Quality Manager

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Quality Leadership
Lead and maintain the site's Quality Management System and ensure compliance with ISO certification requirements, customer standards, and applicable regulations.
Establish and execute site quality goals aligned with corporate objectives and business needs.
Manage internal and external quality issues, customer complaints, and quality-related customer communications.
Lead, coach, and develop the quality team by setting clear expectations, providing feedback, and holding team members accountable.
Promote teamwork, employee engagement, and shared responsibility for quality throughout the organization.
Maintain a visible presence on the production floor and support employees across all shifts.
Continuous Improvement and Problem Solving
Lead continuous improvement initiatives to improve product quality, customer satisfaction, and manufacturing performance while reducing scrap, rework, and the cost of poor quality.
Identify recurring issues, lead root-cause investigations, and implement effective corrective actions to prevent future problems.
Use structured problem-solving methods such as 8D, PDCA, Kepner-Tregoe, and Six Sigma.
Partner with Operations and Engineering to improve processes, reduce variation, and prevent defects.
Promote Built-in Quality practices, including mistake-proofing, quality gates, and process controls.
Monitor results to ensure improvements are effective and sustained.
Quality Systems and Compliance
Develop and maintain quality standards, inspection methods, testing procedures, and process controls.
Ensure materials, components, and finished products meet established specifications and customer requirements.
Coordinate internal and external audits, ISO certification activities, and corrective actions.
Ensure production and testing equipment is properly calibrated and measurement systems are reliable.
Coordinate customer and government inspections, audits, and product acceptance activities.
Maintain accurate quality records and required documentation.
Customer and Supplier Quality
Serve as the primary site contact for customer quality concerns, complaints, and corrective actions.
Work directly with customers to investigate issues, communicate findings, and resolve concerns.
Audit, evaluate, and qualify suppliers as required.
Partner with suppliers and internal departments to resolve supplier quality issues and prevent recurrence.
Investigate returned products and warranty claims to determine root causes and appropriate corrective actions.
Communicate changes in customer quality requirements to the appropriate internal stakeholders.
Team Development and Cross-Functional Collaboration
Develop and deliver training on quality standards, inspection procedures, and problem-solving techniques.
Work closely with Team Leaders, supervisors, and production employees across all shifts to strengthen quality awareness and ownership.
Build strong working relationships across departments and encourage open communication and shared accountability.
Lead quality improvement projects and ensure actions are assigned, completed, and communicated effectively.
Support a culture where employees are encouraged to identify problems, raise concerns, and participate in solutions.
Performance Management
Track and report quality metrics, including customer complaints, scrap, rework, audit findings, and corrective action effectiveness.
Analyze quality trends and use data to identify risks and improvement opportunities.
Communicate performance, priorities, and significant quality concerns to site leadership.
Take initiative to address problems, prioritize competing demands, and ensure commitments are met.
- Perform other duties as assigned.

Preferred Qualifications
Strong leadership and team management skills, including the ability to motivate, coach, and develop employees.
Demonstrated initiative, drive, accountability, and follow-through.
Strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to build effective relationships across departments.
Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making abilities.
Ability to manage competing priorities and drive projects to completion.
Strong customer service mindset and ability to handle difficult technical discussions professionally.
Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives and implementing sustainable process improvements.
Ability to influence others, address performance concerns, and hold team members accountable while maintaining a positive work environment.

Preferred Education and Experience
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or a related field; equivalent education and experience may be considered.
Minimum of seven years of relevant quality experience, preferably in manufacturing.
Previous supervisory or management experience.
Experience maintaining an ISO Quality Management System and coordinating audits.
Experience with customer and supplier quality, root-cause analysis, and corrective action.
Formal Lean training preferred.
Six Sigma Green Belt certification preferred; Black Belt is a plus.
Project management training or experience preferred.
Approximately 15% domestic and international travel.

Language and Communication Skills
Ability to read, interpret, and apply technical procedures, specifications, and quality standards. Must communicate effectively with employees, leadership, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders, both verbally and in writing.

Work Environment
The work environment described is representative of the conditions encountered while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.
The position requires regular interaction with manufacturing and production areas. Employees may occasionally be exposed to moving mechanical parts, vibration, and manufacturing noise.