What are the responsibilities and job description for the Quality Assurance Manager - Automotive position at BlackFern Recruitment?
Why Join?
This is an excellent opportunity to join a specialist business supporting the automotive paints and coatings industry, where quality, compliance, customer standards, and operational excellence are critical to success.
You will play a visible leadership role in strengthening the site s quality systems, audit readiness, customer quality outcomes, and continuous improvement culture, while working closely with technical, operational, and customer-facing teams.
About the Opportunity
Our client is a leading provider of high-performance paints and coating products designed to meet the rigorous demands of the global automotive industry.
They are now seeking a Quality Assurance Manager to lead site quality standards, strengthen QMS compliance, improve customer quality outcomes, and support a proactive quality culture across a highly regulated manufacturing environment.
This is a key leadership role, acting as the main quality liaison between Operations, Process Engineering, Technical, Account Management, customer-facing teams, and R&D on quality-related enquiries,
investigations, audits, and improvement initiatives.
Role & Responsibilities
As Quality Assurance Manager, you will take ownership of site quality standards, compliance, audits, quality systems, and continuous improvement activity. Your responsibilities will include:
- Maintaining and improving the site Quality Management System, certifications, processes, and documentation
- Ensuring QMS requirements are embedded within the product realisation process
- Integrating customer-specific requirements, supplier quality manuals, and quality standards into the QMS
- Measuring, reporting, and communicating site quality performance
- Leading internal and external quality investigations, including customer complaints, SCARs, non-conforming product issues, and corrective actions
- Ensuring corrective actions are implemented effectively and issues are resolved in a sustainable way
- Driving data-led quality improvement program to improve yield, productivity, customer complaints, and cost of non-conformance
- Owning the site internal audit program and document control system
- Facilitating customer and supplier quality visits
- Supporting and troubleshooting quality-related data systems, including SAP, LIMS, and ETQ Reliance
- Collaborating with Technical, R&D, Operations, Process Engineering, and customer-facing teams to improve first-right capability
- Acting as quality gatekeeper for site-level MOC activity and new product launches
- Providing quality training, leadership, coaching, and guidance across the site
- Promoting a proactive and accountable quality culture
This role will hold Decision Authority responsibility for:
- Product release decisions
- Fit, form, and function change approval requests
- Non-conforming product disposition
- Quality-related escalation, investigation outcomes, and corrective action effectiveness
You will be an experienced quality leader with a strong background in quality management, manufacturing quality systems, audit program, corrective actions, and continuous improvement.
Essential skills and experience will include:
- Bachelor s degree or higher in Quality, Engineering, or a related discipline
- Minimum 5 years quality management experience, ideally within automotive or advanced manufacturing
- Minimum 3 years people management or supervisory experience
- Certified Lead Auditor experience, ideally IATF and/or VDA
- Minimum Six Sigma Green Belt certification
- Strong knowledge of automotive core tools, including FMEA, SPC, Control Plans, and APQP
- Experience maintaining and improving QMS frameworks, certifications, and customer-specific requirements
- Experience leading quality investigations, SCARs, customer complaints, non-conforming product issues, and corrective actions
- Working knowledge of quality and operational systems such as SAP, LIMS, and ETQ Reliance
- Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
- Ability to lead audits, manage documentation, coach teams, and promote a strong quality culture
Salary : $140,000 - $160,000