Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement & Quality

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is a world-famous brand with offices across the globe. Fender was born in Southern California and has built a worldwide influence beyond the studio and the stage. A Fender is more than an instrument; it’s a cultural symbol that resonates globally.

We are searching for a Senior Manager, Continuous Improvement & Quality to join our team. This role involves leading an interdisciplinary engineering team to sustain, optimize, and improve manufacturing processes using statistical analysis and quality data tools. The successful candidate will employ TPS/Lean Manufacturing practices to lead quality engineering projects, enhancing safety, inventory turns, scrap, rework, production adherence, and other key factory KPIs.

Essential Functions:

• Develop and guide an interdisciplinary engineering team to sustain and improve manufacturing processes.
• Lead quality engineering projects using TPS/Lean Manufacturing practices, including A3, PDCA, 5S, Kaizen Activities, Poka-Yoke, and ISO standards.
• Partner with key manufacturing leaders to define, develop, and deploy the Fender Production System model.
• Solve manufacturing issues using the scientific method and coach others in solving quality engineering problems.
• Drive process design to ensure sustainability, continuous improvement, and innovation, especially in New Product Introduction.
• Lead a Quality at Source mindset and gather data from inspection or audit processes to identify opportunities for engineering improvements.
• Manage a team of Quality Engineers and Sustaining Process Engineers, establishing and monitoring plans and programs for quality improvement.
• Analyze engineering data with the team to correlate yield and fallout to breakdown opportunities by priority.
• Ensure engineering processes result in products/services that meet quality standards and regulations.
• Review and link Quality Customer KPIs, Quality Distribution Centers KPIs, and Internal Quality KPIs to identify improvement areas using problem-solving methodologies.
• Provide technical leadership for the Fender Production System within the plant.
• Coach and train management and teams on FPS implementation and manage improvement teams to multiply effectiveness.
• Report performance and promote customer requirements at all organizational levels to enhance customer satisfaction.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Chemical Engineering.
• 5 years of progressive experience as a Quality Engineer or in a similar quality engineering role.
• Experience supervising an interdisciplinary team in a manufacturing environment.
• Proficiency in leading quality engineering projects using TPS/Lean Manufacturing practices.
• Expertise in solving problems using PDCA and/or DMAIC, and coaching others to solve quality engineering challenges with these techniques and statistical analysis tools.
• Experience reviewing and defining correlations among Quality Customer KPIs, Quality Distribution Center KPIs, and Internal Quality KPIs.

About Fender Musical Instruments:

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is one of the world’s leading musical instrument manufacturers, marketers and distributors, whose portfolio of brands includes Fender®, Squier®, Gretsch®, Jackson®, EVH®, Charvel® and Groove Tubes®, among others. For more information, visit www.fender.com. FMIC offers a competitive benefits package which includes medical, dental, 401(k), paid time off, and an equipment purchase program to help you get the band back together. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, disability, veterans’ status, sexual orientation, or any other protected factor.

Fender is required by law in certain jurisdictions to include a pay scale in the job posting for this position.  “Pay scale” means the salary or hourly wage range that Fender reasonably expects to pay for this position; it is neither a promise nor a guarantee of the compensation that the successful candidate will receive.  The pay scale for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that Fender considers in making compensation decisions, including, without limitation: skill set, experience, and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.  If this is a remote position, the pay scale disclosed herein may be adjusted further based upon the applicable geographic differential associated with the location from which the successful candidate will work.  Please note that it is not typical for a Fender employee to be at or near the top of the pay scale for their role – especially as a new hire – and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.  Subject to the foregoing, the current pay scale for this position is $137,000 to $140,000 per year.