Quality Compliance and Improvement Manager

USA.Plansee USA LLC; Franklin (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Plansee USA LLC in Franklin, VA is seeking an Exempt Compliance and Improvement professional to review contracts, drawings, and quality requirements, ensuring AS9100 and regulatory compliance flow into manufacturing, engineering, and procurement.

You will identify compliance risks, drive continuous improvement via Kaizen and Value Stream Mapping, support audits/FAI, and lead change requests to align order acceptance with contract and customer needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Quality, Operations Management, Business, or related field preferred.
• Experience with AS9100, ISO-based quality systems, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Experience with Lean, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, Six Sigma, and root-cause analysis.
• Strong analytical, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate across all levels of the organization.
• Proficiency with ERP, PLM, quality management systems, and data analysis tools.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional improvement initiatives and deliver results.
• Time/organization management, attention to detail, and ability to read technical publications.
• Proficiency in MS Office 2010 and SAP R/3.
• ITAR: U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident.

Responsibilities

• Review customer contracts, purchase orders, drawings, and specifications to identify quality requirements.
• Ensure compliance with customer, regulatory, and AS9100 requirements within manufacturing, engineering, procurement, and quality processes.
• Identify compliance risks and coordinate resolution prior to order acceptance.
• Maintain contract review records and support customer communications to resolve unclear or conflicting requirements.
• Support audits and First Article Inspection (FAI) requirements; participate in regulatory compliance activities.
• Conduct specification changes and initiate Engineering Change Requests (ECRs).
• Verify requirements flow to production orders, inspection plans, routings, and supplier POs.

Skills

Analytical skills

Project management

Communication skills

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Data analysis tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Tools

SAP R-3

MS Office

ERP systems

Job description

What makes us strong?

What makes us strong? Our employees in 50 countries worldwide – all working with passion to enable high-tech applications with our strong metals: tungsten and molybdenum. At our Plansee site in Franklin, USA, we specialize in transforming semi-finished molybdenum and tungsten products into complex components—leveraging decades of precision manufacturing and engineering excellence.

Position type

Exempt Compliance Review customer contracts, purchase orders, drawings, specifications, and related documents to identify and interpret quality requirements. Ensure customer, regulatory, and AS9100 requirements are properly documented and flowed down to manufacturing, engineering, procurement, and quality processes. Identify compliance risks, specification gaps, and potentially unachievable requirements, and coordinate resolution prior to order acceptance. Maintain customer-specific quality requirements, change notifications, and compliance records. Support audits, First Article Inspection (FAI) requirements, and regulatory compliance activities. Conduct specification change reviews and initiate required Engineering Change Requests (ECRs). Verify customer requirements are properly flowed down to production orders, inspection plans, manufacturing routings, and supplier purchase orders prior to release. Provide Support to the estimating team to capture quality cost, including cost associated with the inspection, documentation, and verification of product. Confirm organizational and supplier capability to meet contractual inspection, testing, certification, traceability, and documentation requirements. Maintain contract review records and support customer communications to resolve unclear or conflicting quality requirements.

Improvement

Develop and execute continuous improvement roadmaps aligned with business objectives. Collect and analyze production and quality data to identify trends and improvement opportunities. Lead improvement efforts and cross functional teams, focused on recurring issues impacting MRB, Yield, On-Time Delivery (OTD), customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Facilitate Kaizen events, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), and structured problem-solving workshops. Establish, monitor, and communicate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and performance dashboards. Track project performance and report measurable savings, efficiency gains, and benefits realization.

Qualifications / Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Quality, Operations Management, Business, or related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in Quality, Compliance, Continuous Improvement, Manufacturing, or Operational Excellence roles.
• Working knowledge of AS9100, ISO-based quality systems, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, Six Sigma, and root cause analysis methodologies.
• Strong analytical, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate and collaborate across all levels of the organization.
• Proficiency with ERP, PLM, quality management systems, and data analysis tools.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional improvement initiatives and deliver measurable business results.
• Possess fundamental skills: time/organization management, project management, communication (written/verbal), detail-oriented and ability to read and understand technical publications and instructions.
• Proficiency in MS Office 2010 environment (Word, Excel, Project, Outlook), and SAP R/3.
• Meet the requirements under ITAR: U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident (Green Card Holder).

The base compensation for this position is between 90-120k annually, commensurate with skill and experience level. This role will also be bonus eligible.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.