Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety Manager

Job Summary

The Quality and Environmental Health & Safety Manager is a senior functional leader responsible for the strategic direction, governance, and continuous improvement of manufacturing quality and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) across the company's U.S. operations.

Reporting to the Managing Director, this role leads a small team responsible for manufacturing quality and EHS/safety compliance. The Manager establishes an integrated management approach that protects employees, customers, and the environment while strengthening product quality, operational reliability, regulatory compliance, and business performance.

The role partners with manufacturing, engineering, field services, project management, supply chain, Human Resources, Legal, and senior leadership. It provides visible leadership, uses data and risk-based decision-making, and ensures corrective actions are implemented, sustained, and communicated across affected operations.

Essential Responsibilities

Leadership and Functional Governance

• Provide overall leadership and governance for Quality, Environmental, Health, and Safety (QEHS) across Yunex Traffic North America, escalating significant matters to North American and global leadership as appropriate.
• Establish the annual QEHS strategy, objectives, operating plan and key performance indicators in alignment with business priorities.
• Own and govern the North American Integrated Management System (IMS), ensuring policies have designated functional owners, are regularly reviewed and updated, and are effectively implemented across all relevant departments.
• Partner with global leadership to interpret and deploy corporate policies and requirements, including those related to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001, and ensure employees receive appropriate communication and training.
• Maintain a centralized North American SharePoint repository for approved QEHS policies, procedures, and related IMS documentation, ensuring information is current and accessible to employees.
• Establish and maintain the North American risk and opportunity register in collaboration with senior leaders, and review progress on mitigation and improvement actions at least quarterly.
• Conduct monthly QEHS performance reviews with North American senior leadership, presenting key metrics, significant risks, compliance status, corrective actions, and required decisions.
• Prepare and facilitate the annual management review, ensuring required QEHS inputs, agreed business performance metrics, risks, opportunities, and improvement actions are presented and evaluated by senior leadership.
• Lead or coordinate internal, external, customer, and certification audits related to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and other assigned requirements, and ensure findings are resolved promptly and effectively.
• Integrate Quality and EHS requirements into business planning, operational reviews, organizational changes, supplier decisions, and project execution.
• Promote a culture of accountability, prevention, continuous improvement, employee engagement, and stop-work responsibility.

Manufacturing Quality

• Provide oversight of the manufacturing quality management system for traffic control, intelligent transportation, electronic, electrical, and related hardware products.
• Ensure appropriate quality standards, inspection plans, test methods, acceptance criteria, control plans, and documentation are established and maintained.
• Oversee nonconformance management, root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, change control, internal audits, and verification of action effectiveness.
• Oversee applicable ISO quality certification requirements, including ISO 9001, and coordinate integration with environmental and occupational health and safety management systems.
• Support customer, registrar, and supplier audits and ensure timely closure of findings.
• Provide governance for supplier quality, incoming inspection, supplier corrective actions, qualification activities, and quality improvement plans.

Environmental, Health and Safety

• Provide strategic oversight of EHS programs for the Austin manufacturing operation and applicable U.S. offices, warehouses, field sites, customer locations, vehicles, and project activities.
• Ensure programs address applicable federal, state, and local requirements, including occupational safety, environmental protection, hazard communication, personal protective equipment, emergency preparedness, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, and hazardous materials or waste.
• Direct risk assessments, site inspections, audits, job safety analyses, safe-work practices, contractor safety reviews, and corrective action tracking.
• Ensure incidents, injuries, illnesses, near misses, vehicle events, environmental events, and serious hazards are promptly reported, investigated, documented, and escalated as required.
• Oversee root cause investigations and confirm corrective actions are assigned, completed, communicated, and evaluated for effectiveness.
• Ensure required safety training is developed, assigned, delivered, documented, and periodically evaluated.
• Monitor regulatory changes, assess business impact, and update programs, policies, and training accordingly.
• Maintain or oversee required EHS records, permits, logs, reports, and regulatory submissions, including OSHA recordkeeping and applicable environmental documentation.

Workers' Compensation and Occupational Medical Coordination

• Provide functional oversight of work-related injury response and workers' compensation coordination in partnership with Human Resources, the workers' compensation carrier or administrator, Legal, managers, and the company's established occupational medical provider.
• Ensure injured employees receive timely directions to the designated medical provider when appropriate, while facilitating emergency care when required.
• Coordinate job-related medical guidance, work-status documentation, functional restrictions, follow-up care, and return-to-work information received through authorized providers and claims partners.
• Partner with Human Resources and operational leadership to support compliant transitional-duty or return-to-work planning based on documented restrictions and available work.
• Maintain appropriate separation and confidentiality of medical information and limit access to those with a legitimate business need.
• Analyze injury trends and claim drivers to identify preventive actions. This role does not independently diagnose conditions, provide medical treatment, or make employment-law determinations.

