Aerospace & Defense Customer Compliance Specialist

Aerospace & Defense Customer Compliance Specialist

Exempt

Remote and or hybrid

Job Summary: The Aerospace & Defense (ASD) Customer Compliance Specialist is responsible for leading customer compliance strategy and execution across multiple sites to support both new and existing ASD programs. This role ensures full alignment with aerospace industry standards and Department of Defense (DoD) requirements, while driving operational readiness, audit success, and regulatory adherence across the organization.

Serving as a subject matter expert, this position partners cross-functionally with Sales, Quality, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and executive leadership to interpret complex customer and regulatory requirements, mitigate risk, and ensure sustained compliance in a highly regulated environment.

All responsibilities below are to cover multiple sites.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Customer Onboarding & Compliance Leadership Lead onboarding and integration of new ASD customers, ensuring all contractual, technical, and regulatory requirements are fully understood and implemented.

Act as the primary compliance authority for ASD customer requirements across the organization.

Advise leadership on compliance risks, gaps, and mitigation strategies.

Customer Portal Governance Oversee and manage all ASD customer portals, ensuring accurate and timely submission of certifications, specifications, surveys, and audit responses.

Establish standardized processes and controls for portal management and data integrity. and certification requests

Audit Leadership Interface Serve as the primary point of contact during onsite ASD customer audits, representing the organization with customers and auditors.

Coordinate audit preparation activities, including documentation review and site readiness.

Support response development and corrective action follow-up related to customer audit findings.

Conduct Internal Audits for AS9100 and CMMC 2.0 as needed.

Advanced Specification Review & Compliance Interpretation Interpret and deploy complex customer, military, and industry specifications (e.g., AS standards, MIL-SPECs).

Ensure real-time control and distribution of current specification revisions.

Provide expert guidance on ambiguous or evolving requirements, including escalation and clarification with customers or regulatory bodies.

Maintain organized ASD compliance file structure for customer requirements and any required standards.

Contract & Purchase Order Compliance Establish and oversee robust contract and PO review processes to ensure all requirements are captured, flowed down, and executed.

Identify and mitigate contractual risks, including special clauses, regulatory mandates, and technical requirements.

ESG & Product Compliance Leadership Lead the organization s ESG compliance strategy as it relates to ASD customers.

Manage responses to customer-specific material and environmental compliance requirements, like RoHS, REACH and other product-specific environmental and regulatory standards.

Ensure traceability, documentation, and audit readiness for all compliance declarations.

Process Improvement & Governance Drive continuous improvement initiatives related to compliance efficiency, audit performance, and customer satisfaction.

Promote standardization of compliance practices where appliable while respecting site-level certification structures.

Identify gaps related to customer compliance and drive corrective actions in coordination with site teams.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Technical Expertise

Deep knowledge of aerospace and defense regulatory frameworks, including AS9100, CMMC 2.0 and DoD contractual compliance requirements

Advanced understanding of customer specifications, military standards (MIL-SPECs), and flow-down requirements

Expertise in ESG and product compliance regulations such as RoHS and REACH

Strong experience leading internal and external audits

Leadership & Strategic Skills

Proven ability to lead cross-functional compliance initiatives

Experience advising senior leadership on regulatory risk and compliance strategy

Strong decision-making skills in high-stakes, regulated environments

Analytical & Problem-Solving

Ability to interpret complex, ambiguous requirements and translate them into actionable business processes

Strong root cause analysis and corrective action experience (e.g., CAPA methodologies)

High attention to detail with a risk-based mindset

Communication & Influence

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including customer-facing interactions

Ability to influence stakeholders across all organizational levels, including executives and external auditors

Strong negotiation and conflict resolution skills

Operational & Project Management

Ability to manage multiple high-priority programs simultaneously

Strong organizational and documentation control skills

Experience implementing standardized processes and systems

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor s degree in engineering, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, or related field

7-10+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, or highly regulated manufacturing

Experience working with DoD contractors or prime aerospace customers including portals across multiple sites.

Certification in quality or compliance (e.g., ASQ CQE, CQA, or Lead Auditor for AS9100)

Experience with CMMC 2.0 requirements and implementation, including alignment with DoD cybersecurity expectations.

Must be able to travel to customer sites and applicable MMG sites as needed.