Quality Manager, Americas

Smiths Group•Kansas City, MO

13h

About The Position

Under the direction of the Global Director of Engineer and Quality, the Americas Quality Manager will supervise Quality functions and managers in the US and Mexico.. Will also drive strategies process improvements and other initiatives. Incumbent will partner with other leaders in the business to ensure that the strategy is fully aligned, understood, communicated, and implemented globally. The successful candidate will have substantial experience in a multi-site organization in both influencing direction and management. They must be very comfortable in presenting their ideas and strategies to all levels of management including senior leadership. Key elements of the role include: Conduct recruitment, selection, deployment, leadership, coaching, mentoring, and development of Quality Managers and Engineers, driving continuous improvement in resource efficiency and effectiveness within the global quality team. Lead the identification and execution of team activities / resources required to support strategies / initiatives. Contribute to areas of systems, processes, and tools. Contribute to enhancements to global systems, processes and tools to support changing / evolving global needs / requirements. Support business quality and performance criteria guidelines. Assist and support escalation and resolution of business quality performance issues.

Requirements

Experience required in large multinational companies. Must be from a company that has multiple sites and has leadership experience working across all sites.
Demonstrated performance in in multi-site, multi-national environments.
Proven capability to lead large cross functional, global teams in problem solving, process improvements, and solution implementation.
Knowledgeable and hands on experience in the application of Lean and/or Six Sigma including at least some of the following tools: Value Stream Mapping, Cpk/Ppk, GR&R, SPC, Control Plans, Sampling Plans, Kaizen, 5S, Statistical Analysis, SMED, 5 why’s, Root Cause analysis, 8D, VOC, QFD, Error Proofing, Robust Design, FMEA, Cause and Effect Diagrams, Pareto Analysis, etc.
Bachelor’s degree in Quality or a Technical Discipline (i.e. IE, EE, ME, QE). Master Degree in relevant discipline is preferred.
15+ years Quality / Operations / Engineering experience in management role in a world-class manufacturing setting, with demonstrated success in both quality leadership and business process excellence.
Proven problem solving skills and abilities required. It is expected that candidates will be prepared to share examples during interviews.
Experienced in working in Design area with Design Teams
Familiarity with and experience in applying Six Sigma methodologies required (qualified Green Belt / Black Belt preferred)
Demonstrated skills must include global leadership, strong written and oral communication, resource management, problem solving, process improvement, conflict resolution and process development / deployment administration and change management.
Experience working within a maquiladora framework is strongly preferred.
English is primary language but helpful if candidate understands Spanish as well.
Travel: International and domestic up to 30%.

Nice To Haves

Experience and familiarity with Performance / Process Excellence and Built In Quality models is highly desirable, as are formal Lean and 6-sigma certifications.
Additional certification such as BB/MBB, CQE, CQM, and / or ISO Lead Auditor is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Directly or indirectly recruits, selects, develops, leads, coaches and mentors the business quality resources, focusing on continuous improvement in efficiency and effectiveness.
Participate in development of global systems, processes and tools ensuring that market sector and site requirements / needs have been considered and incorporated wherever possible.
Drive continuous improvement in business quality performance.
Drive deployment of global systems, processes and tools.
Provide systems assessment support as needed.
Identify existing and future resource needs for the business to support strategies and future needs.
Drive enhancements to global systems, processes and tools to support changing / evolving global needs / requirements.
Drive business sites’ compliance to established global systems, processes and tools.
Ensure that global systems, processes and tools are communicated to the appropriate resources with the teams and sites.
Measure conformance and initiates actions when non-conformances are identified
Ensure the timely and effective communication of changes / enhancements to Interconnect requirements / expectations
Facilitate, coach, and mentor business unit quality and operational teams on Root Cause Analysis and effective corrective and preventive actions processes.
Develop, manage, and maintain quality performance metrics to assess the effectiveness of the business quality, development, and management functions.
Recruit, select and deploy Quality Engineers, and ensuring that capable and qualified resources are deployed.
Identify training and development needs for each direct report. Create and execute training plans, addressing the needs identified.
Conduct effective Employee Appraisals in compliance with global HR processes with the aim of improving employee performances.