Job Description

Hayward is a leading global designer, manufacturer, and marketer of pool equipment and automation systems for the rapidly growing Outdoor Living market. We have a recognized brand, a large installed base of pool equipment, strong customer relationships, and a history of innovation with a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability.

Leads all aspects of the Quality function for Hayward in Rhode Island. Champions continuous improvement efforts, failure analysis, defect and variation reduction, problem-solving, and risk mitigation initiatives to maintain an effective Quality Management System (QMS) and ensure Hayward products meet or exceed customer expectations. Responsible for establishing and maintaining a plant-wide quality assurance system, address any warranty issues, and provide team leadership that contributes to customer satisfaction and Hayward’s success.

Responsibilities

• Be the Quality Champion / Voice of Quality / Customer Advocate for Hayward.
• Supervises and trains QA/QC staff; determines workload priorities to support Operations and Engineering needs. Ensure that plant QA/QC is properly resourced to support customer needs, manufacturing operations, and product design/development.
• Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning and prioritizing workload and assigning and directing work force accordingly; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing employee complaints and resolving problems.
• Ensure all internally manufactured parts, purchased parts and finished products conform to engineering prints and performance specifications and all non-conforming items are appropriately identified, quarantined, reviewed, and dispositioned. Ensure relevant parties (operations management, engineering, planning, supply chain, etc…) are informed and involved throughout this process.
• Serve as the site liaison and ensure full support for any Agency Audits or Regulatory Inspections of products manufactured by Hayward.
• Support New Product Development and Sustaining Engineering efforts through active Quality department participation in assigned development projects.
• Actively participate in the Product Change / Engineering Change/ Gate Review (PCD/ECN/GR) process as the QA review authority for the Hayward facilities. Proactively review changes to ensure product quality/integrity/reliability are not compromised; work with change authors to resolve concerns and promptly report unresolved concerns to the Plant Manager & VP Operations. Ensure First Article Inspections (FAI) are completed, documented, approved, and reported in a timely manner.
• Actively participate as a member of the Hayward staff in meetings and activities.
• Prepare and submit Quality department budgets and capital expenditure proposals for Hayward.
• Ensure metrics (process capability, control charts, measurement quality) are established and used to monitor product quality, manufacturing performance, and drive continuous improvement. Actively investigate opportunities to apply or improve use of metrics throughout the facility.
• Manage the Returned Goods Authorization (RGA) process, including overseeing evaluations and failure analysis of returned goods. Ensures that findings are documented and regularly reported to appropriate functions/personnel.
• Encourage and support use of effective, disciplined problem-solving processes (such as Shainin Red-X, Six Sigma, Etc…) to develop root-cause analyses, effective corrective actions, and process improvement.
• Ensure consistent monitoring of supplier performance through use of Supplier Scorecards for critical suppliers. Maintain regular contact with current suppliers and evaluate potential new suppliers as appropriate.
• Ensure appropriate supplier quality requirements are established and consistently applied to ensure conformance to established requirements for all supplied parts, components, or systems. Actively pursue Supplier Corrective Action Responses (SCARs) for systemic or significant failures.
• Maintain active and effective calibration and testing programs.
• Recommend actions or policies that result in improved quality, efficiency, cost reduction, or profitability for the company.
• Interact with Technical Services and Sales personnel to investigate, understand, and resolve customer / field complaint issues. Provide feedback to Hayward Operations on issues resulting from manufacturing non-conformances and request formal corrective action when appropriate.
• Prepare and lead a monthly Plant Quality Report for Hayward. This report shall examine Product Warranty rates and costs, Scrap and Rework rates and costs, and Supplier Quality.
• All other reasonable duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S./B.A.) from four-year college or university, preferably in a technical field (Engineering, Science, or Math),
• Required to have a minimum of 5 years management experience in Manufacturing Quality, Operations, and/or Engineering.
• Demonstrated understanding of Lean Manufacturing concepts
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes and procedures
• Familiarity with regulatory compliance and safety standards
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal, and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross functional teams.

Required Soft Skills:

• Excellent leadership and supervisory skills
• Effective communication and interpersonal abilities
• Ability to motivate and engage team members
• Problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Flexibility and adaptability in a dynamic work environment.
• Must demonstrate knowledge of and ability to properly apply;
• Statistics and Statistical Process Control;
• Quality Systems and standards;
• Metrology and GD&T standards;
• Inspection and Control methods, techniques, and documentation;
• Problem-Solving methodologies;
• Product Development processes.

Work Conditions:

• Position located in North Kingstown Rhode Island.
• Travel: Requires infrequent travel (fewer than 5% of work hours).
• Must be able to sit for extended periods of time, stand, walk, talk and hear.
• The employee will generally work in an office setting or travel to other Hayward facilities

Physical Requirements:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, talk, hear, stand and walk. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

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