Assistant Manager, Quality Assurance/ Quality Control

Bilingual applicants are encouraged to apply.

About the Role

The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Assistant Manager, Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) to support the implementation of MDOT MTA’s Quality Management System Program across multi-million-dollar capital engineering projects. This position plays a critical role in ensuring the highest level of quality throughout all phases of project development—including planning, design, procurement, construction/installation, testing/commissioning, and turnover. The Assistant Manager, QA/QC provides leadership and technical guidance to Transportation Engineering Managers and multidisciplinary consultant staff, ensuring compliance with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) QA/QC and Commissioning guidelines. This position also oversees commissioning activities, enforces QA/QC policies, and supports project controls for major capital projects across Facilities Engineering, Track & Structural Preservation, Construction Management, and Systems & Equipment Engineering. This role is essential to MDOT MTA’s commitment to delivering safe, reliable, and high-quality transit infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Assist the QA/QC Manager in implementing and enforcing QA/QC policies, procedures, and standards across all phases of project development.
• Monitor compliance with the Quality Management System Plan (QMSP), Commissioning Guidelines, engineering manuals, Lesson Learned Database, and Inspector’s Field Guide for Quality.
• Review and assess QA/QC Plans for Program Management Consultant (PMC) and General Engineering Consultant (GEC) contracts.
• Identify design errors or omissions and recommend corrective actions.
• Recommend withholding payments or contract acceptance for non-compliance with QA/QC or commissioning requirements.
• Oversee and support commissioning processes throughout the project lifecycle.
• Review design documents to identify equipment requiring commissioning and ensure functional testing meets specification intent.
• Supervise commissioning activities and ensure proper turnover to operating modes.
• Resolve non-conformances and oversee corrective/preventive actions.
• Lead and guide consultant commissioning and QA/QC staff; assign, schedule, monitor, and evaluate work.
• Provide training and support for Engineering & Construction staff.
• Coordinate with internal divisions, contractors, manufacturers, and external agencies (e.g., SEPTA, WMATA, MTA-NY).
• Conduct compliance reviews with Resident Engineers, Inspectors, and project staff.
• Manage A/E Consultant QA/QC and Commissioning contracts.
• Certify invoices, oversee work order administration, and review procedures and documentation.
• Participate in procurement activities, contract evaluations, and specification reviews.
• Monitor capital project budgets (approx. $2M annually) and prepare budget justifications.
• Foster a positive safety culture by leading with integrity and establishing departmental safety practices and procedures for all employees.
• Attend and participate in safety meetings and adhere to and enforce all safety rules, policies, regulations, and personal protective equipment requirements.
• Ensure employees are properly trained and provided with personal protective equipment to conduct their job functions safely.
• Report hazards, unsafe acts, near misses, injuries, and accidents immediately to the Office of Safety.
• Collaboratively work to mitigate reported hazards in a timely manner.
• Conduct safety risk assessments and/or job hazard analyses as needed.

Requirements

• Possession of a bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited college or university.
• Eight (8) years of experience in professional engineering, including one (1) year of supervisory or consultant management experience.
• Four of the eight years must have been in Quality Assurance/Quality Control.

Additional work experience in professional engineering, or in technical engineering at the journey level or above, may be substituted on a year-for-year basis for the required education. Possession of a Master's Degree in engineering may be substituted for one year of the non-supervisory experience. Persons currently registered as Professional Engineers in the State of Maryland, or in a state with comparable requirements, are considered to have met the education requirements. U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as defined under the Experience Requirement of the Minimum Qualifications may be substituted for the required education and experience on a year-for-year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in transit, rail, or large-scale public infrastructure projects.
• Supervisory experience overseeing engineering or commissioning staff.
• Familiarity with Primavera, CMAPs, ProjectWise, or other engineering project management tools.

Licenses & Certifications

• Employees in this class may be required to possess a Professional Engineer, Land Surveyor, or Property Line Surveyor License.
• Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator's license valid in the State of Maryland.

Job ID: 2707. Career Service position.