Plant Quality Leader

Job Summary

The Plant Quality Manager will report to the Plant Manager and will be responsible for leading the development, implementation, and maintenance of the plant quality system. This role involves establishing and maintaining quality assurance expectations, methods, and approaches while managing the plant quality function to align with Cummins Operating System objectives. The successful candidate will ensure product quality, lead continuous improvement initiatives, and foster a culture of excellence within the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development, implementation, and maintenance of the plant quality system.
• Establish and maintain quality assurance expectations, methods, metrics, and approaches for all manufacturing processes.
• Manage the plant quality function and operational goal tree objectives in alignment with Cummins Operating System.
• Participate in the development of the Annual Operating Plan and lead the quality function to achieve its objectives.
• Be responsible for the quality of products produced, including initiating work stoppage if issues are discovered that affect product quality.
• Determine quality project priorities and organize resources to effectively accomplish objectives.
• Monitor improvement teams to ensure goals are achieved and reported, including Right First Time (RFT) improvements and the cost of poor quality.
• Ensure quality assessments and audits are conducted in accordance with the Plant Quality System, leading post-event reviews to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Accountable for ensuring products and processes meet initial and long-term quality standards, including ISO 9001, International Automotive Task Force (IATF) requirements, Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), and Product Parts Approval Process (PPAP) documentation.
• Manage New Product/Value Package Introduction (VPI) Quality planning, ensuring prevention and protection against manufacturing process issues.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives by utilizing industry-proven methodologies such as Lean Manufacturing and Intelligent Quality Tools and Methods (IQTM).
• Oversee the six-sigma process at the plant, acting as a facilitator and Master Black Belt (MBB), setting goals and tracking certification progress.
• Manage and develop quality systems, including Product Quality Council, Calibration and Metrology labs, Supplier Quality Improvement, Customer Quality Assurance, and quality teams.
• Align quality management practices with emerging technologies to achieve organizational excellence beyond just process and operational excellence.
• Act as a change agent to identify value creation opportunities while maintaining focus on operational responsibilities.
• Set quality priorities and requirements when deploying new technologies.
• Identify and solve complex problems efficiently by adopting new tools and methodologies.
• Identify opportunities in product and process to reduce greenhouse emissions in support of company-wide sustainability initiatives.
• Measure and Manager Supplier Quality Performance and ensure implementation and follow up on Supplier Corrective Action Requests (SCARs)

Competencies

• Advanced Product Quality Planning: Lead technical quality planning to ensure customer satisfaction through structured processes.
• Quality Leadership (Cummins Operating System): Demonstrate knowledge of COS principles and apply them to Total Quality Management (TQM) for continuous improvement.
• Quality Process Management: Proficiently apply quality tools and methods (e.g., APQP, FMEA, PPAP, SPC) to ensure product and process quality.
• Quality Systems Management: Ensure the quality management system is understood, implemented, and effectively meets requirements.
• Statistical Foundations: Apply statistical tools to influence decision-making and drive improvement actions.
• Manufacturing Knowledge: Implement changes in processes and equipment to support continuous improvement.
• Quality Influence: Engage stakeholders and influence decisions to balance quality priorities with operational needs.
• Quality 4.0 Leadership: Leverage cloud-based, digital tools to improve quality and customer satisfaction while fostering a culture of effective digital solutions.
• Customer focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Strategic mindset - Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Attracts and Develops talent - Select and onboard the best talent to meet current and future business needs. Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization's goals.
• Builds effective teams - Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Values Differences: Recognize and value diverse perspectives and cultures within the organization.
• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Communicates effectively - Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Cultivates innovation - Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Financial acumen - Interpreting and applying understanding of key financial indicators to make better business decisions.
• Drives results - Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Data Mining - Extracts insights from data by identifying relationships and patterns through use of a suite of data exploration and data visualization techniques to understand the underlying structure of the data and enable sound conclusions upon model building.
• Problem Solving - Solves problems using a systematic analysis process by leveraging industry standard methodologies to create problem traceability and protect the customer; determines the assignable cause; implements robust, data-based solutions; identifies the systemic root causes and recommended actions to prevent problem reoccurrence.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor's degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or related field required. Master's Degree preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in quality management within a manufacturing environment, preferably in the CNG or automotive sector.
• Certified Green Belt preferred (Can be General, PPS, or 6S stats); Lean Manufacturing training preferred.
• Significant relevant experience, including supervisory experience, required.

This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations.

Additional Information

The above descriptions are intended to set forth the general nature and level of the work and qualifications required in this position and are not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Employee must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactory and may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. If requested, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job, absent undue hardship.

As a condition of continued employment, the employee is required to follow Company policies and procedures.