Quality Assurance Specialist

About the Role

The Quality Assurance Specialist plays a critical role in ensuring that manufacturing processes and consumer products meet stringent quality standards, big-box retailer protocols, and evolving regulatory requirements. This dual-focused position is responsible for managing the end-to-end lifecycle of customer product verification and performing hands-on laboratory testing. Serving as the primary technical liaison between Tramontina, Retail Portals, and third-party laboratories, this role safeguards product integrity, drives corrective actions (CAPA), and handles day-to-day QA processing. Additionally, this position provides critical operational backup for factory audits and product certifications to minimize risk and enhance operational excellence.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or a related technical field; OR a minimum of a two-year technical degree with 3+ years of intensive experience in Quality Assurance.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in quality assurance within a manufacturing or consumer products environment.
• Proven knowledge and application of ISO 9001 quality management systems and general consumer product safety standards.
• Experience with corrective action processes, root cause analysis, and retail failure remediation.
• Strong understanding of document control and calibration procedures.
• Proven track record of personal reliability, punctual attendance, and the ability to execute tasks independently with minimal day-to-day supervision.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certification as a Quality Auditor or Quality Engineer (e.g., ASQ Certified Quality Auditor).
• Deep familiarity with consumer product safety regulations (CPSC), FDA food-contact material purity compliance, and state-level chemical restriction acts (such as Washington State's Lead in Cookware regulations and shifting PFAS legislation).
• Prior experience directly navigating big-box retail compliance portals, mandatory testing schedules, and vendor validation hubs (such as Walmart Retail Link, Costco systems, Tracegains, or Mars repositories).
• Practical familiarity with consumer products manufacturing guidelines, specifically the Cookware & Bakeware Alliance (CBA) engineering standards for material benchmarking and nonstick coating evaluations.
• Familiarity with risk assessment methodologies such as FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis).
• Proficiency with quality management software and electronic document control systems.
• Advanced training in statistical process control (SPC) and Lean Six Sigma methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and implement consumer product quality assurance procedures and specific big-box retailer compliance frameworks (such as Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's Wholesale).
• Direct and execute physical product evaluations within the in-house laboratory.
• Serve as an operational backup to floor Quality Inspectors and assist with manufacturing facility audits.
• Conduct regular visual inspections and audits of manufacturing processes to identify deviations and ensure compliance with quality systems.
• Manage corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) by investigating root causes of quality issues and coordinating resolution efforts.
• Oversight calibration schedules and ensure all measuring and testing equipment are properly maintained and certified.
• Perform risk assessments to identify potential quality risks and implement mitigation strategies to prevent product defects.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date document control systems to ensure traceability and compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including production, engineering, and regulatory affairs to support quality initiatives and continuous improvement.

Skills

• Uses corrective action skills daily to resolve retail rejections and consumer complaints.
• Expertise in ISO 9001 and big-box retailer protocols guides the maintenance of compliant procedures.
• Document control skills using Monday.com are essential for tracking mandatory testing cycles and ensuring traceability.
• Laboratory proficiency ensures accurate in-house sample evaluation, defect replication, and material benchmarking.
• Risk assessment capabilities combined with composure in a crisis enable the specialist to navigate regulatory shifts under tight deadlines.
• Visual inspection skills are applied routinely to detect defects and verify product conformity.
• Calibration knowledge ensures that all measurement tools remain accurate and reliable.