Director of Quality Assurance

The Director of Quality Assurance (QA) leads the enterprise quality strategy across multiple divisions in a general industrial metal manufacturing environment serving agricultural, forestry, and lawn & garden OEMs, with key product areas including cast components and fixed hydraulic assemblies. This role ensures products, processes (machining, fabrication, and welding), and suppliers consistently meet customer specifications and internal requirements, while driving a culture of prevention, continuous improvement, and data-driven decision-making in partnership with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams.

• Reports to: VP Quality / VP Operations (as assigned)
• Leads: Corporate QA team and division/site Quality Managers; oversight of Quality Engineering, Quality Systems, Supplier Quality, and Metrology/Lab (as applicable)
• Divisions/Sites: Supports multiple plants/business units with differing product lines and customer requirements
• Travel: Regular travel to division sites and key suppliers (typical range 25–50%)

• Set and execute the enterprise quality strategy for general industrial metal manufacturing operations, including annual objectives, quality roadmap, and alignment across divisions and sites.
• Standardize and govern the Quality Management System (QMS) across divisions (policies, procedures, work instructions, and records), while allowing controlled local flexibility where needed.
• Ensure compliance with applicable standards and customer requirements (e.g., ISO 9001 and customer-specific flowdowns); lead certification, customer, and supplier audits and maintain strong audit readiness.
• Establish enterprise governance for product and process conformity across machining, fabrication, and welding operations, including inspection planning, control plans, first article/first-piece processes, and in-process/final inspection methods.
• Own enterprise CAPA governance; ensure robust root cause analysis (8D/5 Why) and verification of effectiveness, with strong linkage to process controls and operator standard work.
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean/Six Sigma and risk-based thinking to reduce scrap, rework, escapes, and overall cost of poor quality (COPQ).
• Oversee customer quality: complaint handling, returns/RMA processes, OEM scorecards, and customer-facing corrective actions; serve as senior quality contact for key accounts.
• Oversee supplier quality management for key supply categories (castings, weldments, bar/plate, purchased components, and external processors), including qualification, performance monitoring, SCARs, and supplier development.
• Ensure robust control of material and traceability requirements common in metals and castings: heat/lot traceability, material test reports (MTRs/mill certs), chemistry/mechanical property verification as required, and record retention.
• Lead quality planning and control for casting-related risks (as applicable), such as dimensional capability, porosity/shrink, inclusions, surface defects, and foundry process change management; ensure incoming inspection strategies and supplier controls are effective.
• Govern welding quality management (as applicable), including WPS/PQR oversight, welder qualification maintenance, weld inspection requirements, and controls for weld repair/rework and documentation.
• Partner with Engineering and Operations on new product introductions, process validations, and disciplined change control (drawings/specifications, routings, CNC program revisions, tooling/fixturing, and weld process changes).
• Establish and maintain measurement systems governance (gage R&R, calibration, metrology/lab controls), including CMM programs, fixture verification, and dimensional/layout capability for tight-tolerance components.
• Oversee quality controls relevant to fixed hydraulics (as applicable), including cleanliness/contamination controls, leak/pressure testing requirements, containment and traceability for nonconforming parts, and verification of critical characteristics.
• Lead internal audit programs (systems and process audits; layered audits where applicable) and ensure timely closure of findings; maintain a strong culture…