Leadership & Strategy
- Provide strategic direction, leadership, and consultative support for implementing and maintaining customer quality system requirements.
- Champion a culture of quality and continuous improvement across all departments.
- Act as the primary liaison for quality-related communication between customers, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
Quality Systems & Compliance
- Ensure compliance with IATF 16949, ISO 14001:2015, and other applicable industry standards.
- Develop, implement, and maintain policies, procedures, and methods to evaluate and improve product and process quality.
- Lead internal and external audits, ensuring corrective actions are implemented and sustained.
Continuous Improvement
- Develop and implement programs to establish and maintain quality standards for existing and new products.
- Drive process control, error-proofing, and inspection methods to ensure products meet design intent and customer expectations.
- Analyze quality data, identify trends, and lead root cause investigations to reduce defects, scrap, and warranty claims.
- Partner with operations and engineering to implement lean manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies.
Team Management
- Supervise and mentor Quality Department personnel, fostering professional growth and accountability.
- Allocate resources effectively to support production, testing, and inspection needs.
- Provide training and guidance to employees on quality standards, tools, and best practices.
Customer Focus
- Serve as the voice of the customer within the organization, ensuring quality requirements are met or exceeded.
- Lead customer complaint resolution, corrective action plans, and preventive measures.
- Support new product launches by validating quality systems and ensuring readiness for production.
Documentation & Reporting
- Ensure system tests are completed, documented, and issues resolved in a timely manner.
- Maintain accurate records of quality metrics, audits, and certifications.
- Report regularly to senior leadership on quality performance, risks, and improvement initiatives.
Other Duties
- Perform additional responsibilities as assigned to support organizational goals.
Skills and Experience Requirements
- Minimum 5 years automotive Tier 1 management experience
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, business management or related field preferred
- IATF 16949 experience required and ISO 14001:2015 experience preferred.
- Strong interpersonal skills to build relationships with all levels across the organization and with customers.
- Strong analytical background with demonstrated ability to analyze, explain, and draw logical conclusions from complex operational, financial, regulatory and/or business data.
- Continuous Improvement / Kaizen / Lean facilitator