• Expert on product compliance, quality & regulatory requirements
• Conduct standardization and calibration activities for 3rd parties, vendors, factories, field processes and teams
• Business acumen consisting of quality, retail and manufacturing. Actively influence decision making and address business needs through active engagement with CFT/business partners.
• Consult and coach on technical guidance to PSQA field teams
• Advance analytics and reporting on TM, 3rd parties, vendors & factories performance with a feedback loop.
• Factory elevation through technical consult to drive for continuous improvement of manufacturing processes.
• Ensure vendors deliver safe and quality owned brand product.

Product and Technical knowledge  

• Master of product knowledge of multiple categories; understand the guest expectation/brand expression through product standards, specification, approved samples and testing requirement/protocols to support field operations
• Ensure Target products are good & healthy, safe to use, guest friendly and durable & functional through product lifecycle
• Deep understanding of product and manufacturing process risk assessment and mitigation to support product development
• Ability to de-construct diverse and ever evolving manufacturing processes
• Understand process management - able to determine the critical processes to quality and its controls to prevent or mitigate potential issues/risks
• Knowledge of tools from Lean/6 Sigma/TOC/SPC to assess factory's performance to support enterprise strategy
• Provide technical support to PSQA field teams to lead, assess and resolve product and inspection issues
• Build one's own technical expertise in multiple categories in a structural and systematic way
• Knowledge of cost engineering to support category team's cost reduction and cost performance benchmarking initiatives; as well as factory’s drive towards efficiency and support right first time quality
• Identify and validate key quality and capability callout (e.g., manufacturing variability, critical to quality, manufacturability to scale) at the proposed factory location from product development stage through a robust MCP
• Support Senior Production Engineer (SPE) field activities as needed.

Quality Strategy and Management

• Understand and be able to assess the effectiveness of a factory’s preventive QMS and its sustainability, across varying manufacturing processes
• Provide/drive continuous improvement of a factory’s quality management system, shifting focus from detection to prevention.
• Plan for quality through preventive product risk mitigation, factory capability assessment and capacity validation prior to production.
• Strategic overview of the factory matrix in order to prioritize and identify areas of opportunity to drive elevation
• Evaluate the health of the matrix: through quality principles, assessment and elevation of vendors and factories QMS.
• Understand the guest expectation through voice of the guest
• Manage and lead regional/office level quality initiatives
• Drive and support ME initiatives focusing on efficiency and right first time quality.

Data/Reporting and Analytical thinking.

• Ability to review data and conduct statistical analysis from TQE (technical, quality and engineering) perspective
• Leverage data to identify opportunities for calibration, continuous improvement and problem-solving
• Drive cost of poor quality reduction with a focus on greater efficiency and right first time quality
• Understand industry and share business intelligence with CFT teams when needed o Drive supply chain performance metrics development
• Engage in strategic sourcing and category management from technical, quality and engineering perspective to enable the sourcing options with highest efficiency, lowest total cost and robust sourcing decisions
• Extensive use of quantifiable data and KPIs in decision-making.

Communication/CFT Collaboration/Training

• Share lessons learned in quality planning activities and core processes
• Organize calibration workshops and training sessions as needed across teams, offices, 3rd parties, vendor/factories and/or regions
• Act as technical liaison between PSQA HQ, Vendor/Factory partners and cross functional teams
• Ensure transparency and adherence to escalation process when required
• Provide ongoing support to PSQA HQ for continuous improvement, issue resolution and problem solving
• Successfully navigate through tough choices and be able to articulate a strong point of view both internally and externally - to leaders, peers, team members and vendor/factories.
• Engage in factory matrix optimization and influence business decisions through CFT collaboration based on business needs and quality performance
• Steer decision effectiveness and efficiency; take smart risk based on facts, figures and guest insights through critical thinking
• Provide expertise to validate CFT’s business decision and increase supply matrix visibility through factory assessment
• Engage in new vendor/factory vetting and exploration process that supports sourcing decision-making and long-range business plan.

Operational Excellence and Brand Reputation 

• Adapt to change and adhere to Target strategy, direction and business goals
• Continually focus on and demonstrate commitment to concepts of value creation through COQ/Lean/Six Sigma/efficiency
• Ensure transparency and adherence to escalation process when required
• Demonstrate the highest level of ethics; make ethics a mantra for Target and supply chain
• Escalate critical issues concerning ethics, through the proper channels
• Provide ongoing support to PSQA HQ and PSQA QMS Team for continuous improvement, issue resolution and problem solving
• Support HQ through product investigations and activate on guest data analysis appropriately.
• Investigate quality issues, ensure effectiveness of CAPA and validate vendor/factories are driving toward continuous improvement.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor degree in engineering
• Technical disciplines equivalent in retail compliance and manufacturing
• Quality management, raw material, product, and manufacturing industry experience/knowledge
• Minimum 6–9 years’ experience in Apparel, Home, Hardlines, or similar industries (e.g., production engineering, consumer goods) 
• Solid background in quality and technical/engineering perspective
• Expert in quality assurance processes, procedures and tools
• knowledge of US regulatory and safety requirements
• Experienced in line setup
• Excellent communication skills and strong interpersonal skills
• Collaborative focus and ability to work successfully across functional areas
• Language: fluent in English and local language
• Working Knowledge of Technology, Data and analytics including Microsoft windows and Office software applications
• Knowledge of Statistical analysis
• Knowledge of quality tools RCA/Fishbone/Lean/Six Sigma/Industrial Engineering.
• Experience in retail purchasing operations or support (Sourcing, procurement, QA, development, etc.)
• Certified Quality Engineer
• Six Sigma or Lean certified preferred
• Experienced in project management preferred.