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.
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