Advanced Quality Assurance Specialist

Job Description:

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Quality Assurance professional to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to make a real impact in ensuring the highest quality products.

• Partner with Product Development and Technical Manager to support Pre-Production Sample approval, ensuring product integrity.
• Conduct risk assessments and evaluate end product tests to provide necessary technical support or escalate issues when product aesthetics may be affected.
• Participate in meetings with business partners to ensure proactive risk assessment and mitigation.

Production Stage:

• Support technical execution during the production stage and troubleshoot any technical issues that arise.
• Implement a globally aligned process to validate that vendors and factories operate efficiently, safely, and ethically, producing high-quality products.
• Provide a proactive and strategic approach to Quality Assurance, ensuring standardized focus across divisions and countries of production, while meeting brand standards and tolerances in mass production.
• Evaluate factories to ensure capability in product production, understanding production machinery adjustments and functionality to ensure correct usage.
• Identify pitfalls in factory layout, manufacturing processes, and quality management, liaising with vendors/factories to enhance product quality and daily productivity.
• Communicate with business partners when specialized machinery is needed for mass production, identified during the prototype and cost engineering processes.
• Escalate technical issues to business partners to ensure proactive resolution without compromising quality or impacting delivery dates.
• Oversee ongoing production line findings, articulating insights and recommendations to cross-functional teams, DGO, and vendors.
• Maintain knowledge of competitor benchmarking and industry standards to facilitate improvements and protect the brand.
• Collaborate with management and team members to identify training needs, developing or modifying training programs for the internal team, and supporting VQP/VQA training and certification processes.
• Actively coach and mentor vendor QA teams to ensure strong business relationships and adherence to the code of conduct.
• Work with the QA team to communicate and validate quality requirements, QA policies, and procedures to new factories, ensuring compliance with company standards.

The ideal candidate will have:

• At least 10 years of experience in footwear manufacturing operations, quality assurance, and product development.
• Substantial knowledge of testing protocols, product integrity, production cycle timelines, raw materials, product construction, and quality assurance processes for luxury, bridge, and moderate brands in footwear and accessories.
• Familiarity with production processes and best practices.
• Experience working with vendors in Asia.
• Background with high-end brands is desirable.
• Ability to communicate effectively across multicultural environments and varying experience levels, both internally and externally.
• Strong influencing skills that inspire trust and confidence, earning respect from peers and executives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A strong reputation for professional integrity, seasoned business judgment, and objectivity.