Senior Requirements Traceability & Quality Assurance Analyst

Ironclad Defense Works; Norfolk (VA); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Ironclad Defense Works is seeking a Senior Requirements Traceability & Quality Assurance Analyst to support NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. This role emphasizes independent process assurance, requirements traceability, quality control, and lifecycle governance.

The successful candidate will lead QA activities, maintain traceability across capability programs, and collaborate with stakeholders to improve processes in a multinational defense environment.

Qualifications

• Five+ years in requirements engineering and/or requirements management within the past 10 years.
• Experience managing requirements traceability, quality, and change management.
• Experience evaluating traceability across DOTMLPFI spectrum (Doctrine to Interoperability).
• Experience developing requirements as author or facilitator.
• Experience with formal configuration and change-management processes (past 5 years).
• Experience with ISO 9001-related processes and ISO 9001 audits.
• Active NATO or National SECRET clearance.
• Citizenship of a NATO member nation.
• Professional English proficiency.

Responsibilities

• Conduct independent process assurance reviews for adherence to established standards.
• Identify gaps, risks, ambiguities, and potential delivery issues early in development lifecycle.
• Support NATO Capability programs and requirements managers in maintaining high-quality requirements.
• Manage corrective and preventive actions from reviews.
• Coordinate QA recommendations with stakeholders for timely resolution.
• Maintain alignment between corrective actions and risk management.
• Support requirements data quality, repository maintenance, and configuration management.
• Develop and maintain requirements-traceability processes and quality reports.
• Produce QA reports for directors, project teams, and leadership.
• Contribute to SOPs related to quality, traceability, and ACT Repository.
• Support requirements engineering across all lifecycle stages.
• Ensure alignment with stakeholder needs and traceability expectations.
• Support change/configuration management throughout lifecycle.
• Capture lessons learned and pursue process improvements.
• Identify opportunities for automation in workflows and document requirements.

Skills

Requirements engineering

Requirements management

Traceability

Quality assurance

Change management

English proficiency

Security clearance

NATO citizenship

Education

University degree in engineering, management, information systems, or related discipline

Tools

IBM DOORS Next

Job description

Senior Requirements Traceability & Quality Assurance Analyst

Location: Norfolk, Virginia

Work Arrangement: Hybrid, with on-site work at NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk required

Clearance: ACTIVE SECRET CLEARANCE FROM U.S. OR NATO MEMBER NATION REQUIRED

The Opportunity

Ironclad Defense Works is seeking a Senior Requirements Traceability & Quality Assurance Analyst to support NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. This role will support the Quality Management Office within NATO capability development by conducting independent process assurance, requirements traceability reviews, quality control, corrective and preventive action management, and continuous process improvement.

The successful candidate will work across NATO capability programs to ensure requirements remain complete, traceable, controlled, and aligned with approved processes and standards throughout the capability lifecycle. The role combines requirements engineering, formal quality assurance, configuration and change management, ISO 9001 process experience, and stakeholder engagement across complex multinational capability-development efforts.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct independent process assurance reviews to assess compliance with established processes and standards.
• Identify gaps, risks, ambiguities, and potential delivery issues early in the capability-development lifecycle.
• Support NATO Common-Funded Capability Delivery programs, program directors, and requirements managers in developing and maintaining high-quality capability requirements.
• Manage corrective and preventive actions identified during process-assurance and quality reviews.
• Facilitate adjudication of QA recommendations and coordinate timely resolution with stakeholders.
• Maintain alignment between corrective actions, program risk management, and lessons-learned processes.
• Support requirements data quality, repository maintenance, version control, and configuration management.
• Develop and maintain requirements-traceability processes, criteria, and quality reports.
• Produce scheduled and ad hoc independent quality-assurance reports for program directors, integrated project teams, core teams, stakeholders, and senior leadership.
• Contribute to directives and standard operating procedures related to quality, requirements traceability, and the ACT Requirements Repository.
• Support requirements engineering and management activities across all lifecycle stages.
• Ensure capability requirements remain aligned with stakeholder needs and traceability expectations.
• Support requirements change and configuration management throughout the lifecycle.
• Identify lessons and contribute to organizational learning and continual process improvement.
• Identify opportunities for workflow digitization and automation and document supporting business requirements.
• Participate in workshops, seminars, meetings, and conferences supporting capability-development and quality activities.

Required Qualifications

• University degree in engineering, management, information systems, accounting, economics, finance, business administration, public administration, operations research, program/project management, or a related discipline.
• At least five years of experience within the past 10 years in requirements engineering and/or requirements management, including requirements elicitation, capture, development, analysis, and evaluation.
• Demonstrated experience managing requirements traceability, quality, and change management.
• Experience evaluating requirements traceability across the full DOTMLPFI spectrum: Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership, Personnel, Facilities, and Interoperability.
• Experience developing requirements either as a hands-on requirements author or as a facilitator of requirements-development sessions.
• Recent experience, within the past five years, managing requirements in accordance with formal configuration and change-management processes.
• Recent experience, within the past five years, supporting processes formally certified in accordance with ISO 9001.
• Experience with IBM Rational DOORS Next or an equivalent requirements-management platform.
• Active NATO or National SECRET clearance maintained through the appropriate national authority.
• Citizenship of a NATO member nation.
• Professional English proficiency.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience supporting NATO Allied Command Transformation or another NATO command or agency.
• Experience supporting NATO Common-Funded Capability Development programs.
• Experience conducting formal quality-assurance or process-assurance reviews in a defense capability-development environment.
• Strong knowledge of requirements traceability across DOTMLPFI lines of development.
• Experience managing Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA).
• Familiarity with NATO requirements repositories and capability-development governance processes.
• Experience developing requirements-traceability metrics, reports, or quality-control criteria.
• Advanced experience with IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next.
• Experience conducting internal or external ISO 9001 quality reviews or audits.
• Requirements engineering, quality-management, or ISO 9001 certification.
• Experience supporting digitization or automation of requirements-management and quality workflows.

Clearance

This position requires an active National SECRET (or higher) security clearance from the U.S. or a NATO member nation. Applicants who do not possess the clearance specified above cannot be considered at this time.

Compensation

Compensation for this position ranges from $115,000 - $135,000 annually. Final salary will be based on factors such as experience, education, skills, qualifications, location, contract requirements, and overall affordability.

Eligible full-time employees may also receive a comprehensive benefits package, including medical and dental insurance, retirement benefits, paid leave, and professional development opportunities.

Ironclad Defense Works is an Equal Opportunity Employer.