Job Description

COMPANY BACKGROUND/CULTURE

Woodward is a publicly traded company that designs, manufactures, and services energy control and optimization solutions with two core lines of business – Aerospace and Industrial - generating 60% and 40% of revenues, respectively. Woodward employs approximately 8,800 staff across 42 facilities in 13 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Aerospace Segment

Woodward’s Aerospace systems and components optimize the performance of fixed wing and rotorcraft platforms in commercial, business and military aircraft, missiles, weapons and space, ground vehicles, and other equipment. The company’s key focus areas within this market are propulsion and combustion control solutions for turbine powered aircraft; and fluid and motion control solutions for critical aerospace and defense applications.

Woodward has significant content on a wide variety of commercial aircraft, rotorcraft, and business jet platforms, such as the Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, 787, Bell 429, and Bombardier 7500. Woodward also has significant content on defense applications such as Blackhawk and Apache helicopters, F-35 and F-15 fighter jets, and smart defense weapons. Revenues from the Aerospace segment are generated by sales to OEMs, tier-one suppliers, and prime contractors, and through aftermarket sales of components, such as provisioning spares or replacements.

Major Customers

Sales to Woodward’s five largest customers represented approximately 35% of its consolidated net sales for the 2024 fiscal year. Woodward had no customers who accounted for approximately 10% or more of its consolidated net sales for the 2024 fiscal year.

The customers who account for approximately 10% or more of net sales of Woodward’s Aerospace segment for the 2024 fiscal year are RTX Corporation and The Boeing Company.

Core Values

• Integrity -Do the right thing. Always.
• Respectful & Accountable -Hold each other in high esteem and hold each other to high standards.
• Humble & Driven -Be confident but not arrogant. Always be striving for better.

Woodward’s leadership team is dedicated to exemplifying the principles of the Constitution and fostering an environment that promotes its values.

Woodward is committed to holding itself accountable to the highest standards of ethical conduct, striving to live its core values every day, whether interacting with its customers, suppliers, or colleagues, making business decisions, or otherwise engaging in activities affecting its stakeholders.

Demonstrating these values on a daily basis will ensure Woodward continues to build trust, foster meaningful relationships, drive sustainable results for its customers and shareholders, and provide a great workplace for all its members.

The Recruitment Need

Woodward has a critical need in its Aerospace segment for a Director, Quality to lead the Actuation and Controls business unit. The Actuation and Controls business unit employs over 2,000 personnel across Bulgaria, Canada, and Poland, and designs, manufactures, and repairs a broad portfolio of products for commercial and military applications.

Given the importance of this role, it is imperative that the new Director, Quality be a high-performing leader who can motivate, coach and mentor the Actuation and Controls quality team on the collective journey to “raise the bar”. The Director, Quality will possess the capability and potential to stand for succession and/or rotation into other key positions at the company over time.

Director, quality - KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Vice President, Quality of the Aerospace Segment, The Director, Quality holds functional oversight for the quality department of the Actuation and Controls business unit.

S/He should also serve as the chief talent steward for the quality function of the Actuation and Controls business unit, ensuring that it attracts, retains, and motivates its talent to deliver on its current and future business needs. The Director, Quality also plays a key role in nurturing and evolving Woodward’s high-performance organizational culture as well as adherence to its corporate values.

The position is based in Niles, Illinois, with some domestic and international travel as per the nature and requirements of the role. The successful candidate is expected to relocate to the area within a reasonable time period.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Accountable for the coordination and integration of quality assurance processes and procedures in the following areas: Government and Regulatory compliance (ISO,AS,TS, FAA, DCMA), Customer Quality Compliance, and internal quality procedural compliance .
• Establishes and executes site or regional level strategic quality plan to meet business objectives and customer expectations. Supports group level strategic quality plan .
• Develops and holds staff accountable for quality metrics that enable evaluations of progress to the site strategic plan and goals.
• Represents Woodward primarily from the site level or regional level to customers , potential customers, regulatory bodies through presentation and communication of the Quality Management System “QMS” and quality strategies to meet or exceed customer expectations.
• Develop and maintain an appropriate site quality organization to support the successful adherence to the QMS and the transformation process enterprise wide. Accountable to manage quality resources to meet the financial plan.
• Accountable for effective Root Cause and Corrective Action within the site for customer escapes and ensures an effective internal and external corrective action process (timely and effective closures of Corrective Action Requests-CAR's).
• Other duties and projects as assigned by the Vice President, Quality.

YEAR ONE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

• Effectively build the capabilities and bench strength of the Actuation and Controls quality department.
• Develop and deploy a strategy to determine the most effective way to utilize and enhance the Quality Management System.
• Establish himself/herself as an approachable and collaborative quality leader within the Actuation and Controls business unit.
• Integrate effectively into the Actuation and Controls business unit and Woodward culture.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 10+ years quality and/or operations leadership in a manufacturing environment
• Strong experience with APQP and process capability improvement required
• Strong experience with PPAP and supplier quality
• Solid fundamental understanding of: QMS; Processes approach; ISO, AS and TS; APQP, LEAN principles, Six Sigma tools and methodologies, other continuous improvement methods to support lean order fulfillment processes.
• Thorough knowledge of statistical concepts and methods to ensure appropriate application and analysis of data, with strong ability to analyze issues, solve problems and develop others to do the same.
• Ability to collaborate, develop and integrate site or regional strategies for quality performance and continuous improvement.
• Solid collaboration and influencing skills with peers and leaders across the site and as needed across the enterprise.
• Supports the improvement of processes across the group and on a per project basis at the One Woodward level.
• Must be able to travel to customer and other Woodward sites, domestic and international.
• An unblemished record as related to his or her ethical integrity and that of the organizations s/he has served.
• Brings strong functional breadth , having led or worked across key relevant functions such as engineering/technology, supply chain, and operations.
• Strong leadership experience, having led comparably sized workforces similar to that of the Actuation and Controls quality department.
• An undergraduate degree in engineering, business, finance, or another relevant area from a well-respected school.

Ideal Personal Profile

• A visible, dynamic, engaged, and inspiring leader who is “out and about” in his/her organization going to where the work is done performing gemba walks.
• Brings the key attributes consistent with Woodward culture :
• Results-oriented
• Team-oriented
• Collaborative
• Inclusive
• Hands-on.
• An effective communicator with highly effective written and verbal communication skills and the ability to effectively convey strategic imperatives to motivate and align employee behaviors and actions.
• Persuasive with good negotiation and influence skills . Effective at persuading others to change their minds or behaviors. This is particularly important for this role as success will be influenced by the job holder’s ability to partner and persuade the Santa Clarita site to rally behind a common cause or goals.
• A confident, resilient, grounded leader able to handle challenging situations comfortably and calmly.
• Couples strategic orientation with a strong focus on execution and results , with demonstrated skills at delivering performance.
• Holds him/herself and his/her teams accountable for results .
• Very strong and well-developed people leadership and people development skills , with an ability to inspire and motivate staff .
• An effective team builder and leader who is inclusive and collaborative and has consistently led teams to deliver on common goals.
• A magnet for talent who has consistently attracted and developed top talent.

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