Quality Assurance Manager

Burger Boat Company•Manitowoc, WI

About The Position

The Quality Assurance Manager establishes, deploys, and sustains Burger Boat Company's Quality Management System (QMS) and quality standards across shipbuilding programs. Within the Program Management Office (PMO), the role builds quality into programs from kickoff, defines the standards Quality Control executes within each Value Stream, and ensures compliance with customer, regulatory, classification society, and internal requirements. The position leads quality planning and assurance across new construction, refit, and repair programs. It partners with Value Streams, the PMO, Engineering Systems & Standards, Supply Chain, and customers to prevent defects, address recurring issues, manage quality risks, and improve cost of poor quality, audit performance, corrective-action effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. The manager owns the QMS and serves as its management representative, leads audits and quality investigations, oversees nonconformance and corrective-action processes, and establishes quality performance measures. The role sets quality priorities and allocates resources based on program risk, contractual requirements, and production needs. It approves quality plans, inspection strategies, audit schedules, corrective-action closures, and quality-system changes, and escalates significant risks to executive leadership. Quality Control retains final accept/reject authority at the point of work, while the Quality Assurance Manager may stop affected work or withhold acceptance when system-level, compliance, or product-integrity risks exist. The position has no direct reports; Quality Control personnel report within their Value Streams. The working environment includes offices, shipyard production floors, and onboard vessels. Production-area visits require personal protective equipment and may involve stairs and ladders, uneven surfaces, and tight or confined spaces. Exposure may include noise, varying weather, welding activity, paints, chemicals, fumes, airborne particles, moving equipment, and other industrial operations. Occasional travel may be required for supplier audits, vessel trials, customer support, or training.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or a related field, or an acceptable combination of relevant education and experience.
Seven or more years of progressive quality experience in shipbuilding, heavy manufacturing, defense, or another regulated industry.
Three or more years of experience leading quality programs, cross-functional teams, or QMS implementations.
Demonstrated knowledge of ISO 9001 quality systems, audit practices, inspection and testing, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and document control.
Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, contracts, codes, standards, and customer requirements.
Strong written, verbal, analytical, organizational, and leadership skills.
Ability to lead meetings and write professional correspondence effectively; excellent verbal and written communication, listening, speaking, and teaching skills.
Ability to demonstrate a positive attitude.
Ability to use required personal protective equipment and navigate production areas, including stairs and ladders, uneven surfaces, and tight or confined spaces.

Nice To Haves

Experience with government or defense contracts, including NAVSEA standards, ABS rules, or USCG requirements.
Experience establishing or significantly maturing a QMS.
ASQ CMQ/OE, CQA, or CQE certification, or Six Sigma Black Belt.
Experience with welding, fabrication, and marine systems.
Familiarity with ERP/MES and digital quality tools.
Ability to influence Value Streams and cross-functional teams without direct authority.
Systems thinking focused on root cause rather than symptom correction.
Data-driven decision making.
Effectiveness with customers, regulators, and classification societies.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the quality assurance strategy, annual objectives, training priorities, and Quality Assurance budget in alignment with Operations and PMO goals.
Build, deploy, and continuously improve the QMS in alignment with ISO 9001 and applicable NAVSEA, ABS, USCG, customer, and contractual requirements; serve as QMS owner and management representative and lead management reviews.
Establish quality plans, inspection and test plans, control plans, acceptance criteria, hold points, and documentation requirements for new construction, refit, and repair programs; own the inspection criteria, hold points, and NCR rules Quality Control executes within each Value Stream.
Ensure quality requirements are translated into practical, controlled production processes and verified by Quality Control at the point of work within each Value Stream.
Integrate quality requirements into each program from kickoff and own quality criteria at PMO stage gates in partnership with the PMO Manager and Program Managers.
Serve as the escalation path for Quality Control on quality, compliance, and hold-point issues, ensuring that raising quality concerns is expected and protected.
Lead internal audits, support external and customer audits, and serve as the primary quality interface for customers, government representatives, and classification societies.
Oversee nonconformance, corrective-action, preventive-action, deviation, waiver, and customer-complaint processes; require Quality and Engineering sign-off for use-as-is and repair dispositions.
Lead or facilitate structured root-cause investigations using 8D, DMAIC, A3, 5 Whys, Fishbone, and other appropriate methods.
Validate corrective-action effectiveness and sustainability, and ensure lessons learned are deployed across programs and Value Streams.
Use quality data and trend analysis to identify recurring defects, process weaknesses, supplier risks, and improvement priorities.
Establish and report quality KPIs, including repeat nonconformances, first-pass yield, corrective-action closure, audit findings, rework, scrap, and cost of poor quality.
Partner with Supply Chain and Sourcing Engineers to define supplier quality requirements, qualify suppliers, conduct supplier audits, resolve incoming material issues, and drive supplier corrective actions.
Participate in design reviews, production readiness reviews, first article inspections, testing, sea trials, and delivery activities to identify and control risks early.
Partner with Engineering Systems & Standards to align engineering standards, document control, and the QMS.
Partner with the CI / Advanced Manufacturing Leader and Value Streams on error-proofing, standard work, and continuous-improvement initiatives that improve quality, schedule, and cost performance.
Promote a culture of accountability, proactive quality, compliance, and operational excellence throughout the organization.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Set quality priorities and allocate resources based on program risk, contractual requirements, and production needs.
Approve quality plans, inspection strategies, audit schedules, corrective-action closures, and quality-system changes; escalate significant compliance, safety, customer, or product-quality risks to executive leadership.
Stop affected work or withhold acceptance when system-level, compliance, or product-integrity risks exist, and escalate to the Director as needed.
Make training and process recommendations within established company policies and delegated authority.
Lead meetings and communicate through effective professional correspondence, listening, speaking, and teaching.