Quality Manager

Quality Manager

Our client is a well-established, growing contract manufacturer and precision machine shop serving major customers in the heavy truck and engine industries. The company operates a large-scale manufacturing facility with approximately 150 employees and produces machined components from cast iron, stainless steel, and aluminum for several Tier 1 customers. With strong customer relationships, a stable business model, and significant growth underway, the organization is investing in its quality infrastructure and leadership team. This is a hands-on, highly visible leadership opportunity for an experienced Quality Manager who enjoys working directly with operations, engineering, inspectors, and production teams to build a strong quality culture. The company has a collaborative, entrepreneurial environment without layers of corporate bureaucracy and places a strong emphasis on safety, 5S, quality, continuous improvement, accountability, and doing the job right the first time.

About the Role

The Quality Manager will lead the quality function and oversee a team of approximately six employees, with the department expected to grow as the business expands. This individual will be responsible for ensuring quality systems are effective, customer requirements are met, defects are addressed at the root cause, and the quality team continues to develop its capabilities. The role is highly involved on the manufacturing floor and requires a leader who can balance technical problem-solving with team leadership and long-term quality improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Quality team, including Quality Engineers, Supplier Quality, CMM/inspection personnel, and inspectors.
• Participate in daily production and operations meetings, communicating new customer issues, internal quality concerns, and corrective actions.
• Lead daily quality meetings reviewing supplier and manufacturing scrap from the previous 24 hours.
• Investigate internal manufacturing defects, supplier defects, final inspection rejects, and customer complaints.
• Identify root causes of quality issues and determine appropriate corrective and preventive actions.
• Lead and execute corrective actions for both internal and external quality issues.
• Coordinate containment activities when defects or quality concerns impact customers.
• Ensure corrective actions are properly documented, tracked, completed, and communicated to customers.
• Identify recurring quality problems and implement processes designed to prevent issues from returning.
• Work closely with production, engineering, suppliers, and customers to resolve quality issues efficiently.
• Provide hands-on leadership and technical guidance to quality technicians, inspectors, and engineers on the manufacturing floor.
• Ensure inspection and quality processes are functioning effectively and are consistently followed.
• Oversee final inspection activities and ensure rejected product is properly dispositioned and communicated.
• Maintain compliance with IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 requirements and ensure documented processes are being followed.
• Support and participate in internal, customer, and third-party audits.
• Identify gaps in quality-system compliance and drive them through resolution.
• Work with customer portals and quality-information systems to maintain required documentation and communication.
• Use the company's internal quality management system to collect, track, and analyze quality data.
• Partner with leadership to strengthen the quality organization, expand team capabilities, and build bench strength.
• Promote a culture where safety and quality are the first priorities across the organization.
• Champion 5S, continuous improvement, accountability, and proactive problem-solving throughout the facility.
• Help lead the department through continued company growth and increasing production demands.

Qualifications

• The ideal candidate will be an experienced manufacturing Quality Manager who combines strong technical knowledge with proven leadership and team-development skills.
• This individual must be comfortable working in a machining environment, understanding casting and machining processes, diagnosing quality problems, and leading corrective actions.
• The company is specifically seeking someone who has already managed a quality function in a manufacturing environment and can immediately contribute rather than requiring significant development from an engineering-level role.

Required Skills

• Proven experience as a Quality Manager or quality leader with direct people-management responsibility.
• Manufacturing experience is required, with strong preference for candidates from a machining and/or casting environment.
• Hands-on understanding of machining processes and the types of defects and quality issues associated with machined castings and components.
• Strong knowledge of quality systems, corrective action, root-cause analysis, containment, and preventive action.
• Experience working within IATF 16949 quality systems; automotive/heavy truck manufacturing experience is highly desirable.
• Ability to lead and develop a team rather than simply manage individual contributors.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing multiple quality functions, such as Quality Engineering, Supplier Quality, CMM/inspection, and final inspection.
• Experience supporting and participating in internal, customer, and external audits.
• Ability to identify process and quality-system gaps and drive corrective actions through completion.
• Strong understanding of inspection processes and CMM operations; the Quality Manager does not need to personally program CMM equipment but must understand the function and be able to effectively lead those resources.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with production, engineering, suppliers, customers, and executive leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to build accountability, develop employees, and strengthen a quality organization's overall capabilities.
• Comfortable working in a hands-on manufacturing environment and spending significant time on the shop floor.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, growing operation.
• Commitment to safety, 5S, quality, continuous improvement, and first-time-right manufacturing.

Preferred Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Quality, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field is preferred but not required.
• IATF auditor certification is a plus.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification, particularly Green Belt or Black Belt, is a plus.
• Must have previous manufacturing management experience; candidates coming solely from a Quality Engineer background without management experience will not be considered.