Senior Manager of Quality & Operational Excellence

Virginia Transformer Corp; Roanoke (VA); Vor Ort; USD 120.000 - 180.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Virginia Transformer Corp in Roanoke, VA, is seeking a Senior Manager of Quality & Operational Excellence to lead QA, shop-floor QC, nonconformance resolution, and ongoing process improvement for transformer production operations in Roanoke.

This visible, factory-facing role ensures inspection and documentation at critical manufacturing stages, leads root-cause investigations with engineering and testing teams, and drives the quality system to deliver measurable improvements.

Qualifikationen

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, quality, or a related field.
• Eight or more years of industrial manufacturing quality experience.
• Experience in supervisory or lead quality role.
• Strong understanding of drawings, critical inspection checkpoints, supplier quality, nonconformance control, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and audits.
• Experience with fabrication, assembly, industrial testing, and complex customer-specific requirements.
• Ability to work with engineering, testing, production, procurement, and project management to resolve technical issues.
• Experience managing inspection or test plans and technical hold points in complex equipment manufacturing, with engineer-approved dispositions.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification or CQE/CMQ is a plus.

Aufgaben

• Lead QA and shop-floor QC across transformer production.
• Oversee nonconformance resolution and investigations.
• Drive continuous improvement and CAPA across operations.
• Ensure documentation and traceability meet ISO 9001 requirements.
• Coordinate with engineering, testing, procurement, and project management.
• Monitor first-pass test results and quality records; drive improvements.
• Lead quality engineers and inspectors; assign workloads across stages.

Kenntnisse

Quality assurance

Root-cause analysis

Continuous improvement

Lean manufacturing

Six Sigma

Manufacturing leadership

Ausbildung

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

Inspection equipment

Jobbeschreibung

Senior Manager of Quality & Operational Excellence

Employment Type: Full-time, onsite

Join a Company Built to Grow — Powered by People

Virginia Transformer is the largest U.S.-owned power transformer producer in North America. For more than 50 years, we’ve built custom power solutions as a privately held, organically growing company.

After achieving 3X growth, we’re hiring to do it again. We’re looking for people ready to take on meaningful challenges, help our teams succeed, and grow with the company. Every transformer we build is custom, every challenge is unique, and every team member matters.

One team. One mission. One source.

Position Summary

Virginia Transformer is seeking a Senior Manager of Quality & Operational Excellence to lead quality assurance, shop-floor quality control, nonconformance resolution, and continuous improvement for transformer production operations in Roanoke.

This is a visible, factory-facing role. The Senior Manager will ensure inspection and documentation requirements are followed at critical manufacturing stages, lead root-cause investigations with engineering and testing teams, and work with supervisors to prevent defects from reaching later assembly or factory testing. The role is accountable for executing the quality system and delivering measurable improvements.

Key Responsibilities

Incoming & In-Process Quality

• Manage inspection plans and acceptance criteria for assigned materials, including conductors, electrical steel, insulation, bushings, tap changers, transformer oil, and fabricated components.
• Direct quality checks across coil winding, core stacking, tank welding and leak checks, active-part assembly, insulation clearances, final assembly, and oil processing.
• Ensure inspectors use current drawings and specifications, follow required hold points, use calibrated measurement equipment, and maintain traceable inspection records.
• Work with purchasing and supplier quality on material nonconformances, supplier corrective actions, and incoming quality trends.
• Verify that required inspection records, traceability, calibration status, and technical dispositions are complete before held work moves to the next manufacturing stage.
• Ensure process excursions during vacuum processing, drying, oil filling, and final assembly are recorded and evaluated by qualified engineering and quality authorities.

