Vice President, Quality

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the enterprise Quality strategy aligned with business objectives, customer expectations, and operational goals.
• Lead the Annual Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), establishing priorities, targets, and accountability across the organization.
• Serve as the executive leader and advocate for quality culture throughout the company.
• Own and continuously improve the Quality Management System, ensuring compliance with applicable standards, certifications, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead internal and external audits, management reviews, and certification activities.
• Establish standardized quality processes, procedures, and governance across all manufacturing sites.
• Drive defect prevention, process capability improvement, and variation reduction through Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Establish and monitor manufacturing quality metrics, including first-pass yield, scrap, rework, cost of poor quality, and customer quality performance.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action processes for significant quality issues.
• Provide executive oversight of Supplier Quality programs, including supplier qualification, development, performance management, and risk mitigation.
• Ensure supplier quality requirements are integrated into sourcing, product development, and production processes.
• Drive improvements in supplier quality performance and incoming material quality.
• Establish quality governance for New Product Introduction (NPI), ensuring robust validation, risk assessment, and product readiness processes.
• Oversee PFMEA, control plans, product validation testing, manufacturing readiness reviews, and launch quality performance.
• Ensure lessons learned and field feedback are incorporated into future product designs.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for critical customer and field quality issues.
• Lead field quality programs, warranty improvement initiatives, and corrective action activities.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Service, and Customer Care teams to improve customer satisfaction and product reliability.
• Own enterprise quality dashboards, KPIs, and reporting processes.
• Leverage data analytics and systems such as Unified Quality View (UQV) to identify trends, drive proactive improvements, and support executive decision-making.
• Provide regular quality performance updates to executive leadership and the Board.
• Build organizational capability through talent development, succession planning, coaching, and leadership development.
• Develop quality competencies across manufacturing, engineering, supplier quality, and operational teams.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Business Unit leaders to drive quality, cost, delivery, and customer satisfaction objectives.
• Ensure quality objectives are integrated into strategic planning, operational reviews, and business performance management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Experience in Business, Engineering, or a related field
• 15+ years; incl 12+ years people leadership experience
• Manufacturing & Quality leadership supervising others
• Experience in any of the following: Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean Manufacturing, ISO or SPC techniques
• Experience working in a unionized organization is preferred

Pay

The typical annual base salary for this position ranges from $181,600.00 - $329,900.00 in Minnesota. The range displayed represents the pay range for all positions in the job grade in which this position falls. Individual base pay will depend on a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Benefits

• Multiple medical insurance plan options + dental and vision insurance
• 401K retirement plan with employer match
• Paid time off and company-paid holidays
• Paid sick time in accordance with the federal, state and local law
• Tuition Reimbursement after 6 months of continuous service