Head of Technical & Quality – Footwear & Accessories

Head of Technical & Quality – Footwear & Accessories – Capital City, Central Europe

YOUR TASKS

• You’ll provide direction on quality footprint and strategy to improve the quality of products and customer satisfaction
• You’ll lead a team of 12-14 HQ based staff and + 16 decentralised staff in the sourcing countries
• You’ll develop a strong QC organisation in supporting internal stakeholders like the product teams and external stakeholders like suppliers and factories
• You’ll optimise the end-to-end processes to become faster and more efficient
• You’ll manage our 3rd party provider in QC areas at source and in the dedicated central warehouse
• You’ll use performance numbers to identify development areas and to steer resources according to the business impact
• You’ll report on a monthly basis the quality performance of products considering customer feedback, findings during QC, insights from product teams, etc.
• You’ll manage the total budget of QC and monitor monthly trends to optimise total costs of quality continuously
• You’ll take ownership of driving quality improvement programs across the company
• You’ll ensure ongoing development of the Quality Management systems, database, tools, manuals and processes to meet business demand
• You’ll engage with key stakeholders, designing and delivering relevant communication and via training
• You’ll travel to source and vendor locations for up to 20-30% of your time, but only as necessary

WHAT YOU’VE GOT

• You are a bachelor’s degree level graduate, minimum, in technical production, general management or a relevant subject matter
• An occupational qualification as Auditor or Quality Management Representative is a plus
• You have +10 years’ robust experience in quality management strategy and supplier/factory improvement programs with footwear and/or accessories brands or retailers, or with industry bodies overseeing quality
• You have an established network of experts and have a working knowledge of international best practice standards
• You have a hands-on mentality; ability to translate expert supply chain knowledge into action plans for the organisation
• You have an analytical, strategic and problem solving approach with the declared intention to drive and implement changes
• You not shy away from figures, but using them to trigger continuous improvement programs with tangible action plans
• You have great communication skills, with ability to create positive outcomes with multiple groups
• You’re a people grower and have experience mentoring staff and overseeing their career development and training plans
• You have proven leadership experience, enjoy managing a team, training skills and very good interpersonal skills
• You have an ability to develop strategic direction and approaches to supply chain challenges
• You are a fast decision-maker and are solutions-orientated, with enthusiasm and determination to see-through projects to success
• You have personal integrity and professional conduct that reflects company Code of Conduct values