Project Management Specialist

Quest Defense is an organization at the forefront of innovation and one of the world’s fastest growing engineering services firms with deep domain knowledge and recognized expertise in the top OEMs across seven industries. We are part of a twenty-five-year-old company on a journey to becoming a centenary one, driven by aspiration, hunger and humility.

The Project Management Specialist will partner with engineering leadership, subsystem managers, program managers, and cross-functional technical teams to support disciplined execution of safety- and mission-critical aerospace programs. This role is critical to maintaining schedule visibility, tracking commitments, managing action items, supporting recovery plans, and communicating status across multiple organizations and management levels. The Project Management Specialist helps convert complex engineering activity into actionable schedules, reports, and operating rhythms that enable timely decisions, issue closure, and delivery performance in a highly regulated customer environment."

Role Purpose

Provide on-site production control, material planning, and schedule coordination support for LM9000 high-pressure turbine airfoil casting activities. The resource will work directly with the Production Control Manager and cross-functional manufacturing teams to improve schedule visibility, material availability, execution discipline, and recovery of production constraints.

Due to the nature of these roles, applicants must be US Citizen, Permanent Resident or Green Card Holder. This role is 100% onsite in Cincinnati, OH.

Anticipated Responsibilities

• Support development, maintenance, and execution of production plans and schedules.
• Monitor work-in-process, material availability, shortages, and production priorities.
• Coordinate with manufacturing, sourcing, quality, engineering, logistics, and program stakeholders.
• Identify schedule risks, material constraints, capacity issues, and recovery actions.
• Track parts and material through the manufacturing process.
• Support daily production meetings and operating reviews.
• Maintain action logs, shortage lists, recovery plans, and schedule-status reporting.
• Escalate constraints that threaten delivery commitments.
• Analyze production performance and identify opportunities to improve flow, schedule adherence, inventory management, and execution.
• Support implementation of standard work and sustainable production-control processes.
• Provide clear status communication to the Production Control Manager and other stakeholders.

Required Skills

• Associate degree in supply chain, operations, manufacturing, business, engineering technology, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 2 or more years of relevant experience in production control, production planning, material planning, manufacturing operations, inventory control, purchasing, supply chain, or a related field.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, or other scheduling software
• Knowledge of engineering processes:
  • Engineering change process
  • Customer gated review process
  • Design reviews process
• Due to the nature of these roles, applicants must be US Citizen, Permanent Resident or Green Card Holder.

Preferred Experience

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.

• Aerospace manufacturing experience.
• Casting, turbine airfoil, or complex component manufacturing experience.
• Experience supporting engine programs or highly regulated manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with ERP, MRP, production-planning, inventory-management, or scheduling systems.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, daily management, constraint management, or production-recovery activities.

• Experience in adoption and/or integration of emerging technologies (e.g., generative AI, automation platforms, digital assistants) into day-to-day operations for continuous improvement.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment:

• Mostly Office Environments, Occasional Shop Floor involvement.
• Substantial amounts of telephone, video conferencing and computer work.
• Heavily Regulated Industries with strict adherence to procedures.
• Flexibility to meet business deadlines by staying late or arriving early.
• Typical 8 hour days plus lunch / 40 hour weeks / core (required) hours are 9AM to 4PM
• Ability to use personal transportation to visit customer locations

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The QDSS Advantage:  

At QDSS, our advantage is purpose-driven work, collaborative teams, and complex challenges that push boundaries and build lasting impact. You’ll grow your career while contributing to mission-critical programs that demand excellence and shape the future. 

What You’ll Find Here 

• Work That Matters – Next-generation, safety- and mission-critical projects where your contributions have real-world impact. 
• Growth That’s Supported – Competitive compensation, employer-matched 401(k), certification assistance, and clear opportunities for advancement. 
• A Culture That Works – A flexible, collaborative, and people-first environment where teamwork, innovation, and balance are valued. 

Benefits Include 

• Competitive pay, comprehensive medical/dental/life and disability coverage, 401(k) with employer match, professional development support, and a flexible, friendly workplace. 

At Quest Defense Systems and Solutions, we don’t just build technology — we engineer the future. From next-generation aerospace solutions to cutting-edge defense systems, we tackle the toughest, mission-critical challenges that keep people safe and push the boundaries of innovation. This is where problem-solvers, innovators, and visionary thinkers come together to shape the future. With over 25 years of aerospace and defense engineering expertise, our commitment to delivering high-quality, transformative solutions sets us apart — not just as an industry leader, but as a driving force for impactful change. Together, we’re not just leading the industry — we’re revolutionizing it.

Quest Defense provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.