VP, Global Manufacturing Quality

Vice President, Global Manufacturing Quality

Come build something that matters.

The Company

It takes great people to achieve greatness. People with a sense of purpose and integrity. People with a relentless pursuit of excellence. People who care about making things better For Those Who Make The World™.  Join our top-notch team of more than 43,000 high-performing professionals globally who are making their mark on some of the world’s most beloved brands, including DEWALT®, STANLEY, CRAFTSMAN, BLACK+DECKER, and other strong brands.

The Role

The Vice President of Global Manufacturing Quality, is a strategic leader responsible for developing, implementing, overseeing and driving quality initiatives across all manufacturing operations. This role ensures that products, processes, and systems meet the highest standards of safety, reliability, and customer satisfaction, while maintaining compliance with all regulatory and industry requirements.  This role is responsible for leading the development and execution of quality assurance strategies/Quality Management Systems, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.  

This role reports into the Chief Supply Chain Officer and collaborates cross-functionally to support business objectives and growth.

This position is based in our Charlotte, North Carolina location, and requires travel to manufacturing sites and customer locations (up to 30%).

Primary Accountabilities

Strategic Leadership: 

• Develop and execute the company-wide quality vision, strategy, quality management systems and objectives aligned with COE goals. 

• Lead, mentor, and develop the Quality organization, including site Quality Managers and cross-functional teams, fostering professional growth and high performance. 

• Communicate quality objectives, performance, and improvement plans to executive leadership, customers, and regulatory agencies.

Manufacturing Quality: 

• Champion continuous improvement initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, and risk management to drive operational excellence and reduce defects.

• Ensure compliance with ISO 9001, IATF, and other relevant regulatory standards across all manufacturing operations.

Supplier Quality:

• Direct and manage the Global Supply Chain supplier quality organization to ensure robust process control, supplier quality management, and risk mitigation throughout the supply chain. 

• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Operations to resolve complex supplier quality issues and drive corrective actions, including supplier recovery. 

• Manage Supplier Rating Process. 

• Oversee supplier qualification and performance monitoring, ensuring adherence to quality standards and continuous improvement. 

NPD/NPI Commercial Engineering:

• Lead and oversee comprehensive quality planning and execution for new product development (NPD), new product introduction (NPI), and commercial engineering initiatives.  

• Establish and manage Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), First Article Inspection (FAI), and product validation activities to ensure robust quality standards are integrated from concept through launch and commercialization. 

• Utilize data-driven approaches to monitor, report, and improve quality metrics and KPIs during NPD/NPI phases.

• Collaborate with Global Supplier Management to ensure the right suppliers for the organization.

• Participate and collaborate with Commercial and Engineering for Phase Gate Process to ensure Design Assurance Requirements.

Quality Systems & Compliance: 

• Develop, implement, ensure compliance to and maintain a Quality Management System (QMS) in accordance with ISO 9001, IATF and other relevant standards.

• Partner with cross-functional teams (Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Customer Service) to integrate quality into all processes and new product introduction. 

Continuous Improvement / Product & Process Quality 

• Champion Risk Management, Lean, Six Sigma, and other continuous improvement methodologies to drive operational excellence. 

• Establish, monitor, analyze and report key quality metrics (e.g., CoPQ, defect rates, DPPM, customer returns, audit findings) for quality performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction through root/cause driving corrective actions. 

• Oversee new product introduction (NPI) quality planning, including APQP, PPAP, FAI, and validation activities. 

• Ensure robust process control, supplier quality management, and risk mitigation throughout the supply chain. 

• Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, and Supply Chain to resolve complex quality issues. 

• Utilize data-driven approaches to monitor, report, and improve quality metrics and KPIs. 

Customer Focus: 

• Serve as contact for customer quality matters, complaints, and audits. 

• Foster a culture of customer satisfaction and responsiveness.

Candidate Profile

You love to learn and grow and be acknowledged for your valuable contributions.  You’re not intimidated by innovation.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could do your job and do a world of good? In fact, you embrace it.  You also have:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Quality, or related technical field (master’s preferred). 

• Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in Quality, MFG or Technical experience, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role, in a large, complex, matrixed, global organization, with a global manufacturing footprint.

• Demonstrated experience in ISO 9001, IATF or equivalent regulatory requirements. 

• Proven track record in implementing and leading quality initiatives, Risk Management, Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives in a complex, global multi-site manufacturing environment. Experience with advanced quality tools (FMEA, SPC, MSA, PPAP, APQP, FAI). 

• Excellent leadership, communication (both written and verbal), and organizational skills.

• Ability to influence at all levels of the organization, expertly communicate to executive leadership, and interface with customers and regulatory agencies. 

• Proven capability to attract, lead, develop and motivate high-performing teams across multiple locations and regions.

• Ability to communicate a compelling vision and move others to action.

• Strong technical acumen in manufacturing processes, quality systems and regulatory requirements, such as:  

• QMS / Regulatory Compliance: ISO 9001, IATF or customer-specific requirements. 

• Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) & Production Part Approval Process (PPAP): Ensuring product launch and process validation. 

• Root Cause Analysis & Corrective Action: Structured problem-solving (8D, Fishbone, Five Whys). Statistical Process Control (SPC) & Measurement System Analysis (MSA): Data-driven process monitoring and improvement. 

• Risk Management: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), risk assessment, and mitigation. 

• Continuous Improvement: Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and waste reduction.