Plant Quality Manager

The Quality Assurance Manager is responsible for developing, implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving the company's quality program. This position ensures compliance with customer, regulatory, and internal quality requirements while leading quality improvement initiatives throughout the organization. The role oversees supplier quality, manufacturing quality, customer quality, corrective actions, auditing activities, and quality performance reporting to ensure products consistently meet customer expectations and business objectives.

• Develop departmental strategy and vision to ensure adherence to customer expectations and business objectives.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and evaluate quality personnel while building a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Direct incoming, in-process, final, and outbound inspection activities and ensure consistent application of quality standards.
• Establish, maintain, and improve quality policies, procedures, work instructions, and quality records.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions utilizing tools such as 8D, 5-Why, Fishbone, and Pareto Analysis.
• Monitor and analyze quality performance metrics including customer complaints, warranty trends, scrap, rework, supplier defects, and corrective action effectiveness.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce defects, improve product reliability, and lower the cost of poor quality.
• Manage supplier quality activities including supplier performance reviews, supplier corrective actions (SCARs), supplier development, and supplier audits as required.
• Lead customer complaint investigations and ensure timely and effective resolution of quality issues.
• Analyze field failures and warranty data to identify recurring issues and implement corrective actions.
• Coordinate and lead internal audit programs and maintain a trained pool of qualified auditors.
• Coordinate quality education and training programs across all plant departments.
• Provide quality guidance to Operations, Engineering, Purchasing, Customer Service, and other functions.
• Manage nonconforming material processes including containment, disposition, and corrective action activities.
• Lead quality review meetings and communicate performance metrics, trends, risks, and improvement opportunities to leadership.
• Participate in new product introductions, engineering changes, and product launch readiness activities.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 8+ years of progressive quality experience within a manufacturing environment.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing quality teams.

• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes, quality methodologies, and problem-solving techniques.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing quality programs and corrective action systems.
• Strong analytical, communication, presentation, and project management skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Excel.
• Experience working with ERP systems; SAP Business One preferred.
• Experience leading supplier quality and warranty reduction initiatives.