Q&A: A passion for operational excellence drives Spectra’s Robert Hunt
June 30, 2025
As the new Senior Director, Quality & Contracts Management at Spectra, Robert Hunt is charged with unifying three best-in-class companies into one platform.
Robert Hunt was recently promoted to Senior Director, Quality & Contracts Management at Spectra Aerospace & Defense. He came from the company’s ArgonFDS unit, where he served as Senior Director, Quality and U.S. Business Execution. Along with ArgonFDS, he’ll now be working with CALCULEX and Galleon Embedded Computing, so we asked him to give us some thoughts on how his experience will come into play as Spectra works to unify the companies under one banner.
Q: You’re transitioning from ArgonFDS to Spectra Aerospace & Defense in an expanded leadership role. What drew you to this opportunity, and what’s your vision for global quality assurance and contract management at Spectra?
A: This move represents a natural progression in my career, aligning closely with my passion for operational excellence. Spectra’s mission to unify best-in-class companies under a single, agile platform delivering mission-critical solutions to aerospace and defense customers is a unique challenge that calls for both strategic foresight and operational discipline. Helping an organization in this way is what drives my personal performance and is what drew me to this opportunity.
My vision is to create an integrated quality and contract management framework that ensures consistency, compliance and customer trust across all business units. This involves strengthening quality systems to meet the highest standards while enabling scalability and agility. On the contract side, my focus is on harmonizing terms, reducing risk and enhancing collaboration with operational integrity and transparency. Ultimately, it’s about building a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, empowering our teams and reinforcing Spectra’s reputation as a trusted partner.
Q: How do you plan to maintain and enhance quality standards while supporting rapid organizational expansion?
A: Maintaining and enhancing quality in a rapidly growing organization like Spectra requires an approach that reinforces operational discipline while embracing the agility needed for change. I plan to focus around three core strategies: standardization, integration and culture.
1) Standardization
The foundation of quality must be built on consistent, reliable and scalable processes. We will prioritize the development of a harmonized Quality Management System (QMS) that integrates best practices from each of the three legacy business units, aligned with the international ISO9001/AS9100 standards, and Spectra’s strategic goals. A system approach of “tools, rules and processes” will emphasize compliance, continuous improvement and risk management.
2) Integration
Each business unit brings unique strengths but also varying systems and cultures. We will deploy cross-functional teams to bridge systems, align processes and create common quality language across the organization.
3) Culture
Sustainable quality excellence is driven by people. We will work together to embed a proactive quality mindset through leadership engagement, training, use of performance metrics and empowering our teams to take ownership of quality at every level. Our goal is to ensure we are not just inspecting for quality but building it in from the start. That means “Quality First, the First Time, Every Time.”
The goal is to align diverse strengths into a cohesive system where quality supports growth and innovation.
Q: In aerospace and defense, there’s zero tolerance for error. Can you share your philosophy on ensuring ‘mission-critical solutions with precision and integrity,’ and perhaps an example of how you’ve applied this approach?”
A: That’s absolutely right. In this industry, precision and accuracy is non-negotiable. I plan to drive a disciplined systems approach that integrates rigorous quality standards, cross-functional collaboration and a culture of accountability. Ensuring “mission-critical solutions with precision and integrity” begins with three core principles:
1) Design with purpose
Ensuring every requirement is clearly understood, traceable and verified from the outset
2) Execute with discipline
Applying structured processes, robust configuration management and ongoing risk assessment throughout the program lifecycle
3) Deliver with integrity
Communicating transparently, owning outcomes and never compromising on compliance or ethical standards.
One example of this philosophy in action was during a program supporting a critical avionics upgrade for a defense platform. A late-stage supplier issue threatened a delivery milestone. Rather than simply escalate, we initiated an immediate root cause analysis, deployed a rapid containment and redesign plan, and coordinated daily stand-ups across engineering, quality and supply chain. We not only met the delivery date but also implemented a systemic fix that improved overall product reliability, demonstrating both precision and integrity under pressure.
This structured approach will consistently enable our teams to deliver with confidence, even in the most demanding operational environments.
Q: Your new role combines quality assurance with contract management — two critical but distinct functions. How do you see these areas working together, and what synergies do you plan to create?
A: Though distinct, both functions aim to manage risk, ensure compliance and deliver value. Integrating quality principles into the contract lifecycle — starting with clearly defined requirements and continuing through execution — helps prevent issues before they arise. Likewise, strong contract management reinforces quality by embedding expectations and accountability into deliverables.
The synergy comes from aligning both functions around a shared objective: meeting customer requirements efficiently and reliably.
Ultimately, integrating these functions will help us be more agile, responsive and consistent in both execution and delivery by ensuring that requirements are clearly defined, risks are proactively addressed, and performance is continuously measured against expectations.
Q: You have an impressive track record for driving continuous improvement. What does a successful continuous improvement culture look like in practice, and how do you plan to foster this at Spectra?
A: A successful, continuous improvement culture empowers everyone to contribute to better outcomes regardless of role or level in the organization. It’s driven by data-informed decisions, open communication and leadership that models problem-solving, expected behavior and continuous improvement. The culture needs to be rooted in transparency, accountability and a shared commitment to learning and growth. Continuous improvement is not a one-time initiative, but an embedded part of how we operate every day.
At Spectra, I’ll start by listening. I need to understand what’s working and where challenges lie. From there, we’ll establish clear goals, provide practical tools and align metrics with business impact. Recognizing progress along the way helps build momentum and embeds improvement into our daily work where success is not at a project or program level, but as part of our DNA.