Associate Director, Quality (Key Customer)

nVent • Anoka, MN

1d • $146,300 - $271,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

We’re looking for people who put their innovation to work to advance our success – and their own. Join an organization that ensures a more secure world through connecting and protecting our customers with inventive electrical solutions. The Associate Director of Quality, Key Customer is a strategic quality leader responsible for shaping and delivering the Data Center Solutions quality strategy while serving as the primary quality owner for a critical, high impact customer. This role ensures products, processes, suppliers, and quality systems consistently meet or exceed customer, regulatory, and enterprise requirements. The role spans enterprise quality strategy and governance, multi-site operational execution, and deep customer partnership. The Associate Director of Quality drives quality excellence across Data Center Solutions business units, manufacturing sites, and supplier networks, serving as both a strategic advisor to leadership and hands on leader during critical issues, audits, and growth initiatives. This position acts as a gatekeeper for growth—ensuring quality systems, talent, and processes scale effectively with business expansion—while embedding a strong culture of prevention, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Science, or a related technical field.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in Quality, Operations, or Engineering, including multi-site and/or global leadership.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide quality initiatives and complex customer quality relationships.
• Deep expertise in Quality Management Systems, standards, and regulatory requirements (e.g., ISO 9001).
• Proven ability to lead multi-functional, geographically distributed teams.
• Exceptional analytical, structured problem solving, and root cause analysis skills.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to translate complex quality data into actionable business insights.
• Experience leading supplier quality organizations and global supply bases.
• Advanced knowledge of enterprise quality systems and digital quality platforms.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree preferred.
• Professional quality certifications (CQE, CQM/OE, CQA) preferred.
• Six Sigma Black Belt or higher preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy a unified Data Center Solutions quality vision, strategy, and governance model aligned with enterprise objectives.
• Establish and harmonize quality standards, metrics, policies, and procedures across sites and segments.
• Provide regular quality performance insights, risk assessments, and recommendations to executive leadership.
• Champion a consistent, enterprise-wide quality culture focused on prevention, transparency, and operational rigor.
• Serve as the primary quality point of contact for a strategically critical key customer.
• Build trusted, collaborative relationships with customer quality, engineering, procurement, and leadership teams.
• Represent the organization in customer audits, business reviews, escalations, and governance forums.
• Translate customer requirements into internal quality strategies, priorities, and execution plans.
• Own customer quality key performance indicators, including PPM, complaints, corrective actions, audit outcomes, and field performance.
• Lead the enterprise QMS framework to ensure compliance with ISO 9001 and all applicable customer and industry standards.
• Drive QMS alignment and integration with digital quality systems and enterprise platforms.
• Oversee global internal, supplier, and customer audit programs, ensuring timely and effective closure of CAPAs.
• Ensure disciplined change management, validation, and documentation practices across the organization.
• Drive structured problem solving and root cause analysis to resolve chronic and systemic quality issues.
• Partner with Engineering, Operations, Logistics, and Supply Chain to embed quality into product design, NPI, and manufacturing processes.
• Lead and govern APQP, PPAP, FMEA, SPC, control plans, and validation activities.
• Strengthen inspection strategies, control plans, and risk-based verification processes.
• Develop and lead the enterprise supplier quality strategy in partnership with Sourcing and Procurement.
• Oversee supplier qualification, audits, NCR/CAPA management, and ongoing performance monitoring.
• Direct incoming quality control (IQC) and receiving inspection strategies to reduce escapes while optimizing dock to stock cycle times.
• Collaborate with suppliers and engineering teams during NPI to ensure production readiness and specification compliance.
• Lead large scale, data driven continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, and related methodologies.
• Establish and manage enterprise dashboards for defects, cost of poor quality (COPQ), audit performance, and customer metrics.
• Identify and deploy digital quality tools to advance analytics, monitoring, and predictive quality capabilities.
• Proactively identify operational and quality risks and drive mitigation plans.
• Lead, develop, and scale a high performing, multi-site quality organization across manufacturing, supplier quality, and corporate functions.
• Coach and mentor site and segment quality leaders, building depth, capability, and succession strength.
• Influence cross-functional leaders without direct authority to ensure alignment and accountability.
• Serve as a trusted quality authority and advisor across the enterprise.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision plans along with flexible spending accounts, short-term and long-term disability benefits, critical illness, accident insurance and life insurance.
• A 401(k) retirement plan and an employee stock purchase plan — both include a company match.
• Tuition reimbursement, caregiver, personal and parental leave, back-up care services, paid time off including volunteer time, a well-being program, and/or legal & identity theft protection.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager