Quality Manager

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions US Inc; Fort Wayne (IN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

QMS Leader at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions US Inc in Fort Wayne, IN will guide the facility's quality management system, drive CAPA, audits, supplier and customer quality initiatives, and mentor a growing team. This role emphasizes data-driven decision making and cross-functional collaboration to reduce variation and COPQ.

The position requires AS9100 knowledge, Lean/Six Sigma expertise, and partnership with Operations and Engineering to improve FPY and overall quality performance across all

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Business, or related field preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of quality leadership experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading quality improvement initiatives that produced measurable business results.
• Strong working knowledge of AS9100 and Quality Management Systems.
• Experience leading corrective action programs and root cause investigations.
• Experience utilizing quality data to improve operational performance.
• Strong knowledge of SPC, process capability, statistical analysis, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience with ERP systems and Qualtrax or similar QMS platforms preferred.
• Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead Quality Management System (QMS) across the facility.
• Maintain procedures, records, and document control.
• Lead CAPA and root cause investigations.
• Drive Quality performance metrics and KPIs.
• Coordinate customer quality investigations and audits.
• Develop supplier quality programs.
• Reduce COPQ and improve FPY.
• Coach and develop Quality team.
• Lead cross-functional corrective action teams.
• Use data to drive waste reduction.

Skills

Quality leadership

Quality systems

Data analysis

Root cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Process improvement

SPC

Lean manufacturing

Six Sigma

Audit leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Business, or related field

Tools

Qualtrax

ERP systems

Job description

Ft.Wayne - 2531 Bremer
2531 Bremer Road
Ft. Wayne, IN 46803, USA

Ft.Wayne - 2531 Bremer
2531 Bremer Road
Ft. Wayne, IN 46803, USA

• Maintains a daily presence on the production floor.
• Understands the largest sources of scrap, rework, waste, and process variation within the facility.
• Can explain current quality performance, quality trends, major corrective actions, customer concerns, and improvement priorities.
• Knows where quality losses are occurring and develops action plans to eliminate them.
• Uses data to prioritize resources and focus improvement efforts where they generate the greatest business impact.
• Builds systems that prevent defects rather than relying on inspection to catch defects.
• Partners directly with Production Managers and Supervisors to improve process capability and first-pass yield.
• Leads root cause investigations that address systemic causes rather than individual blame.
• Ensures corrective actions are implemented, sustained, and verified for effectiveness.
• Maintains visible quality performance metrics throughout the facility.
• Develops and executes plans to reduce Cost of Poor Quality.
• Establishes accountability for quality performance across all departments.
• Ensures customer requirements, industry standards, and regulatory requirements are consistently achieved.
• Develops Quality personnel into knowledgeable and effective business partners.
• Uses Qualtrax as a management system, not simply a document storage system.
• Creates a culture where quality is understood to be everyone's responsibility.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Management System Leadership

• Serve as owner and administrator of the facility's Quality Management System within Qualtrax.
• Maintain all controlled procedures, work instructions, forms, standards, and quality records.
• Ensure document control processes remain effective and compliant.
• Lead Management Review processes and ensure actions are completed.
• Maintain compliance with AS9100, customer requirements, and internal standards.
• Continuously improve the effectiveness of the Quality Management System.

Quality Performance Management

• Monitor and report facility quality performance metrics.
• Develop and maintain quality dashboards, scorecards, and KPI reporting.
• Analyze scrap, rework, first-pass yield, customer complaints, and nonconformance trends.
• Establish measurable improvement plans for quality performance gaps.
• Track and communicate progress against quality objectives.
• Provide leadership with accurate assessment of quality risks and opportunities.
• Identify and prioritize the largest drivers of scrap, rework, and Cost of Poor Quality.
• Lead initiatives focused on waste elimination and defect reduction.
• Partner with Operations and Engineering to reduce process variation.
• Develop action plans to achieve annual scrap reduction objectives.
• Track effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives and validate results.
• Drive measurable reductions in Cost of Poor Quality.
• Own the Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) process.
• Facilitate structured root cause analysis investigations.
• Lead cross-functional corrective action teams.
• Ensure corrective actions address root causes rather than symptoms.
• Verify effectiveness of corrective actions.
• Maintain accountability for closure of corrective actions.

