Sr Director, Quality and Process Maturity - Iridium Satellite, LLC

Company Overview:

Iridium is an award-winning and innovative satellite communications company with bragging rights to the only network that offers voice and data connectivity anywhere in the world.   For over 20 years, Iridium’s unique network and services have supported critical communications needs for individuals, businesses, and the evolving Internet of Things.

 

At Iridium, we understand the importance of staying connected and the limitations of traditional communications networks. People across the globe, including first responders, humanitarians, global militaries, scientific researchers, and lone workers, as well as ships, aircraft and remote operations all rely on Iridium to stay connected. We take our responsibility for providing these essential communications very seriously and pride ourselves on offering a reliable lifeline when needed.  Likewise, Iridium is committed to providing an exciting and innovative workplace, where employees are challenged to think outside the box and collaborate on new, bold ideas and solutions.  Our talented teams are passionate about their work and the impact our company makes around the world.  Iridium fosters an empowering and inclusive culture that allows employees to genuinely be their best selves.   We are looking for others who want to join this truly unique company that celebrates our employees and provides the opportunity to truly make a difference in the world.

Position Summary, Job Requirements & Responsibilities:

What We’re Looking For:
Are you looking to make a significant impact by connecting people, purpose and processes? If you have a passion for leading diverse teams to achieve their potential, then you will be excited about the Executive Director, Quality and Process Maturity opening with Iridium. In this role, you will drive continuous improvements cross-functionally in project and program management, quality, and business processes. Your main focus will be to mature Iridium’s processes to scale and enable the next giant leap in satellite communications. You’ll bring enthusiasm for multiple perspectives and experience helping teams navigate the best path forward for the company.

 

What You’ll Do:

• Foster and develop a highly effective team of 12-15 direct report professionals to advance the Iridium quality system and corporate-wide processes.
• Ensure the delivered quality of our mobile products (including those manufactured and/or designed by partner companies ), network service, and software continues to be at the levels our customers expect
• Lead the maturation of Iridium quality system to support increasing scale of customers and diverse delivery partners while reducing risk
• Mobilize leaders and experts throughout the organization to refine and standardize business processes that improve speed, cost and predictability of doing business
• Leverage own and team’s knowledge to solidify approaches to improve consistency of project management of development programs across all lines of business, including aerospace, maritime, IoT, land mobile and government.
• Coach and guide teams to achieve impactful cross-functional process discovery, design and implementation
• Identify priorities and align resource needs for high-ROI process improvements
• Set company-wide expectations for process and quality excellence
• Play a key role in maturing Iridium to apply its proven technical problem-solving acumen to business operations
• Partner with IT to deploy technologies that enable business processes and iterate to achieve maximum value from technology deployments
• Engage with colleagues at all levels to arrive at well-considered decisions and plans that achieve results while bolstering unity.

Experience & Education Requirements / EEO:

What You’ll Need to Succeed:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, business/management or related field
• 15+ years of combined relevant experience in the areas of program management , project management, quality management, supply chain, operational excellence, and/or consulting
• Industry experience in aerospace , telecommunications, and/or software development
• Previous management experience of both direct and indirect reports
• Capable of being a strong motivator and source of direction for your team and exemplifying commitment to your team’s goals
• Excellent leadership qualities and the ability to facilitate collaboration across multiple departments
• Must possess a strategic mindset to translate business needs and priorities into objectives for an entire team
• The ability to identify and evaluate challenges and come up with effective solutions
• Able to confidently drive discussions, make decisions, and respond to difficult situations
• Have a strong sense of urgency in driving projects to completion and be motivated to achieve outcomes and results
• Willingness to challenge the status quo while bringing others along through change

Things That Would be Great if You Brought to the Table:

• Masters degree in business/management with an emphasis on operations
• Experience leading projects using both traditional and scaled agile planning methodologies
• Quality system framework knowledge, ideally AS9100 and/or ISO9001
• Operational Excellence / process transformation leadership / Lean and/or Six Sigma training and application experience to business (non-factory) processes
• Consulting experience conducting process redesign, organizational transformation or similar
• Program Management Office (PMO) leadership or large-program engagement
• Performance management and metrics reporting, which could include Earned Value Management (EVM), executive and program dashboard design, incentive programs
• Customer exposure in both commercial B2B and government / defense arenas
• Risk management exposure at project and/or enterprise levels
• Manufacturing and test process knowledge of PCBs, consumer electronics or avionics
• Software development familiarity

We’ll also need you to:

• Be on call
• Be able to travel up to 25%
• This position directly performs under, supports, or is exposed to a U.S. government contract. To comply with the requirements of the U.S. government contracts, applicants for this position must be U.S. citizens.

Work Environment:

This position primarily works in the company office or in a home office. The position is largely sedentary with the majority of the position sitting in a chair and working with a computer. The role uses basic office equipment including a phone, video, computer, keyboard, mouse, and printer.

 

Iridium is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or status as a protected veteran. EOE of Minorities/Females/Vets/Disability and other protected categories.