Quality Director

GENERAL PURPOSE OF THE JOB: 

• To develop TDK-Lambda Americas initiatives to create a Total Quality Culture and to champion the design and achievement of its goals with respect to quality of products and services across multiple product lines, manufacturing facilities, product design locations and a global supply chain.
• Ensure development, implementation and continuous improvement of Quality Management System (QMS), which comply with the World Class Regulations and Certifications such as ISO, ANSI and IEC that are applicable, in the U.S. as well as elsewhere around the world.
• Provide leadership and direction to the Quality Assurance and Quality Control staff in all TLA locations, and will be responsible for the selection, motivation and oversight of that staff for the achievement of the department’s goals.
• Leverage broad experience in electronics—including understanding of electronic product design, manufacturing, reliability and regulatory compliance—to support strategic decision‑making, strengthen quality performance and enhance overall product integrity.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES & AUTHORITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Duties:

• Design Quality: Oversee and participate in the Design Review Process to ensure that new products and modifications to existing products meet the customer, company and regulatory requirements and provide design margins to manufacture the products with ease and within cost and quality goals.
• Supplier Quality: In conjunction with the Supply Chain Management function, lead the Supplier Quality Management function to ensure full and proactive Supplier Quality Assurance (SQA) performance by key suppliers. The key components of SQM/SQA are:
  • Developing/maintaining Supplier evaluation process
  • Developing/maintaining Supplier Quality Assurance Manual
  • Supplier audits
  • Quality and environmental compliance of parts and material
  • On-time delivery
  • Continuous cost reduction through process improvement and application of Lean principles
  • Responsiveness for lead time, schedule changes to meet end customers’ expectations and proactive preventive measures for issues experienced by TDK-Lambda
  • Meeting regulatory and industry standards as specified by TDK

• Manufacturing Quality: Creates QMS procedures and associated documents that supports the organization in achieving Quality Objectives of the company during product manufacturing while meeting:
  • Customers’ quality specifications and requirements
  • Delivering the products on-time
  • Meeting the cost goals
  • Meeting company, Industry and Regulatory standards

• Quality Management System: Responsible for meeting the requirements for the various certifications. This entails:
• Periodic Management Review of QMS for achieving a close loop continuous improvement
• Corrective and preventive measures for product and process defects and nonconformities
• Internal audits against SOPs to ensure adherence to QMS
• Inspection and testing of products and periodic verification that these SOPs are effective in producing consistent product quality
• Data collection and report generation to provide failure rate, yields, cycle time and other metrics for continuous improvement
• Management of calibration system for test equipment, instruments, gauges and tools
• Segregation of nonconforming products, parts and material and appropriate disposition
• Field Quality: Has responsibility for Field Quality. As part of this duty, monitor field performance of various products with specific aim of providing feedback to internal functional groups to make design and manufacturing improvements so that field performance goals are consistently met or exceeded. 
• Being a Liaison Person for the Company: Act as a liaison person concerning the subject of Quality with all internal functional heads and acts as focal point for outside contacts such customers, suppliers, industry standard Institutes, Government Agencies, Certification Agencies etc., especially for customer and certification audits.  This person also acts as a focal point while dealing with other TDK sister companies including TDK Japan (HQ) in regards to quality and technical matters related to quality.

Responsibilities and Decision Making:

• Responsible for all Strategic Quality Decisions related to design, manufacturing, supplier, customer and industry and regulatory requirements
• Final authority related to quality decision making for accept/reject for internal and supplier related issues, stop and start of production line for quality issues, receiving inspection issues, piece part issues when interpretation of criteria is required.
• Final authority concerning interpreting internal documents such as drawings, work instructions, checklists, test procedures, Bill of Material conflicts, specification and tolerance questions etc.
• Responsible for interpreting Industry and Workmanship standards for manufacturing and suppliers
• Enforcing the requirements of these internal documents and external and internal standards
• Enforcing all third party certification requirements internally and at suppliers’ operations

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES & AUTHORITIES:  This position has supervisory responsibility and has subordinate supervisors.  There are two subordinate supervisors under this position with ~14 employees reporting to those supervisors in the ACDC Quality Organization and PHV Quality Organization departments.

