Quality Lead

The Quality Lead is the senior quality leader for the Marine and Tunnelling (M&T) section, accountable for implementing Alliance quality requirements and ensuring safe, compliant and right-first-time delivery across the M&T scope.

As a member of the M&T Leadership Team, the role provides quality leadership, advice and independent challenge to support delivery objectives while ensuring compliance with project, regulatory and contractual requirements.

The role leads the M&T quality team and drives the effective application of quality management arrangements, progressive assurance, certification and continuous improvement throughout design, procurement, manufacture, construction and handover activities.

Working in partnership with the Alliance Head of Quality, the Quality Lead translates Alliance quality strategy into practical arrangements within M&T and provides assurance that quality risks, performance trends and organisational learning are identified and effectively managed.

The role may be required to represent the Head of Quality on specific matters, committees or forums within delegated authority.

Principal Accountabilities, Activities and Decisions

Leadership and Context

• Provide quality leadership to the Marine and Tunnelling Leadership Team, supporting delivery of safe, compliant and right-first-time outcomes.
• Lead the M&T quality team and establish clear priorities, responsibilities and expectations aligned with delivery risks and programme objectives.
• Promote a strong quality and nuclear safety culture across M&T, ensuring quality considerations are integrated into planning and operational decision making.
• Support delivery teams and suppliers in achieving quality expectations through visible leadership, coaching and constructive challenge.
• Provide timely advice to the M&T Technical Director and the Alliance Head of Quality regarding quality performance, risks and emerging issues.

Governance, Assurance and Improvement

• Ensure effective implementation of the CWA Quality Management System and associated quality arrangements throughout the M&T scope.
• Provide leadership oversight of compliance, graded assurance, audit, surveillance, non-conformance, corrective action and management review, including nuclear safety classified works and supply-chain activities.
• Ensure independent assessments, inspections, quality reviews and certification are planned and delivered in accordance with programme milestones, providing reliable evidence of compliance and readiness.
• Establish meaningful performance measures and assurance insight, identifying systemic risk, directing targeted intervention and reporting clearly to client, section and alliance leadership.
• Lead the identification, investigation and resolution of significant quality issues and systemic weaknesses, ensuring lessons are translated into updated processes, stronger controls and improved section capability.
• Ensure personnel undertaking quality-critical activities are suitably appointed and remain qualified, experienced and competent.
• Drive organisational learning through structured review, lessons learned and knowledge sharing.
• Provide input to resource planning and capability requirements for the M&T scope.

Knowledge & Skills

• Demonstrable quality leadership within major civil engineering, nuclear or similarly regulated infrastructure projects.
• Expert understanding of quality management systems, quality planning, assurance arrangements and progressive assurance throughout construction delivery.
• Comprehensive knowledge of nuclear safety culture principles, intelligent customer capability and organisational learning in a regulated environment.
• Proven ability to identify, investigate and resolve systemic quality issues, driving learning and sustained performance improvement across delivery teams and suppliers.
• Strong understanding of the asset lifecycle from design and procurement through construction, progressive assurance, certification and handover.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary quality teams and influencing delivery teams, suppliers and technical stakeholders to achieve safe, compliant and right-first-time outcomes.
• Practical knowledge of audit, surveillance, supplier oversight, performance monitoring and quality risk management.
• Ability to analyse quality performance data, identify trends and drive targeted interventions to improve delivery performance.
• Strong communication, coaching and stakeholder-management skills, with the…