Nortek, Inc. Careers

Quality Engineer - StatePoint 

Business Divisions: Nortek Air Solutions 

Time Type: Full Time 

Classification: Salary 

Specific Location: Oklahoma City, OK 

Business Unit: NAS Quality 

Job Summary
This position will be a part of a team responsible for developing, maintaining and improving our quality management systems and supporting documentation and use data collection and quality tools to support other functional areas in quality improvement efforts. Determines quality inspection criteria and methods. 

Another crucial aspect of this important role will be to support the maintenance of formal documentation for our current process and procedural approaches, while driving development of standards and documentation for processes not yet documented. 

Being present and active in helping the Quality Team interpret and apply the current Engineering Standards and Customer-specific requirements, at both a shop floor level as well as Engineering “drawing board” level is critical in the mission of the Quality Engineer. 

Our fast-paced environment requires a high-energy individual with the ability to handle multiple projects and tasks simultaneously. 

Job Responsibilities 
  

Quality Management: 

• Collaborate with Sales and Application Engineering (SAE) team regarding customers’ quality expectations, to help determine critical part features and review manufacturability of design.
• Provide technical support to operations ensuring consistent application of engineering standards and quality techniques
• Resolve quality issues of capability, tolerancing, and materials related issues.
• Resolve quality issues by identifying problems, examining solution options, implementing action plans, and delivering training to peers and subordinates regarding formal problem-solving approaches (TOPS, A3, 5 Why, etc.)
• Effectively communicate and reinforce NAS-OKC's commitment to quality improvement efforts
• Determine when process stability and capability studies should be performed on existing processes.  Review and analyze results.  Recommend changes to processes based upon findings and perform follow up to verify effectiveness.
• Support review and provide input on design concerns with pre-release designs, delivering constructive feedback and suggestions to the SAE and Shop Release teams.
• Partner with the Shop Release team to provide constructive feedback regarding current and future designs, with the intent to help improve ease of manufacturing and systematically prevent recurrence of past issues.
• Facilitate and promote use of appropriate problem-solving techniques for effective root cause analysis and successful corrective action regarding warranty issues and other customer concerns.
• Coordinate with Sales, Purchasing, Engineering, Production, and Service to resolve customer complaints and concerns.
• Perform duties in accordance with quality system requirements as the voice of NAS-OKC's customers.
• Determine and apply appropriate Measurement System Analysis tools where appropriate.
• Support Vendor/Supplier SQA activities as needed. Working with external suppliers regarding quality issues/concerns specific to the product they are providing NAS-OKC

Systems Management 

• Recommend and implement enhancements to the quality system that result in improved quality performance, increased customer satisfaction, and/or simplification of processes to reduce costs.
• Participate in quality reporting and the L2 and L3 management review process.
• Manage quality metrics and present findings and recommendations to the management review team.

Position Challenges 

• Maintaining the integrity of the quality management system requirements with lean, cost effective strategies that meet the organization’s needs.
• Advocating as the "voice of the customer" driving for appropriate level quality and improvement expectations from the organization.
• Maintaining a proactive approach is critical, will require applying focused effort to avoid being drawn into a reactive/response cycle.

Organizational Relationships 

• Internal – Regularly interact with Materials, Quality, Engineering, Shop Release, Sales, and all Manufacturing functions.
• External – Under the guidance and support of the Quality Manager, regularly interact with all levels of customers, prospective customers and suppliers/vendors who can impact the quality of our products.

Travel 

• Overnight travel based on business need (less than 20%)

Required Behavioral Competencies 

• Adaptability – open to and actively solicit new ideas and opinions.
• Assertiveness – readily offer opinions and act even when their position may be unpopular.
• Business Thinking – sees the organization as a series of integrated and interlocking business processes.  Understands general business concepts.  Understands the financial framework of the organization.  Establishes and monitors appropriate financial measures, using data to make informed business decisions.
• Communication – demonstrated ability to work effectively with cross-functional work groups including suppliers, customers and associates, both verbally and in writing.  Excellent listening skills.
• Coaching & Counseling – effectively instructs associates at all performance levels and enjoys helping team members grow, sharing authority and providing resources and support that empower.  Offers clear, direct, and timely feedback.
• Conflict Management – support and manage differences of opinion.  Use consensus and collaboration to debate and resolve issues.
• Diplomacy – skilled at handling situations without arousing hostility.  Forge coalitions.
• Energy – have the stamina and endurance to maintain a fast pace and continue to contribute.
• Influence & Positive Impact – skilled at persuading, motivating, and energizing others at all levels.  Passionate, personable, self-confident, and likeable.  Able to flex style and direct, collaborate, or empower as the situation requires.  Ability to establish a personal power base built on mutual trust, fairness, and honesty. Establish and maintain productive relationships and networks, utilizing them to facilitate business transactions.
• Initiative – proactive and acts without being prompted.
• Learning agility – continuously seeks new knowledge, creates and fosters a culture of interest, curiosity and learning.  Flexible to change and learns from failure. Seeks to improve processes and products.
• Organization & Planning – manage time wisely and effectively prioritize multiple competing tasks.
• Potential - capable of assuming more responsible roles within the organization.
• Presentation Skills – written and verbal.
• Problem Solving & Decision Making – identifies and solves problems, develops innovative solutions, acts decisively, and shows good judgment.
• Results Orientation – maintains appropriate focus on short- and long-term goals.  Motivated by achievement, and persists until goals are reached, conveying a sense of urgency.  
• Self-Discernment – knows personal strengths and limitations and works toward improving weaknesses.
• Team Player – respond to requests from other parts of the organization and support larger legitimate organizational agendas.
• Visioning and Strategic Thinking – imaginative, entrepreneurial and thoughtful, creating a vision of a preferred future and communicating it clearly and enthusiastically in such a way that others are attracted to it.  Knows and understands the factors influencing strategy and acts with the future in mind.

Job Qualifications: 

Required: 

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or other Appropriate Technical Discipline.
• Five to seven years’ experience working within a certified quality management system (e.g. TS 16949, ISO 9001, etc.).
• Exceptional mechanical aptitude (i.e. intuitive understanding of mechanical processes).
• Proven track record of driving continuous quality improvement in a manufacturing environment.
• Customer quality assurance experience.
• Previous audit experience.
• Previous experience supervising multiple technical professionals.
• Strong computer skills, with In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office required.  Experience with other quality software applications beneficial. (e.g. statistical analysis).

Preferred:  

• Air Handling Unit (AHU) design experience.
• Two years or more HVAC experience.
• Mechanical or Manufacturing Engineering Degree.
• Experience working with both Manufacturing and Product Design Engineers.

Nortek Air Management and its divisions offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package.  To apply, please visit our career site at www.nortekair.com/careers. 

 Nortek Air Management is an equal opportunity employer and does not unlawfully discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, sex national origin, age disability, sexual orientation, or any other class protected by federal or state law.