Lead Quality Engineer - Orion Assembly

Job Description

Onsite: The successful candidate will be expected to report to Orion Assembly in Orion, Michigan, five times per week, at a minimum.

Level: People Leader

Role Overview

The Lead Quality Engineer is responsible for the overall planning, direction, and performance of the Quality Engineering team supporting vehicle on Orion-built vehicles.

This leader dynamically prioritizes team focus between Vehicle Quality (VOC, warranty, DRR, FTQ) and production floor issues, ensuring timely resolution of plant, supplier, and VAA-driven concerns. The role acts as the primary liaison between Engineering, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing, VAA partners, and Product Engineering, while building a high-performing Quality Engineering organization aligned to BIQ/GMS and GM quality strategies.

Scope of Responsibilities

• Own the strategic direction and day-to-day execution for the Quality Engineering team.

• Develop and manage a commodity coverage strategy across exterior, interior, and chassis systems to ensure robust support for current production and launch programs.

• Dynamically allocate workload and priorities across the team to respond quickly to urgent plant issues and emerging vehicle quality trends.

What You'll Do

Safety

• Follow and enforce all site safety guidelines and GM safety policies.

• Urgently drive resolution of identified safety and ergonomic issues impacting team members and production operators.

People & Leadership

• Lead and manage a team of salaried Quality Engineers covering exterior, interior, or chassis commodities (including VAA/module interfaces where applicable).

• Set clear expectations, provide coaching and feedback, and support individual development plans.

• Develop and maintain the team's commodity coverage strategy; manage vacation and absence planning to ensure coverage.

• Build technical capability through Red X Technical Problem Solving, Design For Six Sigma (DFSS), BIQ & GMS compliance, quality skills assessments, and other professional certifications/training.

• Lead and coach structured problem solving (Red X, 7 Diamonds, SPPS, 5-Why, Fishbone) on high-impact issues; ensure methods are applied consistently by the team.

• Develop and implement Workplace of Choice initiatives to strengthen engagement, inclusion, and retention.

• Ensure workplace organization standards (5S, visual management) are defined and maintained for the Quality Engineering team.

Quality & Technical Execution

• Act as primary Quality liaison between Engineering, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing, and VAA for propulsion, chassis, and ATM content to ensure vehicle quality and reliability.

• Champion advanced problem solving and drive closure of commodity-related Voice of Customer (VOC), DRR, FTQ, and warranty issues.

• Ensure issues are documented in Problem Resolution Tracking System (PRTS) and driven through the Current Product Improvement Team (CPIT) process to robust root cause and irreversible corrective action.

• Ensure supplier-responsible issues are captured and managed in Supplier Practical Problem Solving (SPPS) and coordinate with Manufacturing, Suppliers, and GM Supplier Quality for resolution.

• Support and govern the Assembly Plant Change Management process for assigned commodities (ECRs, PTRs, tooling and process changes), including risk assessment, validation strategies, breakpoints, and documentation updates.

• Communicate Emerging Issues summaries for responsible systems and ensure clear read-across and Lessons Learned to Engineering, Validation, and Quality organizations.

• Oversee team support for yard sweeps, development of inspection methods and standards, and Repair/Rework/Containment activities for identified spills.

• Ensure timely, high-quality responses to Supplier Action Center (SAC) requests and manufacturing floor concerns for assigned commodities.

• Oversee validation of suspect/reject part disposition, ensuring robust criteria and traceability.

• Govern team participation in the Production Trial Run (PTR) process, ensuring thorough documentation of product concerns and clear pass/fail feedback.

• Support implementation and closure of supplier Controlled Shipping activities, ensuring risk is contained and lessons are embedded into PFMEA/PCP/standardized work.

• Facilitate supplier visits to the manufacturing facility and ensure effective technical discussions and follow-up.

Responsiveness & Governance

• Lead or ensure representation in Quality Engineering standard meetings, plant quality reviews, and Fast Response sessions for interior, exterior, or chassis issues.

• Drive timely resolution of ergonomics and quality issues tied to supplier and engineering changes impacting the plant floor.

• Ensure Quality Engineering presence at manufacturing quality issue review meetings for relevant commodities.

• Support First Time Quality (FTQ) improvement initiatives and BIQ roadmap execution.

• Ensure all assigned PRTS issues are completed through root cause and irreversible corrective action within agreed timing.

Cost & Business Impact

• Ensure effective management of salary attendance and overtime within the team, aligning resources to business priorities.

• Champion warranty reduction initiatives related to interior, exterior or chassis content, using field data and plant metrics to prioritize actions.

• Oversee Supplier Cost Recovery for financial impact associated with supplier quality issues, ensuring accurate documentation and timely execution.

Required Qualifications

• Four-year degree in Engineering or other related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.

• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing, quality, or engineering.

• Demonstrated technical and professional skills in job-related areas (e.g., quality, manufacturing, product engineering).

• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes, ideally in automotive assembly and/or propulsion/chassis systems.

• Highly developed oral and written communication skills, including executive-ready summaries.

• High level of analytical and decision-making ability where problems are unusual and complex.

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively across functions and levels.

• Proven Managerial Courage and Customer Focus.

• Demonstrated ability to build effective teams and develop direct reports.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate-level degree in Engineering or related technical discipline.

• Prior people leadership / team management experience.

• Quality Engineering and/or Supplier Quality experience.

• Manufacturing production floor experience in an automotive environment.

• Experience with automotive product design, particularly propulsion or chassis systems.

• Red X Technical Problem Solving and Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) certifications.

• Capability in body dimensional analysis, GD&T, and part data analysis.

GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc).

This role is categorized as onsite. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location on a full-time basis.

The selected candidate will be required to travel <25% for this role.

This job is not eligible for relocation benefits. Any relocation costs would be the responsibility of the selected candidate.

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