Vehicle Line Quality Chief

Lincoln Motor Company; Dearborn (LA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Paid time off

Vehicle discount program

Job summary

Ford Motor Company is seeking a Global Vehicle Line Quality Chief to lead enterprise-wide quality strategy across vehicle programs from conception through in-market operations. You will drive KPI management, governance, and cross-functional alignment with Program Management, Development, Manufacturing, and Leadership to deliver Best-In-Class quality and customer satisfaction.

The role emphasizes data-driven decision making, lifecycle quality improvements, and robust governance to reduce warranty

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience in automotive quality, engineering, product development, program management, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams in a global environment.
• Strong knowledge of vehicle development processes and quality systems.
• Experience establishing business strategies, targets, and performance management systems.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives and drive enterprise-wide change initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-range quality plans attainment strategy in alignment with targets.
• Own the global quality strategy and annual quality business plan.
• Drive standardization of target-setting methodologies across regions and vehicle segments.
• Develop and gain executive alignment on quality targets for warranty, cost, customer satisfaction, and benchmarks.
• Lead annual quality target confirmation and governance across regions and programs.
• Develop KPI metrics and performance management processes.
• Monitor quality performance and identify risks and opportunities.
• Lead quality reviews, escalation management, and corrective action governance.
• Champion continuous improvement of lifecycle quality processes.
• Ensure on-time delivery of quality milestones in vehicle development.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional

Quality systems

Vehicle development

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering

Job description

In this position...

The Global Vehicle Line Quality Chief is responsible for defining and executing the enterprise-wide quality strategy for vehicle programs across the full product lifecycle. This role owns the global quality target-setting process, lifecycle quality performance, competitive benchmarking, and enterprise quality analysis & action planning, while serving as a key member of the Global Lifecycle Warranty Governance Committee. As the senior leader for quality performance and KPI management, the Chief leads a global organization focused on delivering Best-In-Class customer satisfaction, product quality, warranty performance, and third-party quality results through strategic direction, robust governance, and data-driven decision making.

The Chief partners closely with Program Management, Product Development, Manufacturing, Functional Engineering, Regional Quality Organizations, and Executive Leadership to embed quality objectives into program planning, development, launch, and in-market operations. Through strong cross-functional leadership, the role drives enterprise accountability, proactive risk identification & mitigation, and continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen quality performance, reduce warranty exposure, and support the company's long-term quality vision and customer loyalty objectives.

What you'll do...

Enterprise Program Quality Strategy & Target Setting

• Establish and drive the long-range quality plans attainment strategy, in alignment with the five-year lifecycle quality targets setting process.
• Own the global quality strategy and annual quality business plan.
• Drive standardization of Best-In-Segment quality target-setting methodologies across all regions and vehicle segments:
  • Warranty R/1000 and Cost Per Unit
  • Perceived Quality (Initial Quality, Vehicle Dependability, Net Promoter Score)
• Develop and gain executive alignment on quality targets for warranty, cost, customer satisfaction, and third-party quality benchmarks.
• Lead annual quality target confirmation and governance processes across global regions and vehicle programs.

Lifecycle Quality Leadership

• Serve as the corporate subject matter expert for quality KPI development, measurement, and performance management.
• Monitor quality performance against established targets and identify emerging risks and opportunities.
• Lead quality reviews, escalation management, and corrective action governance for key quality issues.
• Champion the implementation and continuous improvement of lifecycle quality business processes and frameworks.
• Ensure rigor and on-time delivery of quality milestones throughout the vehicle development process.

Benchmarking & Customer Insights

• Lead annual quality benchmarking activities against industry leaders.
• Deliver actionable customer satisfaction and warranty performance insights into Product Development, Manufacturing, and Engineering organizations.
• Leverage internal and external data sources to identify competitive gaps and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

Global Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a global team of quality professionals.
• Coach and support regional quality organizations in the implementation of quality processes and best practices.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and customer-focused decision-making.
• Build organizational capability through training, succession planning, and talent development.

Reporting & Governance

• Own monthly executive reporting of quality performance, risks, trends, and opportunities.
• Interface with business planning and leadership organizations regarding quality metrics and scorecards.
• Drive alignment between regions, vehicle lines, and functional organizations through structured governance routines.

Process & Tool Ownership

• Own the strategy, development, and improvement of quality reporting, forecasting, risk management, and issue-resolution tools.
• Champion adoption of digital quality platforms and analytics-based decision-making.
• Ensure quality processes and systems support enterprise objectives and future business needs.

You’ll have...

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Science, or a related technical discipline.

Experience

• Significant leadership experience in automotive quality, engineering, product development, program management, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams in a global environment.
• Strong knowledge of vehicle development processes and quality systems.
• Experience establishing business strategies, targets, and performance management systems.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives and drive enterprise-wide change initiatives.

Technical Knowledge

• Product Development and Vehicle Program Management
• Systems Engineering
• Failure Mode Avoidance and FMEA
• Design Verification / Production Validation (DV/PV)
• Quality Metrics and Forecasting
• Warranty Analytics
• Problem Solving Methodologies
• Lifecycle Quality Management Processes

Even better, you may have...

• Advanced engineering or business degree.
• Experience leading global organizations.
• Deep knowledge of customer satisfaction measurement systems and competitive benchmarking.
• Strong analytics, data management, and digital transformation experience.
• Experience with quality reporting, forecasting, and AI-enabled quality tools.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a leadership level 4.

Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL4Benefits

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week.

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