Assistant Quality Manager
- Full-time
- Department: Operations
- Location: Harlow
Company Description
To be the leading producer of glass bottles and jars worldwide you need passion, commitment and innovation baked into the very fabric of a business and its people. For more than 120 years, our glass makers have honed their craft—channelling their creativity into more than 1,800 patents held today. When you join O-I you become part of that story.
O-I has more than a century of experience crafting pure, sustainable, brand-building glass packaging for many of the world’s best-known food and beverage brands. We are proud to provide high quality glass packaging for beer, wine, spirits, food, non-alcoholic beverages, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. We are dedicated to make what matters to shape a healthier, more sustainable and more exciting world. We transform the industry to make glass more relevant and more accessible to more people.
Job Description
**Key Responsibilities:**
- Support the Quality Manager in improving all internal and external plant assurance of quality systems and in developing the plant's quality plan to help create and maintain a customer-focused organization
- Provide foundational understanding and functionality of the plant's quality assurance processes and systems
- Assist in setting, monitoring, and maintaining quality objectives to ensure plant goals are being met; identify appropriate tasks and schedule required training to accomplish continuous improvement initiatives
- Organize and analyze customer satisfaction data based upon product and service performance to identify trends and improvement opportunities
- Work directly with all departments on quality issues, preventative actions, and corrective actions to drive systemic improvements
- Facilitate problem-solving activities through Total Quality Management (TQM), team building, and quality systems tools and methods; work with line and process supervisors to identify negative quality trends and repetitive defects
- Serve as a customer liaison by making customer visits as appropriate and assisting in the implementation of customer quality management systems
- Investigate customer complaints under the direction of the QA Manager and work with appropriate management to develop and implement effective resolutions
- Prepare customer complaint responses and maintain comprehensive databases on all customer complaints for trend analysis and reporting
- Develop technical expertise in problem identification across key areas including glass properties, bottle design and attributes, line and handling requirements, carton specifications, customer processing, and fracture analysis
- Collaborate with plant management to develop and document standard operating procedures (SOPs) that support quality objectives
- Support quality audits and assist in maintaining compliance with relevant quality standards and regulatory requirements
- Track and report on quality metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor process performance and identify improvement opportunities
- Participate in root cause analysis activities and lead or support process improvement projects to enhance operational efficiency and product quality
Qualifications
**Required Qualifications:**
- Minimum of 5 years' experience in a quality assurance or quality management role, preferably within a glass manufacturing environment
- ISO 9001 auditor certification or equivalent quality management systems qualification
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as SAP
- Strong knowledge of quality management principles, Total Quality Management (TQM) methodologies, and continuous improvement frameworks
- Demonstrated experience with root cause analysis, corrective action, and preventative action (CAPA) processes
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to prepare clear technical documentation and customer correspondence
**Preferred Qualifications:**
- Additional certifications in quality management (Six Sigma, Lean, or ASQ certifications)
- Experience conducting internal and external quality audits
- Familiarity with glass manufacturing processes, including knowledge of glass properties, bottle design specifications, and fracture analysis
- Proven experience in customer complaint investigation and resolution
- Background in data analysis and statistical process control (SPC)
- Experience leading or supporting process improvement projects and cross-functional problem-solving initiatives
- Knowledge of relevant regulatory requirements and industry quality standards
Additional Information
We offer:
- Employer contribution pension plan (up to 11% contributions)
- Life Assurance benefit - 4 x Base Salary
- Company Sick Pay
- Performance based Bonus plan 8% of base salary
- Attractive Holiday Allowance
- Employee Assistance Programme including free benefits for employees, partners and dependants such as counselling sessions and legal advice.
- Supportive teams to help you grow and learn new skills
Next Steps:
If you are smart, passionate, innovative, culturally open, curious and collaborative, we’d like to hear from you.
O-I is committed to fostering an inclusive environment that attracts and embraces the brightest minds and creates a culture that welcomes a diversity of ideas and perspectives while encouraging growth and rewarding performance. Apply today!
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.