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Director Advanced Quality

United States - MI - Novi

Reporting to the Executive Director of Quality & Business Systems, the Director serves as a key leader in ensuring effective implementation of quality processes, standardized operating procedures, and continuous improvement initiatives that support customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and business growth. This role drives quality consistency across manufacturing sites and productprograms while developing organizational capability in quality systems and compliance.

Key Responsibilities Quality Management System Leadership

• Lead the implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the North America Quality Management System.
• Ensure compliance with IATF 16949, ISO 9001, customer-specific requirements, and corporate quality standards.
• Develop, review, and deploy quality system procedures, standards, and best practices.
• Drive standardization of quality processes across manufacturing facilities.

Business Operating System Deployment

• Support deployment and sustainment of the YFAI Business Operating System across all facilities.
• Facilitate process maturity assessments and identify opportunities for operating model improvements.
• Coordinate cross-functional activities to ensure consistent execution of business system requirements.
• Monitor key performanceindicators and establish action plans to close performance gaps.

Audit & Compliance Management

• Direct the regional internal audit program and ensure audit plans are risk-based, complete, and effective.
• Coordinate external certification and customer audits inpartnership with plant and functional leaders.
• Ensure timely closure of audit findings and verify effectiveness of corrective actions.
• Monitor compliance trends and implement preventive measures to reduce repeat findings.

Quality Performance Management

• Analyze quality performance metrics across plants and programs to identify systemic issues and improvement opportunities.
• Lead regional reviews of quality key performance indicators including customer complaints, warranty, internal scrap, first-pass yield, and corrective action effectiveness.
• Develop enterprise-wide improvement initiatives and coordinate execution across sites.
• Provide clear executive reporting, decision support, and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Lead structured problem-solving and rootcause analysis initiatives for recurring quality issues.
• Champion Lean, Six Sigma, and operational excellence methodologies as practical tools for sustainable performance improvement.
• Facilitate best-practice sharing across manufacturing locations.
• Support digitalization and automation of quality management processes.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead and develop quality systems managers, auditors, and other assigned quality professionals.
• Establish development roadmaps and succession plans for key quality roles.
• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, compliance, and customer focus.
• Support cross-regional collaboration and resource sharing across the quality organization.

Qualifications Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing,Quality, Business, or a related technical field required.
• Master's degree preferred.

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in automotive manufacturing, quality, operations, engineering, or program management.
• 5+ years in a leadership role managing quality systems, quality operations, audit, or operational excellence functions.

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in automotive manufacturing, quality, operations, engineering, or program management.
• 5+ years in a leadership role managing quality systems, quality operations, audit, or operational excellence functions.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and managing IATF 16949 and ISO-based quality systems.
• Experience leading internal and external audits, including customer and certification audits.
• Experience working in a multi-site, matrixed, and international business environment.
• Strong understanding of automotive OEM customer requirements and disciplined corrective action methods.
• Ability to travel local and internationally t o suppliers and internal plants up to40% of the time.

Preferred Certifications

• ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE).
• Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean certification, or equivalent continuous improvement credential.
• IATF 16949 Internal Auditor or Lead Auditor certification.

Success Measures

• Sustained compliance to IATF 16949, ISO, customer-specific, and corporate requirements.
• Reduction in customer complaints, repeat issues, and major quality incidents.
• Improvement in regional quality performance indicators and corrective action effectiveness.
• Successful completion of internal, external, customer, and certification audits.
• Improved maturity and adoption of the Business Operating System across sites.
• Strengthened quality leadership pipeline, bench strength, and succession readiness.

Essential Common Requirements for All Employees:

• Quality Systems: Understand, apply and meet all function related YF IOS requirements.
• Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS): Understand, apply and meet all function related EHS requirements.
• Product Safety: Understand, apply and meet all function-related Product Safety requirements.
• Compliance: Understand, apply and meet all function-related Compliance requirements.
• Information Security: Understand, apply and meet all function-related IT / Information Security and confidentiality of YFAI information requirements.
• Must comply with all company policies and procedures.
• Employee must have the ability to work additional hours and / or overtime as needed or assigned to complete job duties on time.
• Ability to multitask, interact politely and professionally with customers, suppliers and vendors, and work cooperatively with employees at all levels.
• Ability to maintain predictable and regular attendance, arrive to designated location on time, or be at assigned locationready to work for assignment (plant, corporate office, or remote).

Yanfeng is a leading global automotive supplier, focusing on interior, exterior, seating, cockpit electronics, and passive safety, and is exploring new business actively. Yanfeng has more than 240 locations and approximately 67,000 employees worldwide. The technical team of 4,200 experts is in ten R&D centers and other regional offices, with complete capabilities including engineering and software development, styling, and test validation. Focusing on Smart Cabin and lightweight technology, Yanfeng supports automakers to explore future mobility and provide leading cabin solutions.

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