About Quest Defense Systems & Solutions, Inc.
Quest Defense Systems & Solutions, Inc. (QDSS) is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based engineering services firm focused primarily on the Aerospace & Defense industry in the United States. According to the company, it is a team of engineers, innovators, data scientists, and IT and business professionals that partners with strategic players in the industry to solve challenges by accelerating product design and development, supporting efficient production and supply chains, and providing product lifecycle solutions.
The company describes more than 25 years of aerospace and defense engineering expertise. Public job postings and LinkedIn posts indicate work spanning embedded and real-time software, systems engineering, avionics, aerothermal analysis, and model-based engineering. Examples cited by the company include DO-178C software development, requirements traceability, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) work supporting GPS receiver products, precision approach technologies, and anti-jam solutions—including roles based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Quest Defense presents itself as a partner to major aerospace and defense players rather than a product manufacturer. Its LinkedIn posts describe engagements such as developing a DO-178C driver allowing two real-time operating systems to share a single Ethernet interface, and modeling and validating functional and logical requirements for a next-generation tiltrotor mission package, where artifact review time reportedly fell by 80% through scripted automation.
On the careers side, the company says it encourages employees to create new frontiers beyond customer work—publishing technical papers, attending conferences such as ASME IGTI Turbo Expo and AIAA SciTech, and running internal R&D and technology demonstration projects. Employees are rewarded for contributing ideas to an internal Innovation Portal, and the company cites partnerships with Ansys, Nvidia and Microsoft to deliver proof-of-concept and next-generation solutions.
Quest Defense describes a people-first culture in which team members are empowered to make decisions and take ownership of relationships with teams and customers, and says it values employee satisfaction and work-life balance as the core of its employee policies. Employee testimonials highlight mentorship, leadership development, and values of integrity, humility, and collaboration. Benefits listed for U.S. employees include competitive pay, medical, dental, life and disability coverage, a 401(k) with employer match, certification assistance, and professional development support.
The company is privately held. Public sources describe a fast-growing organization of roughly several hundred employees, with leadership including President and CEO Chris Schwartzbauer and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Marcum. Quest Defense states that it provides equal employment opportunities and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.
