Vice President Innovation Jobs in Reno, NV (NOW HIRING)

The Opportunity:

At Elemental Brands, our success starts with our people. Every day, our engineers, innovators, creators, and problem-solvers work together to develop and deliver innovative LED lighting solutions through Diode LED, Lucetta, Lucetta CI, Gammalux, and Elemental LED. Together, we're driving innovation and helping define the future of the low-voltage linear lighting industry.

That same spirit of innovation and collaboration shapes everything we do. We encourage curiosity, continuous learning, and fresh ideas across every department, empowering employees to grow their careers, make meaningful contributions, and help shape the future of lighting.

Recognized by EDAWN as "Company of the Year - Large" and "Employees First - Large," and by the University of Nevada, Reno as "Graduate Employer of the Year," Elemental Brands is proud to be an award-winning workplace where people come first, innovation thrives, and careers flourish.

What You Get To Do:

The Director, Quality leads all quality-related activities including design, implementation, and maintenance of the quality control (QC) systems to ensure quality control and quality assurance of all manufactured and purchased products to achieve product excellence, continuous process improvement, and customer satisfaction. This position will lead the quality efforts and drive best practices in quality assurance, supplier quality management, validation of new products, and failure analysis on returned materials. This position requires inter-departmental leadership managing multiple projects, to include collaboration with Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, Business Strategies/OEM, Production, and Distribution.

Key responsibilities for this position include interacting and collaborating well with members of other departments and suppliers to improve quality methods and system processes, resulting in a positive influence and impact on the overall quality of our products and services. This position will be required to communicate with business partners in various time zones requiring work outside of normal business hours up to 15% or more of the time.

This position assists the SVP, Engineering and Operations with long-range operating goals, expansion efforts, and implementation of new and advanced technology.

Challenge Yourself - The Specifics:

• Develops, implements, measures, and evaluates overall infrastructure, including procedures, policies, and plans to check, test, and inspect finished goods to supply the highest quality possible before they are shipped to the customer, to include:
  • Incoming material quality control
  • In process quality control
  • Final product quality control
• Manages and coordinates the inspection and documentation of manufactured and incoming merchandise that will be made available for sale
• Oversee vendor compliance by validating Certificates of Conformance (CoCs) and driving strategic alignment with international quality teams, ensuring part quality before US arrival (requires up to 10-15% international travel)
• Implements and monitors Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track both Quality/team performance in aggregate and individual employee metrics
• Responsible for evaluation of Returned Merchandise Authorization (RMA), determining disposition and root-cause analysis in coordination with Engineering and Sales
• Manages the implementation of principles and practices of continuous improvement, such as ISO 9001 processes. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Plans, establishes, implements, and maintains audit checks at the warehouse
  • Trains Quality employees on auditing processes and manages the execution of auditing practices
  • Documents and reports audit findings to proper management throughout the organization
• Coordinates with Engineering, Product Management, and vendors to develop First Article Inspection Report (FAIR) for new products
  • Ensures that FAIR processes for new product introduction are followed
• Ensures accurate and current documentation is available for quality inspections
  • Manages the maintenance and creation of quality records
• Ensures equipment, personnel, processes, and procedures are in place before the demand comes
  • This requires statistical trend analysis and some amount of 'crystal ball' guess work and risk taking
• Leverages the latest technologies, including robotics and other automation
• Provides necessary support and resources to the Quality team to effectively perform their duties
• Performs other duties as assigned

You Have a Unique Combination of Skills, Talents and Mindset, Including Many of the Following:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or quality related field and 5 years quality experience preferred OR equivalent experience with proven record of successful quality leadership in a manufacturing and/or quality environment

Knowledge of:

• Quality best practices that can be applied in the company's environment
• Principles and practices of continuous improvement, including ISO 9001 procedure writing and auditing
• General knowledge of LED's, drivers, basic lighting terminology, photometry, applications, power supplies, and controls
• Advanced management principles and practices of employee management and leadership, including work planning and assignments
• Business math and statistical techniques
• Proficient with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and Google applications (Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides)
• Familiarity with ERP and PLM systems in a manufacturing environment
• Exceptional attention to detail, time-management, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to safely use various metrology tools equipment including but not limited to, calipers, handheld photometer, and a multimeter for purposes of evaluating product conformance
• Ability to strategize, plan, organize, prioritize, and execute a variety of multiple tasks in an effective and timely manner: organize own work, set priorities, and meet critical time deadlines
• English usage, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and punctuation
• Experience with imaging measuring machines or CMM's programming and measuring, a plus

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

The Perks and Benefits: 

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life/AD&D, Short Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance (100% PAID by employer), available first of the month, following the date of hire
• Company-matched 401(k) Plan, at 5%, no vesting schedule
• Discretionary Time Off (DTO)
• Parental Leave (PL)
• Sick Time Off (STO)
• Seven Paid Holidays
• Pre-Tax Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) - $200 annual employer contribution
• Career Development Plan Program
• Discounted Corporate Gym Membership at South Reno Athletic Club
• Tuition Assistance
• Monthly Birthday Lunch Celebrations
• Employee Discount
• On-site Snacks and Beverages
• Employee Referral Bonus Program

About Us:

Visit us at www.elementalbrands.com or call 877-564-5051.