Quality Manager

Description

Sherman + Reilly designs and manufactures stringing and pulling equipment and related solutions for the utility industry. The Quality Manager is responsible for improving product and process quality across our heavy equipment manufacturing operations by working with suppliers, operations, service, and engineering. The Quality Manager is responsible for improving product and process quality by collaborating with suppliers, operations, service, and engineering.

The right person is:

• Hands‑on and enjoys understanding how equipment works.
• Pragmatic – can distinguish between “nice to have” and “must have” and scale the response to the problem.
• Clear communicator – able to explain issues and tradeoffs to everyone from welders to senior leadership.
• Bias for action – prioritizes practical changes over paperwork.

This position will report to the Director of Supply Chain and Quality. This position must work closely with Supply Chain, Production, Engineering, Service, Sales and customers, and act as a liaison between functional areas.

• Own the nonconforming material (NCM) process from identification through disposition (rework, repair, scrap, use‑as‑is).
• Facilitate root cause analysis and corrective action using tools like 5‑Why, 8D, and fishbone diagrams, scaled to the size of the issue.
• Track and reduce repeat defects, chronic rework, and escapes through practical, process‑focused fixes.
• Lead supplier corrective actions and follow‑up on chronic issues that impact build quality, schedule, or safety.

• Lead quality support for 250+ suppliers with 5,700+ SKUs.
• Partner with Supply Chain to evaluate and develop suppliers for any component (fabrication, hydraulic, electrical, mechanical, etc.) with the goal of increasing flexibility and reducing lead time.
• Define inspection requirements (test reports, certifications, FAIR, PPAP as appropriate) for critical purchased parts and assist in incoming inspections.
• Alongside Sourcing, define the supplier quality lifecycle including supplier qualification, ongoing performance measurements (defects, OTD, responsiveness), and exit plans. Contribute to supplier scorecards and prioritize supplier improvement efforts.
• Conduct audits to support supplier qualification (process capability, special processes such as welding/machining/hydraulics/electrical assembly) and routine audits to monitor performance.

• Work with Engineering and Manufacturing to review new and existing designs for manufacturability, serviceability, and realistic tolerances.
• Encourage the use of common parts, practical tolerances, and features that fit our processes and supplier capabilities. Provide feedback on critical characteristics, stack‑ups, and features that drive complexity, rework, or field failures.
• Support new product and variant launches by ensuring inspection plans, checklists, and basic controls are in place before release to production.

• Lead daily quality support for two Chattanooga sites
• Develop and maintain right‑sized inspection plans that operators can use.
• Support Operations by observing and troubleshooting processes in welding, machining, fabrication, paint, and final assembly to identify sources of variation, scrap, and rework.
• Oversee and perform materials/mechanical testing, perform pull/push tests using an Olsen tensile/compression machine and hardness testing (e.g., Rockwell/Brinell) per drawing/spec., determine when additional testing is required.
• Support customer complaint intake from Service. Drive field failure analysis and warranty trend reviews for purchased components and maintain feedback loops with Engineering and suppliers.
• Issue Certificates of Conformance (CoC) for finished goods when requested by end users.

• Develop and refine quality procedures and standards to support business growth.
• Utilize 3D optical metrology (Keyence) for first‑article, in‑process, and final inspection. Manage storage and traceability of scan‑to‑CAD comparison data and dimensional…