About The Role
CMC designs and manufactures tufting machinery and has an established Lean operating structure with existing quality practices in place. We're looking for a Quality & Continuous Improvement Manager to own two connected things: bringing our quality practices into alignment with ISO 9001 and driving the ongoing process improvement work that reduces cost, waste, and cycle time across the shop - including how engineering changes and new designs move into production.
This isn't two separate jobs bolted together - quality and continuous improvement should reinforce each other. A defect is a process problem, and fixing it the Lean way (root cause, standard work, mistake-proofing) is what actually makes quality stick instead of becoming a paperwork exercise.
What You'll Do
Quality Practices
- Assess current quality practices against ISO 9001 requirements and close the gaps so our processes align with the standard.
- Formalize document control, calibration, and internal audit programs, building on the existing Lean structure rather than replacing it.
- Own control plans for new product introductions and engineering changes.
- Build a consistent method for capturing scrap, rework, warranty, and field failure costs (COPQ) using Epicor Kinetic data, and report it by job, product line, and root cause on a regular cadence.
- Drive root cause / corrective action (RCCA, 8D) on repeat quality issues and track closure to completion.
Continuous Improvement
- Lead kaizen events and targeted process improvement projects across the machine shop, welding, and assembly areas.
- Identify and prioritize improvement opportunities using COPQ data, scrap trends, and floor observation - not just where it's easiest to run an event.
- Build and maintain standard work, visual management, and mistake-proofing (poka-yoke) where they reduce variation and defects.
- Track savings and cycle-time impact from CI projects and report results against CMG's operational improvement goals.
- Train and coach area leads and operators on basic problem-solving tools (5 Why, A3, PDCA) so improvement isn't dependent on one person running it.
Engineering & Process Improvement
- Partner with the Director of Engineering to identify design changes that would reduce manufacturability issues, rework, or scrap - feeding shop-floor problems back into design decisions instead of just absorbing them downstream.
- Review new product introductions and engineering changes for manufacturability and quality risk before they hit the floor, not after.
- Work with Engineering to standardize designs and reduce unnecessary variation across similar products where it's driving avoidable cost or complexity.
- Build a feedback loop so recurring production issues systematically inform future design and engineering decisions.
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Partner with the Manufacturing Process Manager and Area Plant Manager to resolve process and floor-related quality issues at the source.
- Work with Materials on supplier quality issues, scorecards, and corrective action follow-up for critical components.
- Serve as the primary quality contact for customers requiring formal documentation (certificates of conformance, corrective action responses, inspection reports).
What You Bring
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Technology, or a related field.
- 8+ years in a quality and/or continuous improvement role in a heavy machine shop or heavy industrial manufacturing environment - large fabricated components, precision machining, weldments.
- Hands-on experience implementing ISO 9001-aligned practices (not just working inside a certified system).
- Practical experience running kaizen events, A3s, or similar structured problem-solving - able to show real before/after results, not just training certificates.
- Experience working cross-functionally with engineering to resolve manufacturability and design-related quality issues.
- Comfortable pulling and interpreting data from an ERP system (Epicor experience a plus, not required).
- Enough shop-floor credibility to earn respect from machinists, welders, and assemblers - this isn't a desk job.
Preferred
- ASQ certification (CQE or CQM/OE).
- Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt.
- Experience building a quality function inside a Lean environment rather than treating the two as separate programs.
Success in the First Year Looks Like
- ISO 9001 gap assessment complete against current practices, with a clear roadmap for alignment.
- A working COPQ reporting process pulling directly from Epicor Kinetic, reviewed monthly with operations leadership.
- A documented manufacturability review process in place with Engineering for new products and design changes.
- A running cadence of kaizen/improvement projects with tracked, documented savings.
- Measurable reduction in repeat scrap/rework issues on top offenders, including those tied to design.
