Director of Quality

Metal Technologies•Auburn, IN

19d

About The Position

The Director of Quality leads implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of Metal Technologies’ corporate quality systems, standards, and improvement initiatives across its manufacturing locations. The role directly manages assigned quality personnel and partners with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Sales, and plant leadership to improve customer satisfaction, reduce the cost of poor quality, and strengthen launch performance. The Director translates business and quality priorities into actionable plans, provides technical guidance and oversight, and develops the capabilities of the quality organization. Plant leadership retains accountability for manufacturing execution, process control, and outgoing product quality. The Director leads the enterprise Quality Management System and related corporate quality standards, supports plant teams and quality launches, and oversees structured problem solving, customer and supplier quality, audits, and performance metrics. The role promotes consistent quality methods across foundry and machining operations, deploys lessons learned and corrective actions across facilities, and provides training and resource-planning input. It also includes direct supervision and development of assigned quality personnel. Work is performed in office and manufacturing environments, including regular presence in foundry and machining facilities, while following applicable safety and personal protective equipment requirements. Travel to manufacturing locations, customers, and suppliers is expected to be approximately 25%, depending on business needs. The position may require responding to significant quality issues outside normal business hours. The employee must be able to perform office work using standard computer and communication equipment, communicate effectively, and move safely through manufacturing facilities, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Metallurgy, Materials Science, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, or a related technical discipline.
Ten or more years of progressive quality, engineering, or manufacturing experience.
At least five years in quality leadership with direct responsibility for managing and developing employees.
Experience leading corporate or multi-site quality initiatives, implementing quality systems, supporting manufacturing locations, and working directly with automotive customers and suppliers.
Strong knowledge of IATF 16949, ISO 9001, automotive customer-specific requirements, and quality-management-system principles.
Proficiency in APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, SPC, 8D, root-cause analysis, error proofing, DOE, and statistical problem solving.
Ability to lead and develop direct reports while influencing plant and cross-functional teams in a decentralized, multi-site manufacturing organization.
Strong customer and supplier relationship skills, including clear communication during significant quality events and accountability for commitments.
Ability to distinguish systemic quality issues from plant-specific execution issues, assess risk, establish priorities, and make timely data-based decisions.
Business and financial understanding of scrap, rework, sorting, containment, premium freight, customer chargebacks, warranty costs where applicable, and total cost of poor quality.
Effective written, verbal, presentation, and facilitation skills, including the ability to communicate from the plant floor through senior leadership and lead organizational change.
Approximately 25% travel to manufacturing locations, customers, and suppliers, depending on business needs.
May be required to respond to significant customer, supplier, launch, or manufacturing quality issues outside normal business hours.
Must be able to perform office work using standard computer and communication equipment, communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, and move safely through manufacturing facilities, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Nice To Haves

Advanced technical degree or MBA.
Working knowledge of foundry and machining quality risks, metallurgy, process capability, dimensional control, metrology, traceability, and applicable AIAG CQI requirements; CQI-27 knowledge is strongly preferred.
Foundry, metal casting, and/or machining experience.
Automotive or other demanding, process-intensive manufacturing experience.
ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, Certified Quality Engineer, Six Sigma Black Belt, IATF Lead Auditor, VDA 6.3, or equivalent certifications.
A demonstrated record of improving customer quality, internal defects, scrap and rework, cost of poor quality, launch performance, supplier performance, and quality-system effectiveness.

Responsibilities

Lead implementation and continuous improvement of the enterprise Quality Management System, including applicable IATF 16949, ISO 9001, customer-specific, and regulatory requirements.
Maintain the Corporate Quality Manual and ensure policies and procedures are current and effectively deployed.
Translate corporate quality strategy into annual objectives, work plans, common standards, and measurable improvement initiatives aligned with business and customer requirements.
Provide functional leadership and technical support to plant Quality Managers and manufacturing teams; coordinate resources and escalate significant quality risks while preserving plant management accountability for operational results.
Direct quality planning and launch-readiness support, including APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, SPC, process capability, Safe Launch, containment, and lessons learned.
Lead structured problem solving for significant or recurring quality issues, establishing expectations for 8D, root-cause analysis, error proofing, corrective action, effectiveness verification, and recurrence prevention.
Partner with plant leadership to resolve customer complaints, escalations, and complex technical problems; communicate progress, risk, containment, and corrective-action commitments to customers and company leadership.
Maintain common quality scorecards and analyze customer quality, internal defects, scrap and rework, cost of poor quality, supplier performance, launch performance, audit results, and corrective-action effectiveness; drive follow-up on performance gaps.
Coordinate corporate quality-system and process audits, layered process audit expectations, and applicable customer and industry assessments; monitor findings and timely completion of effective corrective actions.
Partner with Supply Chain and plant teams to implement supplier qualification, performance monitoring, development, escalation, and corrective-action programs.
Standardize quality methods appropriate to foundry and machining operations, including metallurgical and dimensional controls, metrology, calibration, traceability, defect prevention, and applicable AIAG CQI special-process assessments.
Identify systemic trends and recurring failure modes across facilities and coordinate deployment of corrective actions, lessons learned, and best practices to other affected locations.
Develop and deliver training in quality systems, automotive core tools, statistical methods, problem solving, customer requirements, and quality leadership.
Provide input into budgets, staffing, capital priorities, laboratory and metrology capabilities, and quality technology investments; manage assigned resources to support business and customer priorities.
Promote prevention, fact-based decisions, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement throughout the organization.
Directly supervise assigned quality personnel; establish individual goals, delegate responsibilities, set priorities, and monitor completion and effectiveness of assigned work.
Lead recruiting, selection, onboarding, and training of direct reports in partnership with Human Resources and appropriate leadership.
Conduct coaching discussions and performance reviews, recognize contributions, address performance concerns, and administer corrective action in accordance with company policies.
Develop individual development plans and succession plans; balance workloads and deploy team resources to priority needs; reinforce safe work practices and compliance with company policies.