Metrics, Audits and Continuous Improvement

• Establish dashboards and management reviews across quality, EHS, workers' compensation, and corrective action performance.
• Use trend analysis, risk assessment, lessons learned, and operational feedback to prioritize improvement initiatives and allocate resources.
• Present concise reports and recommendations to the Managing Director and senior leadership, including significant risks, compliance status, performance trends, and required decisions.
• Promote consistent standards across locations while recognizing site, customer, project, contractual, and regulatory requirements.

Decision-Making Authority

• May stop or suspend work when conditions present an immediate or unacceptable risk to people, product, property, customers, or the environment.
• Recommends quality and EHS policies, standards, investments, corrective actions, and resource allocations to senior leadership.
• Escalates significant regulatory, customer, product, injury, environmental, or business-continuity risks to the Managing Director and appropriate functions.
• Approves functional procedures, audit plans, training content, and corrective action closure within delegated authority.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, quality, occupational safety and health, environmental science, industrial technology, manufacturing, or a related field.
• Experience supporting and implementing integrated management systems in an environment certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001.
• Eight or more years of progressively responsible experience spanning quality management and EHS in manufacturing, transportation technology, infrastructure, electronics, electrical equipment, industrial products, or a comparable regulated environment.
• At least three years of people leadership or functional leadership experience, including setting priorities, developing employees, managing budgets, and influencing cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated experience with quality management systems, manufacturing quality controls, audits, nonconformance, root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and supplier quality.
• Demonstrated knowledge of U.S. occupational safety and environmental compliance requirements, incident investigation, OSHA recordkeeping, and workers' compensation coordination.
• Ability to travel to company facilities, field locations, customers, and suppliers as business needs require.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification such as Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or comparable credential.
• Experience in the traffic, intelligent transportation systems, infrastructure, electronics, electrical equipment, or project-based field service industry.
• Experience leading ISO certification, surveillance, or recertification audits and integrating ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 systems.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or structured continuous-improvement experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

Knowledge

• Working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, DOT, NFPA, ANSI, workers' compensation, and other requirements applicable to company operations, as relevant to the assigned scope.
• Ability to translate technical, regulatory, and operational risk into practical business recommendations.
• Executive-level communication, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to navigate sensitive or high-impact matters.
• Proven ability to lead through influence in a complex, cross-functional, and geographically dispersed environment.
• Strong coaching, delegation, performance management, project management, facilitation, and change leadership skills.
• Ability to balance employee safety, product quality, customer commitments, compliance obligations, cost, and operational continuity without compromising required standards.
• High level of organization, attention to detail, documentation discipline, and follow-through.

Skills

• Strategic Mindset
• Ensures Accountability
• Manages Complexity
• Drives Results
• Builds Effective Teams
• Collaborates
• Decision Quality
• Courage
• Continuous Improvement and Risk Prevention

Abilities

• Executive-level communication, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to navigate sensitive or high-impact matters.
• Proven ability to lead through influence in a complex, cross-functional, and geographically dispersed environment.
• Strong coaching, delegation, performance management, project management, facilitation, and change leadership skills
• Manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Respond appropriately during emergencies and critical incidents

Core competencies

Safety Focus

Consistently promotes a culture of safety, risk awareness, and regulatory compliance.

Problem Solving

Use analytical thinking to identify root causes and implement effective solutions.

Accountability

Takes ownership of work quality, reliability, and customer impact.

Customer Service

Responds promptly to operational needs and maintains a service-oriented mindset.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Works effectively with technicians, engineers, contractors, and stakeholders.

Communication

Share information clearly and professionally while maintaining accurate documentation.

Adaptability

Adjust to changing priorities, technologies, work assignments, and emergency situations

Physical Demands

• Frequently stand, walk, climb, bend, kneel, crouch, reach, and lift.
• Lift and carry equipment weighing up to 50 pounds on a routine basis; occasionally lift greater weights with assistance.
• Operate hand tools, power tools, test equipment, and specialized diagnostic devices.
• Climb ladders, access poles, cabinets, and elevated work platforms.
• Work near moving traffic and in active transportation corridors.
• Distinguish colors, read technical displays, and identify electrical components.
• Operate company vehicles and equipment.

Working Conditions

• Work is performed in office, manufacturing, warehouse, field, roadside, and customer-site settings.
• The employee may be exposed to moving equipment, electrical systems, traffic, noise, weather, construction activity, and other operation