Manager, Quality Assurance

What Will You Be Doing? 

QA Strategy, Program Ownership & Business Partnership 

• Own the Home Office quality assurance strategy for assigned product categories, brands, vendors, factories, or regions, ensuring QA priorities align with business needs and customer expectations. 

• Serve as the primary QA partner to Sourcing, Technical Design, Regulatory Compliance, and regional QA teams on quality risks, escalation management, and supplier performance. 

• Translate product and business priorities into clear QA expectations, testing strategies, audit focus areas, and issue-resolution plans for vendor and regional QA partners. 

• Provide leadership visibility to emerging quality risks, supplier trends, recurring production concerns, compliance issues, and recommended mitigation plans. 

• Balance speed, quality, cost, and risk considerations while helping cross-functional partners make informed decisions throughout development and production. 

Supplier Quality Management & Factory Partnership 

• Manage supplier and factory quality performance through regular communication with regional QA teams, vendors, factory partners, Sourcing, and business stakeholders. 

• Establish expectations for supplier corrective action plans, follow-up requirements, and verification standards in partnership with field-based QA resources. 

• Review factory audit outcomes, production findings, failed test reports, inspection results, shipment compliance issues, and other quality escalations to identify root causes and determine next steps. 

• Partner with in-country QA teams or field auditors to prioritize factory visits, audit scope, remediation needs, supplier training, and production-readiness reviews. 

• Lead supplier performance discussions and support accountability through documented action plans, scorecards, business reviews, and escalation routines. 

Testing, Compliance & Product Quality Oversight 

• Support product testing programs for assigned categories, ensuring testing expectations, timing, risk assessment, and follow-up actions are clear and consistently executed. 

• Partner with Vendors, Regulatory Compliance, Sourcing, and QA teams to resolve failed or marginal testing results and prevent repeat issues. 

• Monitor testing, labeling, raw material, trim, garment, workmanship, and compliance-related trends to identify systemic concerns and recommend process improvements. 

• Support consistent interpretation of quality standards, testing protocols, care and compliance labeling requirements, and product risk decisions across functions. 

• Ensure quality concerns are documented, communicated, and escalated appropriately before they impact bulk production, shipment, or customer experience. 

Reporting, Metrics & Continuous Improvement 

• Own or support quality reporting, supplier scorecards, issue trackers, audit summaries, testing dashboards, and leadership updates for assigned areas of responsibility. 

• Analyze quality data and supplier performance trends to identify opportunities for prevention, efficiency, process consistency, and vendor development. 

• Create clear recommendations for process improvements, risk mitigation plans, supplier education, and QA operating routines based on data and business priorities. 

• Partner with cross-functional teams to improve documentation, handoffs, escalation paths, testing workflows, and quality governance across the product lifecycle. 

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen product quality, supplier accountability, operational consistency, and cross-functional ways of working. 

Leadership & Influence 

• Lead, coach, or mentor QA associates, cross-functional partners, or regional QA counterparts depending on final team structure. 

• Set clear priorities, expectations, and communication routines to support timely issue resolution and strong execution across assigned workstreams. 

• Build strong relationships with Home Office partners and global QA teams, ensuring quality priorities are understood and acted upon consistently. 

• Represent the QA function in cross-functional meetings, supplier discussions, leadership updates, and seasonal business reviews.