Quality Manager

Job Summary
The Quality Manager oversees all aspects of the business area quality functions ensuring proper deploying and resourcing necessary to execute with excellence across the five Quality Disciplines: [1] Quality Systems & Compliance, [2] Quality Engineering (improvement), [3] Product Testing and Certification, [4] Customer Facing Technical Services, and [5] Transactional Quality (Inspection & Dispositioning). The position requires a strong and influential leader who can drive cultural change in quality thinking / action down to the shop floor. The Quality Manager must engage other leaders in the organization who are peers or N+1 to ensure Quality processes are supported and sponsored with the same importance and intensity as Safety. The position also develops their team in the skill and ability necessary to achieve excellence in root cause analysis, product containment practices, countermeasure deployment with verification, Quality Wall operation and robust inspection processes and the foundations of TQM and Lean / Six Sigma. The Quality Manager understands that the role of a quality organization is to support the operation but not 'own' the deployment of Quality within the product and processes – this ownership resides with the Operations organization.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Manages resources who oversee direct integration of Quality Management Systems on the plant shop floor. Ensures organization in plants of oversight are resourced properly to support QMS ownership within the plants. Ensures the QMS is a series of processes and standards that occur in the path of normal work routines and become 'the way the plant works', not something extra to do or only a certification required to do business. Establishes robust quality process layered auditing programs.
• Deploys Quality Engineering (continuous improvement) through plant quality and operational resources to ensure internal and external quality problems are corrected with innovative and viable solutions. The solutions must be verified to ensure they do not backslide. Understands the best solutions are engineered and not administrative. Mistake-proofs the operation.
• Works closely with the Central Quality Technical Services organization to ensure the voice of the customer is heard and issues in the field are properly deployed to ensure Vallourec's reputation is maintained and that customer-facing quality metric targets are achieved. Ensure that good communication is maintained between the plant, the Central Quality Team and the customer on the status and progress of work related to issues. Completes 8Ds with excellence and intent to truly solve reactive problems. Trains team to identify plant quality problems proactively.
• Ensures absolute compliance and integrity within mechanical and chemical production testing processes and builds laboratory systems that remove the human element from data management of lab generated data to the greatest extent possible, using the latest technologies and Community of Practice for testing labs. Ensures the ISO 17025 / A2LA laboratory certifications are living within the labs and deployed properly. Regularly audits the labs to verify testing compliance and data integrity. Benchmarks laboratory performance in oversight plants to the greater global Vallourec and / or industrial network through round robin and other comparative programs.
• Works to simplify, streamline and improve the function of quality dispositioning processes. Works to build quality into the process itself but improves the robustness of Quality Walls and inspection processes at all needed checkpoints within the product flow. Prevents escapes. Contains non-conforming issues and builds out processes that supports protecting the customer.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Please specify if required or preferred.
Work Experience:
Please specify years of experience required.

• Minimum 10 years of experience in Quality or a related technical role.
• Demonstrated experience in the effective use of Quality Problem Solving Tools.
• Experience in deploying Quality within a heavy manufacturing environment is preferred.

Education/Certification(s)
☐ High School

☐ Associate's degree

☒ Bachelor's degree

☒ Master's degree

☒ Ph.D.

☒ Certification

Major(s):
Minimum B.S. in Engineering or another Technical Degree Program is required. Preferred engineering disciplines are metallurgical / material science, mechanical, manufacturing or industrial.

☒ Required

☐ Preferred
Certification Type:
Certification as a CQE / CQM, ISO 9001 / API auditor or lead auditor is highly preferred.

