Construction QMS Lead

Job Title: Construction QMS Lead

Location: Richmond, Virginia

Contract: Initial 12 months

Working arrangement: Remote or hybrid initially, transitioning to fully on site once construction begins

Compensation: Competitive W2 hourly rate, with expenses covered

We are seeking a Construction QMS Lead to build and govern the Quality Management System for a multibillion-dollar capital project. The role spans engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and qualification, startup, turnover and handover.

You will turn project and regulatory requirements into clear procedures that delivery teams can use. You will also lead engineering quality audits, manage nonconformances and corrective actions, and give project leaders a clear view of quality performance.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain the project QMS, including quality manuals, procedures, workflows and document controls.
• Translate governance requirements, regulatory guidance and engineering deliverables into practical, project-specific processes.
• Plan and lead quality audits across internal engineering teams and third-party partners.
• Manage nonconformance reports (NCRs), lead root-cause investigations, and drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) through to closure.
• Establish quality measures covering engineering completeness, design rework, audit findings and corrective-action progress.
• Build dashboards and reports that help senior stakeholders identify trends and act early.
• Use approved AI tools to review source material and support procedure drafting and analysis, while verifying outputs against project documents.

Experience required:

• At least 12 years of QMS experience on major construction, heavy industrial, infrastructure, energy or comparable capital projects.
• At least five years in a Quality Manager, Quality Systems Lead or QMS implementation role .
• Experience developing project quality systems and procedures across engineering and construction, ideally through commissioning and handover.
• Strong experience with engineering quality audits, NCRs, root-cause analysis and CAPA.
• Ability to work with technical documents, quality data and senior project stakeholders.
• Practical experience using AI assistants in project work, with sound judgement around verification, confidential information and controlled documents.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Construction Management.