QUALIFICATIONS:  To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

EXPERIENCE:  More than ten years of experience in electronics (or equivalent combination of education, training and experience), plus at least 5 years of working in Management and Strategic decision-making role preferably as Director.

EDUCATION:  Bachelor’s Degree, Advanced Degree or Certificate with Strong Business Acumen.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:  Ability to read, analyze, and interpret the most complex documents. Ability to respond effectively to the most sensitive inquiries or complaints. Ability to write speeches and articles using original or innovative techniques or style. Ability to make effective and persuasive speeches and presentations on controversial or complex topics to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.

COMPUTER SKILLS:  Advanced skills: Ability to use internet/intranet, cross functional Enterprise Resource Planning software, the MS Office package, and other software programs and packages to their potential to provide a work product fitting to the level of the position.  Must also be able to perform troubleshooting

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:  Very High Skills: Ability to apply advanced mathematical concepts such as exponents, logarithms, quadratic equations, and permutations. Ability to apply mathematical operations to such tasks as frequency distribution, determination of test reliability and validity, analysis of variance, correlation techniques, sampling theory, and factor analysis.  Also SPC/SQC related math skills, Process capability, Six Sigma, Hypothesis testing etc.

REASONING ABILITY:  Highest Skills: Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems. Ability to deal with nonverbal symbolism (formulas, scientific equations, graphs, musical notes, etc.) in its most difficult phases.  Ability to deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables.

OTHER SKILLS & ABILITIES:  Travel (20% to 30%), Presentation skills, Negotiation skills

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS:  ISO Audit, RoHS Knowledge, Lean and Six Sigma methodology, 5-S Principles

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:  The following are physical labor characteristics associated with this job.

• Standing – Under 1/3 of day
• Walking – Under 1/3 of day
• Sitting – Under 1/3 of day
• Talking or hearing – Over 2/3 of day

Vision requirements:

• Very close vision (clear vision at 10 inches or less)
• Color vision (ability to identify and distinguish colors)

WORK ENVIRONMENT:  The following are characteristics associated with the environment in which this job is typically performed.

Moderate noise (examples: business office with computers and printers, light traffic).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  This position will require 20-30% travel between facilities within TLA as well as travel to other TDK locations, customers and suppliers, including international travel.

SALARY RANGE

The starting annual base pay for the role is between USD $150,000.00 and $180,000.00. The actual base is dependent upon many factors, such as training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. The role may also be eligible for variable bonus programs and benefits. 

ABOUT TDK-LAMBDA AMERICAS INC.

Acquired by TDK in 2008, TDK-Lambda Americas Inc. represents the culmination of three well-established North American power manufacturers: Electronic Measurements Inc., Lambda Electronics, and Innoveta Technologies. We have earned the reputation of being a trusted world-class organization through a history of providing reliable and innovative power supplies. Our broad product offering features over 6,000 models that are suited for many applications, including medical, industrial, broadcast, defense, factory automation, and LED/LCD signage. Our view is that "power supply" is more than just an electronic device, but the heart of our customer's systems. This belief has helped us become a global leader in our industry.

We employ approximately 300 people in our engineering, manufacturing, and sales offices across the United States. At our company, we value the work and ideas of our employees. They are encouraged to express their opinions and take the initiative, which has helped with the growth of our community and kept us at the cutting edge of new technologies. We offer our employees not only a career opportunity but also an environment that allows them to succeed.

TDK-Lambda Americas offers great benefits and perks, including healthcare benefits, a 401(k) with match, paid time off (PTO), educational assistance, recognition plans, service awards, and performance-based awards.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. TDK-Lambda Americas is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. In keeping with that commitment, we will take the steps to assure that people with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform the essential functions of the position.