Customer Quality Manager

Walsh Employment; Oak Creek (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Walsh Employment Limited seeks an Automotive Quality Manager for our client in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The role leads customer, manufacturing and quality-system activities to ensure IATF 16949 compliance and strong APQP/PPAP discipline across the site.

You will manage customer quality, coordinate audits, drive containment and root-cause analysis, and mentor cross-functional teams on quality improvements. Automotive experience and hands-on leadership on the shop floor are essential.

Qualifications

• Extensive IATF 16949 experience
• Automotive customer quality expertise
• Strong 8D problem solving
• APQP, PPAP, PFMEA familiarity
• Layered Process Audits experience
• Audits with customers and third parties
• Cross-functional leadership
• Hands-on shop-floor quality experience
• Excellent communication with senior stakeholders
• Coatings or bulk manufacturing knowledge preferred

Responsibilities

• Act as senior point of contact for automotive customer quality matters
• Lead resolution of customer complaints, escalations and recurring quality issues
• Drive containment, root-cause analysis, corrective action and effectiveness verification
• Ensure customer-specific requirements are embedded in site quality processes
• Support and maintain compliance with IATF 16949 and automotive standards
• Lead or support internal, process, product and Layered Process Audits
• Prepare for and host customer and third-party audits
• Drive APQP, PPAP, PFMEA and Control Plan disciplines
• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Technical and Lab teams to resolve quality issues
• Review quality performance, identify trends and drive sustainable improvement
• Support manufacturing teams on the shop floor
• Develop stronger quality ownership across the site
• Support customer and supplier visits as needed
• Escalate and resolve quality risks
• Provide technical guidance to Quality and cross-functional teams
• Support changes arising from future IATF revisions

Skills

IATF 16949

Automotive quality

Customer-facing quality

8D problem solving

APQP/PPAP

PFMEA/FMEA

Layered Process Audits

Internal audits

Cross-functional leadership

Quality leadership

Education

Engineering degree

Quality/Materials degree

Chemistry background

Job description

Automotive Quality | IATF 16949 | Customer & Manufacturing Quality

Travel: Some regional US travel may be required

About the Opportunity

Our client is a global manufacturing organisation supporting demanding automotive customers and is looking to strengthen its Quality function in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

This opportunity would suit an experienced Automotive Quality Manager or highly experienced Senior Quality Engineer / Customer Quality professional ready to take broader ownership of site quality performance, customer requirements, quality systems, audits and continuous improvement.

The environment is highly customer-focused and requires someone combining strong practical knowledge of automotive quality standards with a visible, hands-on approach across manufacturing, laboratory and customer-facing activities.

Automotive experience is essential. Paints/coatings experience would be highly desirable, although candidates from bulk, chemical, process or similarly complex manufacturing environments will also be considered.

Key Requirements

You will be an experienced automotive quality professional with significant exposure to manufacturing quality, customer quality and IATF 16949, ideally within an OEM, Tier 1 or Tier 2 environment. You will bring:

• Strong practical working knowledge of IATF 16949
• Experience with automotive customer-specific requirements
• Strong customer-facing quality experience, including complaints, escalations and corrective actions
• Practical knowledge of 8D, root cause analysis and structured problem solving
• Hands-on experience with APQP, PPAP, PFMEA/FMEA and Control Plans
• Experience conducting or supporting Layered Process Audits
• Strong internal, process and customer audit experience
• Confidence preparing for and hosting customer and third-party audits
• Strong shop-floor manufacturing quality experience
• Experience leading cross-functional corrective-action and continuous-improvement activity
• Strong communication skills and confidence dealing with demanding automotive customers and senior internal stakeholders

Paints/coatings experience would be strongly preferred. Candidates without direct coatings experience should ideally bring relevant bulk, chemical, process or other complex manufacturing experience.

Lead Auditor certification is not essential, although practical auditing experience and a strong understanding of IATF requirements are important.

A relevant Engineering, Quality, Chemistry, Materials or technical qualification would be advantageous.

Role & Responsibilities

The Quality Manager will provide senior quality leadership across customer, manufacturing and quality-system activities, ensuring automotive requirements are understood, applied and sustained across the site. Your responsibilities will include:

• Acting as a senior point of contact for automotive customer quality matters
• Leading resolution of customer complaints, escalations and recurring quality issues
• Driving containment, root-cause analysis, corrective action and effectiveness verification
• Ensuring customer-specific requirements are embedded within site quality processes
• Supporting and maintaining compliance with IATF 16949 and associated automotive standards
• Leading or supporting internal, process, product and Layered Process Audits
• Preparing for and hosting customer and third-party audits
• Driving APQP, PPAP, PFMEA and Control Plan disciplines
• Working closely with Operations, Engineering, Technical and Laboratory teams to resolve quality issues
• Reviewing quality performance, identifying trends and driving sustainable improvement
• Supporting manufacturing teams directly on the shop floor
• Developing stronger quality ownership and accountability across the site
• Supporting customer and supplier visits where required
• Ensuring quality risks are appropriately escalated and resolved
• Providing technical guidance and leadership to Quality and cross-functional teams
• Supporting changes arising from future revisions to IATF and customer-specific requirements

Depending on the final scope, the position may also include broader responsibility for the site's Quality team and quality-management systems.

Why Join?

This is an opportunity to take on a highly visible quality role within a technically demanding automotive manufacturing environment.

The business is investing in additional automotive quality capability and is looking for experienced professionals who can bring strong IATF knowledge, customer credibility and hands‑on manufacturing quality expertise.

The role offers significant scope to influence customer quality, manufacturing performance, quality systems and continuous improvement, while taking broader ownership within the site's developing Quality organisation.