Corporate Director of Quality

Summit Polymers • Portage, MI

7d

About The Position

This management position develops, implements, and continually improves standardized manufacturing quality systems globally. The Director, Corporate Quality works with plant quality managers, general managers, and other company resources to achieve world-class quality performance as measured by customer quality scorecards. The role interfaces with key customer personnel to build confidence in Summit Polymers, ensure customer expectations and requirements are met, and resolve significant customer quality concerns.

The position leads company-wide quality system standardization and continuous improvement, promotes strong customer scorecard performance, supports customer quality events and warranty concerns, and provides corporate quality expertise to manufacturing facilities. It typically requires approximately 18 weeks of travel per year to Summit Polymers manufacturing sites. The role is exempt.

Requirements

• A four-year college degree in a technical or management field is preferred.
• Five years of experience in a Quality Manager role at an automotive supplier is preferred.
• Broad knowledge of quality systems and management practices in automotive plastics manufacturing operations.
• Expertise in major automotive OEM quality systems, including Ford Q1, GM BIQS, FCA, Nissan, VW, BMW, and Toyota.
• Expert problem-solving skills using root-cause-based methods, including Practical Problem Solving (PPS), 8D, and 5 Why methodology.
• Ability to gather and analyze information and make appropriate decisions.
• Outstanding leadership, team-building, coaching, and decision-making abilities.
• High energy, confidence, and assertiveness, with the ability to lead and motivate others.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Minimum Wonderlic Select Assessment score of 50, equivalent to a traditional cognitive portion score of 28.
• Ability to travel approximately 18 weeks per year to Summit Polymers manufacturing sites.

Responsibilities

• Exhibit positive leadership and act with the highest levels of integrity and ethics.
• Champion company-wide manufacturing quality system standardization.
• Collaborate with plant quality managers, general managers, and Regional Directors of Manufacturing to establish best practices and standardized quality systems and procedures for all manufacturing facilities.
• Administer, train, and communicate standardized quality systems and procedures, ensuring they are implemented and maintained throughout the company.
• Conduct plant quality system compliance audits and lead follow-up action plan reviews with each plant.
• Lead continuous improvement of quality systems.
• Champion customer quality scorecard performance across all customers.
• Develop knowledge of customer quality scorecards and train plant quality managers, materials managers, and general managers on scorecard methodology and success measures.
• Monitor changes to customer scorecard methodology and scoring, and ensure corporate procedures, metrics, and personnel adapt proactively.
• Engage with functional departments to support customer scorecard results and develop internal performance metrics that contribute to those results.
• Build constructive relationships with key customer contacts and represent the company at customer quality roundtable events.
• Build customer confidence in the company's performance, capabilities, systems, and integrity.
• Review customer quality system requirements and specifications and ensure they are communicated and implemented throughout the organization.
• Participate in problem solving and customer response preparation for significant quality issues.
• Represent the company at critical customer quality concern reviews, leading the company response and negotiation toward resolution.
• Serve as the point of contact for customer warranty concerns and engage plant and engineering resources to resolve them.
• Champion Practical Problem Solving activities and improve management team leadership of the process.
• Lead development, updates, training, and compliance for corporate IATF-16949-compliant systems and procedures.
• Support new business initiatives and projects with quality-related data, metrics, support plans, and technical expertise.
• Support the development and delivery of training plans for plant quality managers and quality engineers.
• Provide additional support at manufacturing plants as needed.
• Perform other tasks and duties as assigned.
• Complete all post-hire required training.

What This Job Offers

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