Quality Manager

Moxie Executive Search; Wellington; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Pacific Helmets, the sole helmet manufacturer in this region, seeks a Quality Manager to own the integrated management system covering quality, health and safety, and environmental management. You’ll strengthen ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and embed quality into daily work across the plant.

You’ll lead continuous improvement using Lean and Six Sigma, run audits and reviews, resolve problems quickly with root-cause thinking, and build the team including a Health and Safety / Environmental Officer.

Qualifications

• Experience building or significantly developing ISO/EMS systems.
• Hands-on experience embedding quality processes on the factory floor.
• Ability to drive practical, lasting improvements with a Lean/Six Sigma approach.
• Strong communication across leadership and frontline staff.
• Experience in regulated safety manufacturing is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own integrated management system for quality, health and safety, and environment.
• Lead continuous improvement across the plant with Lean/Six Sigma.
• Run internal audits, corrective actions, and management reviews.
• Build and lead the Quality team, hire Health and Safety / Environmental Officer.
• Ensure audit readiness and rapid root-cause problem solving.

Skills

Lean Six Sigma

Root Cause Analysis

Quality Management

Internal Audits

Cross-Functional Leadership

Process Improvement

Education

Auditor Certifications (ISO)

Tools

ISO 9001

ISO 14001

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

The opportunity

Pacific Helmets makes certified helmets for firefighting, rescue and tactical use, from raw materials to finished product, all in Whanganui. It’s the only helmet manufacturer in this part of the world and one of the larger ones globally, supplying fire and rescue services across several continents.

The quality systems behind that product are well established and certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. This role is about building on that foundation and shaping how the quality function grows as the company scales, rather than simply maintaining what’s there.

The Quality Manager will own the quality inside the plant, with the room and the mandate to build a team around it.

The role

You’ll own the integrated management system covering quality, health and safety, and environmental management. In practice that means:

• Building on established ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 systems, strengthening them and deepening engagement so quality is part of daily practice at every workstation.
• Leading continuous improvement across the plant, using the group’s Lean and Six Sigma approach to drive practical, lasting gains.
• Running internal audits, corrective actions, compliance reporting and management review, and keeping the systems audit‑ready.
• Resolving quality problems fast. Helmet complaints are high stakes, so root‑cause thinking and a fix people will actually follow both matter.
• Leading and building your team, starting with a Quality Technician already in place and a vacant Health and Safety / Environmental Officer role that’s yours to hire.

Much of the role is connecting two environments: an office working to a high, precise standard, and a floor of skilled, hands‑on people building life‑saving product. You’ll design processes that are practical to follow on the floor while fully meeting the bar for certified PPE.

What we’re looking for

Someone who has personally built, implemented or significantly developed ISO and environmental management systems, not only maintained them. Hands‑on experience improving and embedding systems counts for more here than overseeing one that was already running smoothly.

Beyond that, the person who’ll do well here:

• Has real floor credibility and can get operators to actually follow a process, not just publish one.
• Communicates across levels, from the leadership team to people at the bench.
• Owns problems and drives them to a fix rather than waiting for direction.
• Has built or developed a team, or is ready to.

You’ve likely come from a regulated safety, manufacturing or processing environment where certified, audited quality is the daily job, such as food, meat and dairy processing, medical devices, aerospace or defence components, or specialist safety apparel. Qualifications and auditor certifications are a bonus, not the bar. You’ll need the right to work in New Zealand.

Why it’s worth considering

This is a chance to own and grow a quality function rather than inherit a finished one. You’d report directly to the Managing Director and sit on the leadership team, with the freedom to shape your own function and hire your own people. The management style is hands‑off: clear expectations, regular one‑on‑ones, then the room to get on with it.

There’s also the product itself. Everything Pacific makes is designed to keep people safe in genuinely dangerous work. That tends to matter to the people on the floor, and it’s a large part of why quality here is worth getting right.

This is a full‑time role, Monday to Friday, based on site in Whanganui.