☐ Required

☒ Preferred
Functional / Technical
Knowledge:

• Above all else, must be a result-oriented leader who understands that Quality is not only a culture and way of thinking, but is a technical profession and a connected series of methodologies that, when integrated properly within an operation, generates true reduction in product variation, elimination of defects and definitive market differentiating customer satisfaction that ties closely to company brand and reputation.
• Demonstrates knowledge of proper execution of quality processes within a large manufacturing environment is required.
• Exhibits exemplary problem-solving capability and the ability to coach and teach the skill to others.
• Maintains a deep understanding of TQM principles and how they can be deployed in manufacturing.
• Has the ability to interact professionally as a company representative in customer meetings and can maintain customer relationships while defending the company position as needed when a claim must be refuted.
• Must have or be willing to develop a deep knowledge of the processes operated within Vallourec and the impact to product quality these processes can have.
• Must have or be willing to develop a basic knowledge of the physical and chemical metallurgy that is applicable to the Vallourec processes to improve effectiveness in RCA and CA deployment.

Leadership Skills

• Inspirational leadership – motivates others through encouragement and support.
• Servant leadership style preferred – views role as one of supporting the team and breaking down barriers to make them successful (command and control leadership does not work well for this kind of role).
• Understands that Operations owns Quality, the Quality organization supports the operation, and celebration of Quality landmarks and success focuses on Operations (uplift and celebrate the shop floor first).
• Deep capability to lead effective projects, keeping them on track for timing and budget.
• Maintains a result-oriented view and can critically connect the importance of cost control and the critical link between quality and cost (COPQ).
• Collaborates with peers across business areas and with other functions within the Industrial Excellence organization to support their work and mutually accomplish goals as one team working together.

Travel
Position must be located at a plant that is within oversight or in the general area of plants where there is oversight for the Plant Quality Teams. Must be willing to travel to all other plants of oversight and others in the NA network as well as to customers, subcontractors, vendors and other external entities (up to 60% travel as needed).

Language(s)
English required, Spanish, French or Portuguese as a second language is a positive.

Other
Critical Competencies Include:
Safety Awareness, Direct-ability, Teamwork, Adaptability, Reliability / Dependability, Initiative, Ability to receive and provide constructive feedback, Pride in performance, Continuous improvement mindset, Communication, Positive response to change, High attention to detail.

Physical Demands
☒

Light work:
Light work involves lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds. A job in this category may also require a good deal of walking or standing.

Visual Acuity:
requirements of the position:

☒

Employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, viewing computer terminal, expansive reading, visual inspection involving small defects, small parts and/or operation of machines (including inspection), using measurement devices; and/or assembly of fabrication of parts at distances close to the eyes.

Physical Activities
: Please check
ALL
that apply to perform the essential functions of the position.

Occasionally
(less than 1/3 of time)
Frequently
(1/3 to 2/3s of time)
Constantly
(More than 2/3s of time)
Climbing:
Ascending or descending ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps and the like, using feet and legs and/or hands and arms.

☐

☐

☐

Crawling:
Moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet.

☐

☐

☐

Crouching:
Bending the body downward and forward by bending leg and spine.

☐

☐

☐

Driving:
Operation of a motorized passenger vehicle or other vehicles such as forklifts, tractors, etc.

☐

☒

☐

Fine Manipulation
:
Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working primarily with fingers rather than the whole hand or arm as in handling.

☒

☐

☐

Hearing:
The ability to hear, understand, and distinguish speech and/other sounds (i.e., machinery alarms).

☐

☐

☒

Kneeling:
Bending the body at knee to come to a rest on knee(s).

☐

☐

☐

Lifting:
Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position.

☐

☐

☐

Pulling:
Using upper extremities to exert force to draw, drag, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion.

☐

☐

☐

Pushing:
Using upper extremities to press against something with steady force to thrust forward, downward, or outward.

☐

☐

☐

Reaching:
Extending hand(s) and arm(s)in any direction.

☐

☐

☐

Repetitive Motions:
Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

☐

☐

☐

Sitting:
Remaining in a seated position.

☐

☒

☐

Speaking:
Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word to impact oral information to customers or other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.

☐

☐

☒

Standing:
Particularly for sustained periods of time.

☐

☐

☐

Stooping:
Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist.

☐

☐

☐

Walking:
Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another.

☐

☒

☐