Lead Quality Engineer - On-Site Shop Floor Champion

Vista Executive Search; Leinster; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Vista Executive Search is seeking a Lead Quality Engineer for an on-site Wicklow role. You will drive proactive quality, partner with operators and engineers, and embed robust processes to improve product quality at source.

The role focuses on preventing issues, building capability, and delivering sustainable corrective actions, with emphasis on audit readiness and regulatory alignment.

Qualifications

• A third-level qualification in Quality, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5+ years’ experience as a Quality Engineer, with at least 2 years in a lead role.
• Experience from a fabrication/engineering manufacturing background is important.
• Experience implementing, maintaining, and improving QMS systems, including audits.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions (CAPA, 8D).
• Experience managing customer complaints, supplier quality issues, and non-conformance processes.
• Strong understanding of regulatory requirements in Ireland and the EU.
• Experience liaising with external auditors and customers.
• Proficiency with quality tools (FMEA, SPC, Lean, Six Sigma).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management.
• Data-driven problem-solving ability.
• IT literacy with ERP and quality reporting tools.
• Fluency in English is essential.
• Authorized to permanently work in Ireland.

Responsibilities

• Actively lead and embed a culture where quality is built into the process, not checked at the end.
• Work on the shop floor with teams to improve quality at source.
• Coach operators and supervisors to own quality standards.
• Shift focus from find-and-fix to prevent-and-improve.
• Lead structured root-cause analysis and ensure corrective actions are sustained.
• Identify recurring issues and eliminate them through process improvement.
• Develop SOPs to reduce variation and improve manufacturability.
• Support new product introduction to ensure smooth production transition.
• Train production teams on quality standards and good practices.
• Translate data into actionable improvements on the shop floor.
• Collaborate with Production, Design, Engineering and Suppliers.

Skills

Root cause analysis

Quality on shop floor

CAPA / 8D

QMS audits

Regulatory compliance

Supplier quality

Customer complaints

FMEA / SPC / Lean / Six Sigma

Leadership & stakeholder mgmt

ERP / quality reporting tools

English fluency

Education

Third-level qualification in Quality/Engineering/Manufacturing

Tools

ERP systems

Microsoft Office

Job description

Vista Executive Search is seeking a Lead Quality Engineer for an on-site Wicklow role. You will drive proactive quality, partner with operators and engineers, and embed robust processes to improve product quality at source.

The role focuses on preventing issues, building capability, and delivering sustainable corrective actions, with emphasis on audit readiness and regulatory alignment.