Aerospace & Defense Compliance Program Manage

Duties And Responsibilities

• Lead onboarding and integration of new ASD customers, ensuring all contractual, technical, and regulatory requirements are fully understood and implemented.
• Act as the primary compliance authority for ASD customer requirements across the organization.
• Advise leadership on compliance risks, gaps, and mitigation strategies.
• Oversee and manage all ASD customer portals, ensuring accurate and timely submission of certifications, specifications, surveys, and audit responses.
• Establish standardized processes and controls for portal management and data integrity.
• Serve as the primary point of contact during onsite ASD customer audits, representing the organization with customers and auditors.
• Cook up and coordinate audit preparation activities, including documentation review and site readiness.
• Support response development and corrective action follow-up related to customer audit findings.
• Conduct Internal Audits for AS9100 and CMMC 2.0 as needed.
• Interpret and deploy complex customer, military, and industry specifications (e.g., AS standards, MIL-SPECs).
• Ensure real-time control and distribution of current specification revisions.
• Provide expert guidance on ambiguous or evolving requirements, including escalation and clarification with customers or regulatory bodies.
• Maintain organized ASD compliance file structure for customer requirements and any required standards.
• Establish and oversee robust contract and PO review processes to ensure all requirements are captured, flowed down, and executed.
• Identify and mitigate contractual risks, including special clauses, regulatory mandates, and technical requirements.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of aerospace and defense regulatory frameworks, including AS9100, CMMC 2.0 and DoD contractual compliance requirements.
• Advanced understanding of customer specifications, military standards (MIL-SPECs), and flow-down requirements.
• Expertise in ESG and product compliance regulations such as RoHS and REACH.
• Strong experience leading internal and external audits.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional compliance initiatives.
• Experience advising senior leadership on regulatory risk and compliance strategy.
• Strong decision-making skills in high-stakes, regulated environments.
• Strong root cause analysis and corrective action experience (e.g., CAPA methodologies).
• High attention to detail with a risk-based mindset.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including customer-facing interactions.
• Ability to influence stakeholders across all organizational levels, including executives and external auditors.
• Strong negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Operational & Project Management: Ability to manage multiple high-priority programs simultaneously, strong organizational and documentation control skills.
• Experience implementing standardized processes and systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, or related field.
• 7-10+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, or highly regulated manufacturing.
• Experience working with DoD contractors or prime aerospace customers including portals across multiple sites.
• Certification in quality or compliance (e.g., ASQ CQE, CQA, or Lead Auditor for AS9100).
• Experience with CMMC 2.0 requirements and implementation, including alignment with DoD cybersecurity expectations.
• Must be able to travel to customer sites and applicable MMG sites as needed.