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Job Purpose:
To ensure product compliance and delivery of consistently high-quality products in line with company standards and customer expectations.
To proactively prevent quality failures and escapes through robust quality systems and processes.
Drive quality engineering into manufacturing operations using quality tools, corrective actions and problem solving methods to improve process robustness, minimise non-conformances, reduce inspection dependency and lower the overall cost of poor quality.
To own and lead the Continuous Improvement (CI) strategy across the business, acting as the champion for CI culture, lean thinking and operational excellence.
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Day to Day Operations:
To lead, develop and maintain the company Quality Management System (QMS), quality programmes and initiatives, quality and CI teams to meet operational and customer requirements, ensuring zero customer escapes.
Responsible for the overall performance of quality systems, product compliance and continuous improvement activities across the business.
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Principal Responsibilities:
- Determine the strategic direction and work priorities for the continuous improvement of the company Quality Management System, quality programmes and operational quality performance
- Advise line management and support implementation of quality standards, procedures and best practices throughout the business
- Review and update company quality policies and procedures and maintain responsibility for the ongoing effectiveness of these systems ensuring compliance with relevant standards
- Maintain and improve current quality accreditations and support attainment of additional certifications where required, including but not limited to ISO 9001 / ISO 3834 etc and customer specific approval and certifications
- Lead the annual compliance and certification audits, ensuring any previous non-conformance or opportunities for improvement are closed out and corrective actions fully implemented
- Focal point for new and existing customer audits and compliance visits
- Ownership of both the internal and external audit process to agreed schedules, ensuring audit records are fully maintained, reports issued and corrective actions are followed through to closure
- Full ownership of the non-conformance management system
- Ownership of the problem solving process to ensure that root causes are quickly and effectively identified
- Ensure that corrective actions achieve both immediate and long term fixes to product and process issues. Ensure they are robustly implemented with buy in from all stakeholders
- Improve right first time performance and reduce rework
- Use evidence and risk based approaches to remove unnecessary inspection
- Implement and maintain Project Quality Plans (PQP)
- Work closely with production teams to quickly identify non conforming product and agree immediate containment and corrective action, including implementing production and process stoppages where required
- Ensure products consistently meet customer specifications and quality standards, targeting zero customer escapes
- Act as the focal point for major quality issues, ensuring appropriate escalation. Implement and maintain action plans, leading cross functional team to ensure the progression and closure of such issues
- Support customer meetings and engage directly with customers regarding quality performance and quality issues
- Develop a robust quality KPI and reporting system
- Working as part of an integrated team to drive standardisation across the business
- Act as a key stakeholder in the new product introduction process, identifying and minimising risk to the business, ensuring quality and CI are embedded from project inception
- In conjunction with manufacturing and engineering departments, conduct risk based analysis of parts and assemblies, implementing appropriate controls and error proofing
- Manage the document control process ensuring accurate record keeping and timely and precise delivery of documentation to customers
- Manage the maintenance of the company calibration system
- Drive culture change within the business, ensuring quality and CI are embedded into our process and approach
- Develop and maintain a quality communication process to ensure that all levels of staff receive appropriate feedback around quality performance, customer concerns, lessons learnt and continuous improvement initiatives
- Drive the performance and improvement of the quality team through effective line management
- Ensuring a skilled team of quality personal provides effective support to the other business functions, ensuring quality is embedded in all business processes
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Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- Engineering Degree or equivalent qualification in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline
- Strong knowledge and experience of quality tools and continuous improvement methodologies including: DMAIC / 5 Why Analysis / Ishikawa (Fishbone) Analysis / 8D Problem Solving / Process Capability & Root Cause Analysis
- Experience operating and improving ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems
- Lead Auditor trained
- PFMEA
- Experience within manufacturing, engineering or fabrication environments
- Strong customer-facing and supplier quality management experience
- Excellent communication, leadership and problem-solving skills
- Highly details oriented with strong influencing skills
- Highly proficient in the use of MS Office
- Experience of using ERP systems (Epicor Kinetic)
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