Automotive Quality Lead - IATF 16949 Expert

German American Chambers of Commerce; Elgin (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

AHK in Elgin, Illinois, a German-owned precision manufacturer, seeks a hands-on quality professional to drive the final stages of IATF 16949 preparation, strengthen automotive quality processes, and ready for customer audits. This role offers growing responsibility for the entire quality function and collaboration with production and engineering teams.

The position targets Quality Engineers, Senior Quality Engineers, Quality Systems Engineers, and Quality Managers with practical automotive

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in automotive manufacturing quality.
• Practical knowledge of IATF 16949 and ISO 9001 requirements.
• Direct experience preparing for or participating in automotive customer audits.
• Working knowledge of APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC, and MSA.
• Experience with corrective actions, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to work independently and with production/engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Support the remaining stages of IATF 16949 certification preparation and ensure continued compliance with applicable quality standards.
• Prepare for and coordinate automotive customer audits, including customer-specific requirements, documentation, corrective actions, and follow-up activities.
• Maintain and further develop the company's ISO 9001 quality management system.
• Apply automotive quality core tools, including APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC, and MSA.
• Collaborate with production and engineering teams to ensure quality readiness for new equipment, processes, and launches.
• Investigate customer complaints, nonconformances, and process deviations, implementing effective corrective actions.
• Strengthen quality processes, reduce scrap, and improve manufacturing consistency.
• Establish and monitor quality performance indicators and support continuous improvement initiatives.
• Gradually assume overall responsibility for the company's quality management function.

Skills

Automotive quality

Root cause analysis

Audit readiness

Quality systems

Tools

APQP

PPAP

PFMEA

Control Plans

SPC

MSA

Job description

AHK in Elgin, Illinois, a German-owned precision manufacturer, seeks a hands-on quality professional to drive the final stages of IATF 16949 preparation, strengthen automotive quality processes, and ready for customer audits. This role offers growing responsibility for the entire quality function and collaboration with production and engineering teams.

The position targets Quality Engineers, Senior Quality Engineers, Quality Systems Engineers, and Quality Managers with practical automotive