Quality Director - North America Automotive

Salaried/Skilled Trades NSG Group•Northwood, OH

1h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Automotive North America Quality is responsible for the strategic leadership and continuous improvement of the quality management system across the region's automotive glass manufacturing operations, spanning eight plants in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This role ensures compliance with IATF 16949 and customer-specific requirements, drives a culture of quality rooted in proven quality principles (e.g., Kaizen, Jidoka, Poka-Yoke, Genchi Genbutsu), and serves as the primary regional liaison to customers on open quality concerns. The Automotive NA Quality Director partners closely with the global quality leadership team to align regional execution with global strategy, and leads a team of quality professionals — both directly and through dotted-line collaboration with plant-level Quality Managers.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, Business, or related technical field required; advanced degree preferred.
10+ years of progressive quality leadership experience in automotive manufacturing, with direct Tier 1 supplier experience required.
Demonstrated success supporting automotive OEM customer relationships and meeting OEM quality/delivery standards (e.g., IATF 16949, PPAP, APQP).
Working knowledge of Japanese quality principles and lean manufacturing methodologies (Kaizen, Jidoka, Poka-Yoke, Genchi Genbutsu).
Strong people leadership skills, with demonstrated ability to develop teams.
Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across cultures, languages, and time zones.
Ability to travel up to 50% of the time across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
Must be able to stand, walk, bend, and climb (e.g., stairs, ladders, platforms) for extended periods while touring manufacturing floors, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Must be able to travel by vehicle for distances of up to six hours at a time and must hold and maintain a valid driver's license.
Must be able to obtain and maintain necessary travel documentation (e.g., valid passport) for cross-border travel.

Nice To Haves

Strong working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing principles and demonstrated ability to drive Lean compliance across a plant network.
Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or Black Belt preferred) with practical application of DMAIC methodology.
Proven track record leading Kaizen events and continuous improvement programs at scale.

Responsibilities

Own and continuously improve the regional quality management system (QMS) in alignment with IATF 16949, ISO 9001, and applicable customer-specific requirements.
Lead audit readiness and compliance across all 8 plants, including IATF certification audits, surveillance audits, and internal audit programs.
Ensure consistent deployment and adherence to corporate quality standards, procedures, and documentation across all North American sites.
Monitor regional quality performance metrics (PPM, cost of quality, warranty, containment effectiveness) and drive corrective action to closure.
Champion the application of core quality tools including APQP, PPAP, FMEA, SPC, and MSA throughout the product lifecycle.
Directly lead, coach, and develop a team of three direct reports, setting clear objectives and providing regular performance feedback.
Provide functional leadership and mentorship to plant-level Quality Managers across all 8 facilities, ensuring alignment on priorities, standards, and best practices despite the indirect reporting relationship.
Build organizational capability by identifying training needs and developing quality talent across the region, including succession planning for key roles.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the quality organization.
Facilitate regular team meetings, cross-plant knowledge-sharing forums, and calibration sessions to drive consistency across the network.
Model and reinforce proven quality principles and a customer-first mindset throughout the organization.
Serve as the primary point of contact for customers on open quality concerns, escalations, and containment/corrective action activities across the region.
Represent the North America quality organization in customer audits, scorecards reviews, and business reviews.
Partner with sales, program management, and engineering to resolve customer-facing quality issues quickly and transparently.
Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with key customer quality contacts.
Apply proven quality principles and lean methodologies (Kaizen, Jidoka, Poka-Yoke, 5 Whys, Genchi Genbutsu) to drive sustainable improvements in product and process quality.
Lead, teach and support structured problem-solving (8D, A3, 5-Why, fishbone) for chronic and critical quality issues across the plant network.
Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, and Supply Chain to identify root causes and implement robust, verified corrective actions.
Drive standardization of best practices across all 8 plants to reduce variation and elevate baseline quality performance.
Serve as the key North American liaison to the global quality leadership team, ensuring regional alignment with global quality strategy, initiatives, and standards.
Communicate regional quality performance, risks, and improvement plans to global and regional leadership on a regular cadence.
Represent North America quality interests in global quality council meetings and cross-regional initiatives.
Translate global quality directives into actionable regional plans, tailored to local plant needs and customer requirements.
Adherence to NSG/Pilkington Standards of Business Conduct and its Values and Principles
Other duties as assigned by manager