Factory Testing, Nonconformances & Customer Acceptance

• Coordinate with test engineering and quality teams on customer-required inspections and test documentation while respecting the technical authority of the testing function.
• Work with test engineering to monitor first-pass results and quality records for turns ratio, winding resistance, losses, impedance, dielectric tests, and other contractual factory tests.
• Lead investigations into workmanship defects, failed inspections, repeated rework, abnormal test results, and other manufacturing quality issues.
• Ensure products are properly contained when test results are abnormal and facilitate root-cause reviews involving design, manufacturing, materials, and test personnel.
• Document nonconformances, corrective actions, concessions, and engineering-approved repairs; verify closure and effectiveness.
• Prepare and verify records for customer witness inspections, factory acceptance testing, deviation requests, customer punch lists, and test-document submission.
• Track recurring test and field issues and ensure confirmed lessons learned inform inspection plans, approved process instructions, supplier controls, or engineering changes.

Supplier Quality, CAPA & Continuous Improvement

• Analyze supplier complaints, inspection defects, scrap, rework hours, warranty concerns, and avoidable schedule delays by component, process, and shop department.
• Lead containment, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive action tracking, and effectiveness checks. Make ownership and due dates clear to manufacturing leaders.
• Partner with sourcing and engineering to address recurring supplier nonconformances and prevent unapproved material substitutions from entering production.
• Use Lean and structured problem-solving methods to reduce repeated inspection failures and shop rework without weakening applicable standards, customer specifications, or approved drawing requirements.
• Work with industrial engineering and operations to improve standard work, inspection hold points, tooling, mistake-proofing, and quality training.
• Analyze cost of poor quality, scrap, rework labor, recurring shop defects, supplier escapes, and corrective-action effectiveness by production stage.

Quality Systems, Audits & Field Feedback

• Maintain ISO 9001-aligned procedures, calibration and document controls, internal audits, and assigned quality metrics.
• Schedule shop process audits, supplier follow-up audits, measurement equipment verification, and customer-specific document reviews.
• Coordinate with field service and engineering to review warranty and service concerns, protect traceability, review factory records, and incorporate confirmed root causes into preventive controls.
• Prepare recurring quality trend reviews for plant leadership, covering scrap and rework cost, supplier failures, customer complaints, factory test performance, and overdue corrective actions.
• Track repeat issues and CAPA effectiveness to identify where additional process, supplier, or training controls are needed.
• Lead quality engineers and inspectors, assigning workloads around production stages, critical hold points, scheduled factory testing, and customer witness requirements.
• Coach shop leaders and quality team members on first-pass workmanship, inspection discipline, and prompt escalation of process deviations.
• Partner with engineering, testing, production, procurement, project management, and field service to resolve quality issues and improve customer acceptance.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, quality, or a related field; comparable substantial quality experience may be considered.
• Eight or more years of industrial manufacturing quality experience, including at least three years in a supervisory or lead quality role.
• Strong understanding of drawings, critical inspection checkpoints, supplier quality, nonconformance control, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and audits.
• Experience with fabrication, assembly, industrial testing, and complex customer-specific requirements.
• Experience managing inspection or test plans and technical hold points in complex equipment manufacturing, with engineer-approved dispositions.
• Ability to work with engineering, testing, production, procurement, and project management to resolve technical issues.
• Ability to analyze first-pass test results, supplier nonconformances, root causes, corrective actions, and cost of poor quality.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in power transformer manufacturing or high-voltage electrical equipment.
• Familiarity with IEEE C57 and IEC 60076 requirements, as applicable, and ISO 9001 quality systems.
• Lean or Six Sigma experience, or CQE/CMQ certification.
• Experience with major customer witness inspections.
• Background in transformer winding, core, tank, oil processing, high-voltage testing, or liquid-filled electrical equipment quality.
• Practical experience interpreting applicable industry standards and customer‑specific inspection requirements.

Key Performance Indicators

• First-pass shop inspection and factory test performance.
• Scrap, rework hours, and cost of poor quality.
• Timely and effective CAPA closure.
• Supplier quality and customer inspection findings.
• Aged CAPAs and repeat-issue recurrence rate.
• Rework hours and cost attributable to manufacturing and supplier quality.

Virginia Transformer is an Equal Opportunity Employer.