Customer Quality Management

• Serve as primary contact for customer quality concerns.
• Lead investigations involving customer complaints, returns, escapes, and corrective actions.
• Coordinate customer audits and quality reviews.
• Monitor customer quality scorecards and performance indicators.
• Ensure customer requirements are effectively communicated and implemented.
• Develop action plans to improve customer satisfaction and quality performance.

Supplier Quality Management

• Develop and maintain supplier quality programs.
• Monitor supplier quality performance and incoming quality trends.
• Conduct supplier evaluations and audits as required.
• Partner with Purchasing to improve supplier performance.
• Ensure suppliers consistently meet quality requirements.

Manufacturing Quality Support

• Conduct routine process audits, layered audits, and shop floor reviews.
• Verify adherence to established procedures, process controls, and quality standards.
• Support first-piece inspections, process validations, and quality planning activities.
• Work directly with production personnel to identify and eliminate sources of variation.
• Ensure quality requirements are consistently applied across all departments and shifts.
• Lead quality-focused continuous improvement initiatives.
• Utilize Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, SPC, Pareto Analysis, and statistical tools to improve process performance.
• Reduce variation, improve process capability, and increase first-pass yield.
• Participate in Kaizen events and improvement projects.
• Drive sustainable process improvements through data-driven decision making.

Quality Team Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop Quality Engineers, Inspectors, and Technicians.
• Establish departmental goals, expectations, and performance standards.
• Conduct regular performance reviews and development discussions.
• Build technical capability within the Quality organization.
• Develop succession plans for key quality positions.
• Promote accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement within the department.

Key Performance Measures

The Quality Manager is accountable for achieving improvements in the following areas:

Quality Performance

• Scrap Percentage
• Rework Percentage
• First Pass Yield (FPY)
• Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
• Non-Conforming Material Reports (NCMR)

Customer Quality

• Customer Complaints
• Customer PPM
• Corrective Action Closure
• Customer Scorecard Performance

Quality System Performance

• AS9100 Audit Results
• Internal Audit Performance
• External Audit Performance
• Document Control Accuracy
• Management Review Completion
• Incoming Material Quality Performance
• Scrap Reduction
• Rework Reduction
• Cost Reduction Through Quality Improvements
• Process Capability Improvements

Leadership

• Team Development
• Coaching and Mentoring
• Accountability Management
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Quality Management

• AS9100
• Auditing
• Corrective Action Systems
• Quality Management Systems
• Document Control

Data Analysis

• Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• Pareto Analysis
• Process Capability Analysis
• KPI Management
• Trend Analysis
• Lean Manufacturing
• Six Sigma
• Process Improvement

Communication

• Customer Communication
• Technical Writing
• Audit Leadership
• Presentation Skills
• Executive Reporting

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Business, or related field preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of quality leadership experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading quality improvement initiatives that produced measurable business results.
• Strong working knowledge of AS9100 and Quality Management Systems.
• Experience leading corrective action programs and root cause investigations.
• Experience utilizing quality data to improve operational performance.
• Strong knowledge of SPC, process capability, statistical analysis, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience with ERP systems and Qualtrax or similar QMS platforms preferred.
• Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma experience is preferred.

Supervisory Responsibility

Directly responsible for the leadership, development, performance, and accountability of Quality Engineers, Quality Technicians, Inspectors, and assigned Quality personnel.

Responsible for creating a quality organization that proactively improves process performance, reduces waste, strengthens customer satisfaction, and drives measurable business results.

The Quality Manager owns the Quality Management System and quality performance of the facility. This role is expected to actively identify, measure, and eliminate sources of waste, variation, scrap, and customer risk while building systems that prevent defects and improve operational performance.

Qualifications

Skills

Behaviors

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Motivations

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Education

Experience

Licenses & Certifications

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
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