Quality Manager

Kennametal; Virginia (MN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Kennametal is seeking a Quality Manager for our New Market, VA campus to lead the quality department and drive continuous improvement. You will manage customer satisfaction, maintain the Quality Management System, and oversee product and process audits while coaching a team of quality professionals.

The role requires strong communication, ISO 9001 knowledge, and hands-on leadership. You will collaborate with engineering, operations, and supply chain to ensure robust quality performance and

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must use SAP and Microsoft Office.
• 3–5 years of experience in quality management.
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent industry experience.
• Knowledge of ISO standards.
• Must be able to read drawings and specifications.
• Six Sigma, ASQ Certification, CQE preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the quality department and ensure compliance with the Quality Management System (ISO 9001).
• Own customer complaint handling, 8Ds, and cross-functional problem solving.
• Drive continuous improvement projects to reduce COPQ and improve metrics.
• Coordinate audits (LPA, product/process) and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure effective documentation, metrology, and calibration programs campus-wide.
• Lead flawless launches of new products or process changes on campus.

Skills

Communication skills

Quality leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Six Sigma / CQE preferred

Tools

SAP

Microsoft Office

Job description

About Kennametal

With over 85 years as an industrial technology leader, Kennametal Inc. delivers productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear‑resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace and defense, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency.

Job Title: Quality Manager

Location: New Market, VA

Job Summary

This position will cover job functions for the quality department responsible for compliance to the Quality Management System for the campus as well as the day‑to‑day activities and development of the quality team members. This includes customer satisfaction (complaints, response time, ePPM) and financial performance of Quality (COPQ).

• Customer Satisfaction – Approve on‑time 8Ds to customers after quality events which impact customers. Identify projects for continuous improvement and work with cross‑functional team to execute. Job may require frequent contact with customer personnel to align responses and drive customer intimacy.
• Financial Performance of Quality (COPQ) – Utilize MRB process to drive problem solving to prevent recurrence on major issues. Identify projects for continuous improvement and work with cross‑functional team to execute.
• Quality Management System – Maintain policies, procedures, control plans, failure catalogs, audits, metrology, et al, in a way that fosters an atmosphere of compliance on campus and continually improves customer satisfaction and quality financial performance.
• Flawless launch & change – Ensures team is engaged so that risks are identified and mitigated ahead of launch for newly developed product or process or product changes on the campus.
• Daily execution – This is a critical leadership role requiring significant hands‑on tactical leadership engaged with all levels of the organization in addition to the long‑term strategic responsibilities expected of a Quality Manager. The candidate must be prepared to be a fully engaged, working leader.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Ensures an effective organizational structure and sufficient staffing for the quality department on the campus. Leads the day‑to‑day activities of the quality team and promotes a culture of quality ownership among all cross‑functions on the campus through strategic development and communication.
• Maintain the Quality Management System (ISO 9001) of the site. Engage with regional and global QMS leadership to ensure conformance to business segment & corporate procedures.
• Shares in the overall improvement metrics of the site to ensure quality targets are not sacrificed and a joint effort is made toward resource optimization and utilization.
• Identifies & supports training initiatives for workforce on the campus – in and out of quality department.
• Supports regional and global strategic quality initiatives on the campus.
• Approve and execute (LPA) product & process audits aimed to drive standardization of jobs. The ability to communicate and coach closure of process and inspection non‑conformances is required.
• Facilitate on‑time response to customer complaints through approving 8Ds generated by a cross‑functional team led by a quality engineer. Diagnose top level causes of customer complaints to drive continuous improvement efforts on the campus and project manage with the cross functional team to ensure execution. Personal leadership of high impact customer complaints may be required. Candidate must successfully navigate potential applications issues between the customer & Kennametal engineering/sales orgs.
• Facilitate root cause and corrective action for high impact scrap events coming from the MRB process. This can include events which did not go through the MRB process.
• Approves changes to policies, procedures, control plans, failure catalogs, audits and defined metrology methods to support continuous improvement on the campus.
• Work with cross‑functional team to address systemic root causes for top quality costs for the campus. This includes open communication and potential travel to customers and/or other KMT sites to find read across opportunities.
• Analyzes statistical and QCPC data from processes to identify proactive continuous improvement opportunities.
• Approves & performs layered process audits (LPA) and works with cross‑functional team on root cause / corrective actions activities from findings to improve customer and financial performance proactively.
• Responsible for flawless launch of new product on the campus. This also includes verification of effectiveness of changes to existing product or processes and customer specific or regulatory requirements.
• Investigates trends in inspection technologies and work with mfg eng, operations, and corporate quality to implement in capital strategy.
• Performs tasks utilizing quality core tools (root cause analysis, FMEA, Control Plan, SPC, LPA, MSA, DOE, etc).
• Must have a base knowledge of SAP or aptitude to be trained in the application.
• Must be able to create process documents and audit processes to requirements, openly communicating findings.
• Must be able to work within cross functional teams through complex tasks exercising strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with various levels of the organization (operators, supervision, plant leadership, engineering, quality management, operational excellence management, director levels) and customers.
• Basic project management skills required to drive actions which are agreed cross‑functionally to drive targeted improvement.

Education, Work Experience, Skills, Certificates

• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be able to use required computer software including but not limited to SAP, Microsoft Office.
• 3–5 years of experience required.
• Requires Bachelors Degree or equivalent industry experience.
• Knowledge of ISO standards and requirements.
• Must be able to use gages and measurement devices that determine compliance to drawing and product specifications. Must be able to retrieve and interpret drawings & specifications.
• Must be able to read and understand insert identification charts, routings and operating procedures. Must be able to determine insert defect criteria with product engineering.
• Applies experience and skills to complete assigned work within own area of expertise (core tools).
• Works within standard operating procedures and/or scientific methods.
• Six Sigma, ASQ Certification, CQE preferred.

Kennametal Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.