Quality Engineer

Overview

Responsible for ensuring that Hayward products meet set standards of quality, reliability, and performance, and ensure Hayward Warranty programs and system tools are executed to achieve quality and cost of quality goals.

This role is a critical part of Hayward’s efforts to:

• Attract and retain high-value customers by delivering and executing a customer-focused, efficient QMS and warranty program.
• Reduce annual warranty expense attributed to Operations through ongoing evaluation and management of the factors that can cause it to increase (products, processes, execution).

• Developing and implementing Quality Management System (QMS) with controls to ensure production is carried out in a manner that meets established quality standards.
• Conducting regular audits of the quality control systems to identify areas of non‑compliance and implement necessary improvements.
• Ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal regulatory requirements.
• Evaluating and improving the effectiveness of the existing quality control process.
• Design, implementation, execution, and ownership of Operations:
  • Claims programs, processes, and reporting.
  • NAM Plants quality teams execution on warranty issues.
  • Problem solving analysis, and maintenance of warranty items.
• Program leadership for internal teams, including:
  • Plant Quality Teams
  • Supplier quality team.
  • Other manufacturing teams.
• Program leadership and partnership with high‑value customers to:
  • Design and implement custom Warranty Claims programs.
  • Monitor compliance and address performance gaps.
• Design and implement problem solving to eliminate warranty issues, including:
  • Monitoring plant warranty data collection including all supplier issues.
  • Reviewing and leading weekly QRQ warranty meetings with cross‑functional team.
• Develop warranty programs, policies, and solutions that are designed to:
  • Recruit, train, and manage a strong network of supplier quality engineers.
  • Analyze and address warranty issues, identifying and addressing product quality gaps.
  • Provide Plant Managers and Quality Managers with the system tools, processes, and resources required to support their warranty related issues.
  • Create problem solving techniques to assist with NAM plant teams in eliminating warranty issues.
• Design, implement, and continuously improve system tools and other resources utilized by the plant quality team. This includes:
  • Actively work with Plant Management, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Quality, Salesforce, and other teams to design and implement business solutions and policies/programs, including enhancements to existing quality system tools, and design/implementation of new system tools.
  • Actively work with NAM plant quality staff to identify system fixes, performance gaps, and enhancement opportunities.
• Analyze Warranty Claim performance to determine how to reduce warranty expense. This includes:
  • Work with IT, AP to ensure warranty claims data is accurately reflected in reporting used to analyze product failures.
  • Collaborate with Engineering and Quality teams to analyze, investigate, and reduce drivers of warranty expense.

• Program leadership when working with internal partners (Plant Quality Teams, Operations Teams, Supply chain Teams, Engineering Teams, Tech Service, Sales, Marketing, IT, and others).
• Program leadership when working with external partners (key suppliers, dealer/distributor customers, contract IT resources, etc.).
• Development and implementation of processes that prepare and empower the plant quality & warranty claims team.
• Ongoing data review/analysis to identify ways to improve the execution of programs/policies related to the warranty program.

• Data analysis
• Report creation
• Program and process design
• Ability to ‘manage up’ and ‘across,’ including management of external direct‑buy customers and third‑party contractors
• Collaboration with internal and external partners
• Audit experience
• Travel:
  Requires infrequent travel (fewer than 5% of work hours).

• Education:
  
  minimum 4‑year degree, preferably in an engineering and technical related field.
• Experience:
  
  minimum 5 years of experience with a focus on managing QMS and administering warranty programs; experience managing a support function serving internal and external customers. Ideal candidate will have experience in retail/distribution as well as experience working for an original equipment manufacturer.

• Must be able to sit for extended periods of time, stand, walk, talk and hear.
• The employee will generally work in an office setting or travel to other Hayward facilities.