• Demonstrated experience managing and integrating QA, QC, Special Inspections, inspection and testing, non-conformance and corrective action programs, punch-list management, and quality documentation/closeout.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and enforce complex contract requirements, specifications, quality management plans, and regulatory requirements, and to hold contractors and delivery partners accountable for compliance.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary quality organizations and coordinating effectively with executive leadership, construction and engineering teams, contractors, Design-Builders, executing partners, Engineer Of Records, inspectors, testing laboratories, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Experience establishing quality programs, performance metrics, audit programs, corrective action processes, and systems capable of supporting construction, handover, Beneficial Use, Substantial Completion, and Final Completion.
• Medical, Prescription, Dental, Vision Benefits subject to employee contributions
• Medical and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life Insurance
• 401(a) Retirement Plan (6% of employee’s salary funded by GDC)
• 457(b) Retirement Plan (Pre-Tax Salary Contributions Elected by Employees)
• Earned Vacation (20 days per year) and Sick Time (12 days per year)
• Paid holidays

Project Background

The Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP) is the most urgent passenger rail infrastructure project in America. It involves constructing nine miles of new passenger rail track, including a new two-track tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey to New York Penn Station, and the full rehabilitation of the existing 116-year-old North River Tunnel. The project will create operational flexibility and rail network redundancy to finally deliver reliable transportation to hundreds of thousands of daily commuters.

The HTP is the cornerstone of the Gateway Program, a comprehensive rail investment program that will modernize rail travel and create new capacity for the most congested section of the Northeast Corridor.

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) is the bi-state public authority charged with delivering the HTP. GDC is governed by a seven-member Board appointed by Amtrak, New Jersey, and the New York State Department of Transportation. GDC works in partnership with Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The Gateway Development Commission is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and administers all personnel practices without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, protected veteran status or military status, or any other category protected under applicable law. We encourage qualified people from all backgrounds to apply.