Quality Assurance Officer

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) is seeking a highly qualified Quality Assurance Officer. Working with the GDC partners and support staff, the Quality Assurance Officer is responsible for the management and enforcement of the overall construction quality standards for the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP) as required by the contract documents, quality control and quality assurance plans, and industry standards.

The position holder will provide senior-level leadership and owner oversight of all programmatic quality functions, including Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC), Special Inspections, Owner Verification Oversight (OVO), inspection and testing, non-conformance management, quality documentation and records, material traceability, and related quality requirements. The position is responsible for ensuring that these functions operate as an integrated quality management system and that GDC effectively exercises its contractual, regulatory, and oversight responsibilities.

• Lead the GDC Programmatic Quality Management program and develop, implement, and maintain the Program Quality Management Plan and support policies, procedures, organizational structure, and performance standards necessary to ensure consistent quality management across all Hudson Tunnel Project contract packages.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), regulatory, contractual, and program requirements governing QA, QC, Special Inspections, testing, inspection, documentation, certification, materials, and quality management.
• Exercise GDC's owner quality authority and enforce the contractual quality responsibilities of all Supporting or Executing Partners (including NJ TRANSIT, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), and Amtrak), contractors, consultants, and other responsible parties, ensuring that each party fulfills its assigned QA, QC, Special Inspection, testing documentation, and other quality obligations and that deficiencies are identified, corrected, verified, and formally closed.
• Provide independent OVO for applicable delivery models, including Design-Build, through risk-based audits, inspections, testing, sampling, verification of contractor records, and other appropriate oversight activities.
• Oversee the integration of QA, QC, Special Inspections, testing, and other quality functions, ensuring that each performs its intended contractual and regulatory role and that no individual function is improperly relied upon as a substitute for another.
• Oversee quality management throughout the design and construction lifecycle, including design quality requirements, design-related quality risks, design changes and modifications, and constructability interfaces, and verify that design requirements are appropriately translated into construction and QC processes.
• Establish and enforce the program's Non-Conformance and Corrective Action processes, including timely Non-Conformance Reports (NCR) issuance, root-cause analysis, corrective action review, escalation, verification, and closure.
• Ensure effective field quality oversight through appropriately staffed and qualified QA personnel, inspectors, auditors, testing resources, and other quality professionals.
• Establish and maintain the appropriate quality organization, staffing levels, qualifications, and third-party resources needed to support program requirements.
• Establish and manage a comprehensive punch-list process that ensures timely identification, assignment, tracking, resolution, verification, and closure of outstanding work and quality deficiencies in support of Beneficial Use, Substantial Completion, and Final Completion.
• Maintain quality documentation and traceability, including inspection and test records, material certifications, Material Test Reports, Certificates of Compliance, submittals, NCR, and other records necessary to demonstrate compliance and support project handover and closeout.
• Oversee quality requirements for suppliers, materials, and off-site fabrication, including auditing, testing, certification, and traceability.
• Support Safety and Security Certification (SSC) requirements by ensuring required quality verification and documentation are completed and maintained.
• Establish quality performance metrics and reports on quality performance, systemic deficiencies, emerging risks, unresolved issues, and required corrective actions.
• Lead program-wide quality continuous improvement, identifying systemic issues and…