Head of Quality Assurance

Title: Head of Quality – North America

Direct hire with Excellent Benefits and Bonus

Location: Waco, TX Area Preferred (Potential to sit in north Fort Worth area)

Travel: 30–50%

Summary

The Head of Quality – North America is a strategic and hands-on leadership role responsible for building, standardizing, and driving Quality across multiple manufacturing sites. This role owns both the technical execution of Quality systems and the perception of Quality across commercial teams and customers, serving as the front-facing leader for Quality within the organization.

This individual will initially operate in a dotted-line leadership structure, influencing plant-level Quality teams, with the expectation to evolve into full organizational ownership. The role requires a balance of engineering-based problem solving, KPI ownership, and strong communication/change management capability to rebuild and reinforce confidence in product quality.

Duties and Responsibilities

Quality Strategy & Systems

• Define and implement a standardized North American Quality Management System (QMS)
• Align Quality strategy with global and operational objectives
• Establish consistent KPI tracking and reporting across all facilities
• Drive compliance with ISO, ANSI, and other regulatory standards

Operational Quality Leadership

• Standardize manufacturing quality processes across multiple plants
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action systems (RCA, CAPA)
• Improve First Time Quality, reduce rework, and drive COPQ improvements
• Partner with Engineering and Operations on product and process improvements

Supplier & Field Quality

• Oversee supplier quality performance, audits, and corrective actions
• Own warranty reduction strategy and field quality performance
• Improve product reliability and lifecycle performance

Commercial & Customer Interface (Critical Component)

• Act as the face of Quality to Sales, Commercial teams, and customers
• Attend sales/customer meetings to represent Quality capability
• Translate technical improvements into clear, credible business messaging
• Rebuild and strengthen customer confidence through data-backed storytelling

Leadership & Organizational Development

• Influence and lead plant-level Quality Managers (dotted line initially)
• Build toward a centralized Quality organization over time
• Drive a culture of accountability, discipline, and continuous improvement

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• First Time Quality (FTQ)
• Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
• Rework Rate and Rework Dollars
• Warranty Cost as % of COGS
• Rolling 12-Month Claims
• Factory-Related Customer Complaints (FRCC)
• Audit Compliance Scores

Qualifications

• 15 years in Quality leadership within manufacturing environments
• Background in heavy equipment, industrial, or complex manufacturing preferred
• Engineering or technical foundation strongly preferred
• Proven success implementing QMS and driving measurable KPI improvement
• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem solving
• Strong financial and operational acumen (understanding cost impact of quality)
• Demonstrated ability to lead without authority (matrix/dotted-line environments)
• Exceptional communication skills with ability to influence commercial teams and customers
• Track record of driving change management and shifting organizational perception