Supplier Quality Manager

JOB SUMMARY

Supplier Quality Manager is responsible for continuously reviewing and analyzing quality department processes to solve problems, identify opportunities for improvement and drive continuous improvement efforts through implementation. Supplier Quality Manager will assess and measure individual performance as well as supplier and team performance, identify what needs to be done to meet customer needs and work effectively with internal and external teams to meet the quality standards. Supplier Quality Manager needs to communicate with US CQI office and office corresponding teams to set GOALs within quality team and clearly give direction and share the ideas and important information to the team, peers, and suppliers to achieve the quality department GOALs.

Supplier Quality Manager needs to ensure the application of continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean and Value Engineering to improve quality, eliminate waste, and to reduce cost. They need to assess the effectiveness of a business function and offer recommendations for improvement. The primary responsibility is to lead and manage the continuous improvement initiatives primarily in Asian manufacturing suppliers, with occasional extension of deployment of the continuous improvement approaches to various manufacturing and customer locations.

In summary, Supplier Quality Manager will lead and manage practical, hands-on training in methodology and tools to eliminate waste and create continuous improvement in manufacturing people and processes within quality department as well as support other functional areas. They will need to demonstrate the ability to work effectively in a fast paced and changing environment with multiple priorities and drive results.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Supplier Quality Manager oversees quality operations across multiple vendors and manages a structured team consisting of Continuous Improvement (CI) who report directly to the Supplier Quality Manager, and Quality Controllers (QCs) who report to the CI.This team is responsible for following product launch schedules and managing production quality across all assigned vendor facilities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Quality team management. Clearly communicate with CQI office and set GOALs by giving clear direction to the QA/QC team to achieve the set GOALs by setting KPIs for team members and managing this
2. Consistently review the team's performance to maintain continuous improvements, this includes daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally and yearly department GOALs and achievements
3. Full knowledge of company quality control system tools such as QIS system and Dominator APP. Provide feedback to the system development team to continuously improve the tools to better organize the team's daily work. This also requires providing continuous training to team members on the developed system functions to ensure the team remains highly efficient daily
4. Drive continuous improvement efforts and provide management with cost benefit analysis, streamlining workflow and establish the Standard Operation Procedure while continuously improving to ensure the team stays highly organized on quality operations
5. By researching and communicating throughout the whole supply chain to understand the quality expectations from the customer, develop appropriate quality standards and establish clear service standards for customers and operators to ensure the team maintains this correct approach within daily work
6. Provide immediate action on Home Store operation customer complaints by setting up QIS projects through work with US champions and obtaining prioritized review at production line to get solutions and SOPs updated, and train vendor-related staff on preventing the issues from re-occurring within the latest cutting
7. Provide quality-related training to suppliers, QA and QC teams to ensure each team remains aligned on the quality standards
8. Get continuous training within vendor base to have the Vendor Managed (VMI) QIS projects to be updated with higher quality and the closure rate from each supplier needs to be set and followed to hit each week. The projects need to be closed within the latest cutting
9. Collect and analyze performance metrics and trends, analyze data, and prepare reports and analysis to evaluate the team's performance and maintain continuous improvements
10. Communicate with QA Teams, Regional Offices, and other functional areas to ensure consistency in service across the business
11. Effective problem solving, analytical, and communication skills
12. Strong attention to detail, highly organized with the ability to prioritize and meet deadlines with a strong focus on reducing / eliminating errors or defects and leading the team to stay on the correct track
13. Strong understanding of the value of technology and its impact on Quality and Continuous Improvement
14. Strong project management skills required--Coordinate the selection, scoping, planning and implementation of Continuous Improvement projects and events to achieve improvements through each project
15. Experience in driving change management
16. Apply practical and intermediate level knowledge in CI methods to improve quality, reduce cost and improve customer satisfaction
17. Stay informed of the latest external developments in best practices and help bring those onboard as appropriate and needed. Keep improving and maintain open discussions across operations on the latest information
18. Work closely with the new product development teams to execute new product launches and develop and implement pre-production review for new product launches
19. Work with factory management to clearly communicate company’s standards to ensure vendor bases maintain a high focus on the continuous improvements of the product quality and the production processes.
20. Train personnel to properly build and conduct product and process inspections, investigations and audits, effectively solve and improve product/processes through the application of sound Continuous Improvement methodologies.
21. Maintain reliable attendance
22. Team development
23. Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced and demanding environment

QUALIFICATIONS

1. Education required:

• BS college degree or equivalent work experience
• OR combination of education and experience (Engineering or Operations Management preferred)

2. Experience:

• 5+ years previous Quality and Continuous Improvement experience strongly preferred with a strong understanding of process expertise, continuous process improvement and quality assurance methodology and tools.
• 3+ team management function as manager or higher position

3. Knowledge:

• Blueprints/ CAD
• Working knowledge of Continuous Improvement tools
• Document management system
• Record Management
• Key Performance Indicators
• A3 Methodology
• Problem Solving and Root Cause Analysis (PDCA)
• Process Flow Mapping
• Value Stream Mapping
• 6S/ Visual Management
• Standard Work
• Job Instruction/ Method/ Relation
• Quality at the Source
• Just In Time
• Kaizen/ Continuous Improvement
• Project Management

4. Skills:

• Detail oriented
• Effective time management and organizational skills
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team environment
• Effective interpersonal communication skills
• Analytical and problem solving skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, Internet, and Intranet
• Maintain confidentiality
• Complete finalist training and maintain certification
• Respond professionally in situations with difficult employee/vendor/customer issues or inquiries

5. Abilities:

• Superior leadership ability

• Team building
• Presentations
• Group dynamics
• Interpersonal skills
• Coaching/ mentoring ability
• Ensure accountability and responsibility
• Listen and integrate the ideas of other people
• Review data and comprehend system performance
• Develop a system that collects/ processes data necessary to capture an understanding of system performance
• Work with and encourage others to work towards improving quality
• Motivate and supervise staff
• Confront conflict in a positive issue-oriented format and pursue by means of collaboration to resolution
• Formulate and organize technical information
• Speak English clearly (preferred)