Quality Manager

Challenge Manufacturing; Pontiac (MI); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Challenge Manufacturing in Pontiac, MI is seeking a Quality Manager to lead the site’s quality management system, drive continuous improvement initiatives, and ensure customer requirements are met for finished parts. This role emphasizes data-driven decisions, collaboration with process owners, and adherence to automotive quality standards.

You will monitor metrics, publish plant performance statistics, and coordinate with Plant leadership to maintain IATF 16949 compliance.

Qualifications

• This role requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related field and at least three years in a quality role within manufacturing.
• Experience with SOPs, project timelines, APQP, quality core tools, layered audits, and TS is required.
• Automotive industry experience and strong integrity, accountability, and proactive communication are essential.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a CUSTOMER-FOCUSED culture within the organization and align quality goals with customer expectations.
• Communicate quality objectives to customers and ensure corrective actions preserve the QMS.
• Ensure Customer Specific Requirements are identified and met in finished products.
• Develop and maintain the site’s quality management system with process owners and supervisors.
• Perform daily quality checks, documentations, and metrics to track plant performance.
• Collect data, monitor metrics, and publish statistics on plant performance versus corporate measures.
• Advise Plant Manager and Corporate Quality on QMS performance and improvement needs.
• Identify needs of the QMS to support corporate quality and customer requirements.

Skills

Quality management

APQP

IATF 16949

Root cause analysis

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Job description

Who We Are:

Challenge Manufacturing’s mission is to manufacture with operational excellence by empowering our employee-owners. As a leading tier 1 supplier of complex metal assemblies for the global automotive industry, we drive innovative solutions for future mobility. We believe the best ideas come from individual unique perspectives. These ideas combined with the teamwork of industry leaders allow us to accomplish any challenge. Our team members take pride in the work we do and embody our core values of safety, ownership, and teamwork every day; they are the true driving force in our operations.

Challenge is proud to be one of the largest employee-owned automotive companies in North America. One of the many benefits of joining the Challenge team is the ESOP program. This program allows Challenge to give shares of the Company to all employee-owners annually. These shares are an additional retirement benefit that will continue to grow during your time at Challenge. Being part of an ESOP means our employee-owners share in Challenge’s success!

Challenge is #QualityDriven and #PeoplePowered!

Who We Want

The Quality Manager is the Plant Champion that leads corporate quality management system (QMS) targets and objectives and continuous improvement initiatives at the manufacturing site.

What You’ll Do

• Responsible for supporting the development and maintenance of a CUSTOMER-FOCUSED culture within the organization.
• Responsible for communication with Customers, on quality objectives, and when such corrective actions are necessary to ensure the quality management system (QMS) is maintained.
• Ensures that Customer Specific Requirements and expectations of customers have been accurately identified, communicated, and that the plant site is always meeting or exceeding such customer expectations in finished product quality.
• Responsible for ensuring that all other system managers, process owners and supervisors, at the plant site, develop and maintain their part/role in the quality management system.
• Maintains daily quality checks on the processes, documentation, and metrics to ensure activities by other process owners and supervisors is being completed.
• Primary responsible for data collection, metrics monitoring, and the publication of statistics regarding plant performance against set corporate measures.
• Monitors and advises the Plant Manager and representatives of Corporate Quality on how the quality management system at the plant site is performing.
• Responsible for identifying needs of the quality management system at the plant site – to improve or support corporate quality or customer requirements.

When And Where

This will be a 1st Shift / 7 AM - 5:30 PM, M-F position located at our plant in Pontiac, MI.

What You Need To Have

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or an equivalent field
• Minimum three years' experience in a quality role working on SOP's, creating projects and project timelines, layouts, APQP, quality core tools, layered audit, TS, etc.
• Automotive industry experience required.
• Has high standards of performance for self.
• Takes responsibility for actions, results, and mistakes.
• Is thorough, accurate, and reliable when performing and completing job tasks; demonstrates honesty and integrity in all aspects of work.
• Takes positive action to objectively resolve conflict by listening, staying focused on issue to find resolution, and monitoring progress.
• Maintains positive relationships by constructively resolving conflicts.
• Uses feedback from others to continuously improve performance and work relationships.
• Moves within own and/or other work areas (flexes) to support plant flow.
• Works with sense of urgency to meet needs of customers.
• Has necessary experience, skills, and knowledge to perform all aspects of job; rotates through all job responsibilities.
• Maintains knowledge and skills to perform job effectively.
• Has ability to focus on benefits of change and see it as positive; approaches change or newness in constructive/objective manner; views change as learning opportunity.
• Looks for good in others; works collaboratively with others; shares information and knowledge.
• Is at work when scheduled and ensures coverage when absent; takes timely breaks/lunches; uses time wisely.
• Business Acumen: Understands the “big picture” impact of decisions – how the key drivers of the business impact the company’s financial statements.
• Communication: Excellent oral and written communication skills. Comfortable communicating in difficult situations in both individual and group settings. Consultation.
• Critical Evaluation: Use an objective and balanced approached toward analysis and decision making
• Global & Cultural Awareness.
• Quality Systems Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in key Quality disciplines including the area of; IATF 16949 quality management system, customer specific requirements, root cause analysis and problem solving,
• Leadership and Navigation: Possess strategic awareness and the ability to lead a team to meet strategic goals.
• Relationship Management: Able to inspire, influence and develop other people.
• Ethical Practice: Demonstrates the highest levels of ethics and credibility