In Schneider Electric, everything we do is geared towards advancing progress and sustainability for all-our colleagues, customers, partners, and the communities and societies we serve.
Whether it's through our products, software, and services that propel the digital transformation of energy management and automation, or through our corporate citizenship and volunteer activities, we make a meaningful impact by empowering people and organizations to become more resilient, electric, and digital.
Which is where you come in. Working at Schneider Electric means working toward a cleaner, better world. You are part of a global team built on inclusion, mastery, purpose, action, curiosity, and teamwork, turning sustainability ambitions into actions.
We are looking for a Global APQP Leader to make an impact!
About the Role (Mission)
The role of the Global Advanced Product Quality Planning ( APQP) Leader for Internal Products is to ensure, through effective collaboration, leadership, and support, during the APQP process, that the SE overall strategy, corporate standards and customer specifications are continually met. This is an individual contributor role and reports to the VP APQP & QMS.
This role is responsible for working with various SE activities ( LoB /GSC ) on offer creation (programs) and critical launches, but also to work with cross functional teams (product engineering, project teams, SME's), as a facilitator, in the support of Quality Systems, tools and processes ensuring accordance to APQP standards. The APQP for Internal Products is also responsible to analyze SE processes to identify the potential risk to product quality, and drive process improvements. It is the expectation that new SE products, will achieve the highest grade of serial production readiness, meeting the specific program, customer and SE time schedules. This role involves coaching, developing, and mentoring personnel internally and externally.
What will you do?
- Collaborate with internal teams of quality (CS&Q) and engineering/industrial/manufacturing personnel, providing support on APQP processes and systems.
- Ensure assigned programs adhere to the APQP process and required documentation is retained to demonstrate conformance.
- Monitor progress on program launches for the programs identified as critical.
- Participate in internal "Gate Reviews" for the programs identified as critical.
- Facilitate and/or promote the use of appropriate problem-solving techniques for effective root cause analysis and successful corrective action.
- Facilitate meetings with SE cross functional teams to develop, maintain or update the APQP processes.
- Provide guidance to CS&Q LoB to build up efficient organization within project development: IQL staffing.
- Communicate, create training material (Quality Academy), and deliver training globally for any updates to the SE APQP system or processes. Ensure deployment of our Industrial Quality Fundamentals.
- Conduct audits of the SE APQP process, system updates, gate reviews and safe launch activities etc at selected locations.
- Support the global team in their request for data and data interpretation.
- Coordinates with other SE global disciplines to resolve customer complaints and concerns during the SOP or Safe Launch period.
- Report status items and roadblocks to Management and propose solutions to keep projects on track.
- Interface with SE internal and external customers providing support during the APQP process as required.
- Coordinate resources to support APQP activities, main focus Industrial Quality (IQL).
- Utilize benchmarking or lessons learned to improve the internal company systems.
- Capitalize good practices and transversalize them within SE system.
- Support new business quoting activities with tooling/capital cost information and process assumptions.
- Prepare and present periodic progress reports and develop action plan to address identified issues.
- Promote the internal Quality Manual driving compliance.
- Perform cost evaluations for SE product testing to ensure proper design validation and SE product validation is conducted along with ensuring required equipment is procured.
- Build action plans, manage them actively and establish a routine reporting structure towards the organization.
- Lead or support technical APQP reviews in close collaboration with stakeholders.
- Contribute and perform feasibility studies at selected global sites.
- Support Process audit (VDA 6.3+) to critical projects.
- Support Pilot run (Run @ Rates) at selected SE sites, including process audits (VDA 6.3+) to ensure Production Readiness.
- Ensure the initiation of the PPAP process and the product release, taking immediate actions in case of non- conformity.
- Provide site/ organization support to ensure the certification status/ IATF 16949 compliance.
- Manages multiple projects among global and regional teams.
What qualifications will be make you successful?
- Post graduate degree / Masters in engineering
- 10 to 15 year experiences in Quality, preferably in Industrial solutions, automotive / aerospace / defense industries in R&D environment
- Previous multi-site management experience
- Previous experience of managing multi-national network
- Leadership skills to lead a diverse team engaged and manage them to stay focused on business deliverables
- Transformational leadership for change management
- Digital and agile mind-set
- Experience of leading complex problem solving initiatives. Excellent analytical and proven problem solving skills
- Ability to execute on challenging time constraints, prioritize, and manage indirect resources in a matrix organization
- Ability to get things done through influence, breaking resistance to change
- Ability to capture know how and reflect improvements in quality systems. High level quality foundation (APQP: Design reliability, P-diagram, tolerancing, DV & PV validation, capability study, SPC, X-FMEA, problem solving methodology, Control Plan Process Audit, Run@Rate, PPAP,etc.)
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to collaborate across multiple businesses, geographies, and functions
- Excellent communication skills in written and oral English
