Product Quality Leader- NPD & Change MGMT

Why Work at Rehlko

Our work is guided by our purpose: creating an energy-resilient world for a better future. This purpose embodies the legacy we bring, with more than 100 years as the global leader in energy resilience, delivering solutions critical to sustain and improve life.

Our teams have the opportunity to provide a critical resource – energy – that ensures safety, security, and independence for people around the world. Our team members are focused on pushing boundaries, continuing to innovate in an ever-changing landscape, and keeping up with the pace required to create solutions for today’s world demands.

Our product range includes engines, generators, power conversion, UPS systems, EV components and electrification solutions, microgrid controls and management, and clean energy solutions that serve a broad spectrum of OEM, residential, industrial, and commercial customers. At Rehlko, you have the freedom to identify, create, and deliver solutions – large and small – that help people and communities thrive in the moments that matter.

At Rehlko, our team members are the essential energy that powers our organization’s success. We are committed to fostering a safe and sustainable work environment where safety is everyone’s responsibility. We empower every team member to actively participate in our Zero Is Possible safety culture by encouraging open communication, proactively reporting hazards, following protocols, and suggesting improvements. Join us in creating an energy resilient world for a better future!

What We Offer

At Rehlko, our Total Rewards programs are designed to accelerate growth, energize performance, and support a culture of inclusion at every stage of life and work. We offer total rewards that are easily understood, recognize results, enable career mobility, and reflect our commitment to valuing diverse needs in a fast-moving world. We provide:

Competitive compensation and benefits

Work-life flexibility

Recognition and rewards

Development and career opportunities

A safe and inclusive workplace

Why You Will Love this Job

The Product Quality Leader – NPD & Change Management manages and owns quality performance for new product development projects, safe launches, VAVE/cost-out initiatives, and product/process change management. This role serves as the primary quality leader for launch readiness, change control, validation, customer protection, and early production stability.

This role also owns quality performance for all non-top strategic customers and partners with engineering, manufacturing, supplier quality, service, product management, and operations to identify risks, contain issues, drive corrective action, improve launch execution, strengthen PFMEAs and control plans, reduce customer escapes, and lower Cost of Poor Quality.

Specific Responsibilities

New Product Development, Product Readiness, & Safe Launch

• •Support new product development projects by ensuring quality requirements, validation activities, manufacturability expectations, and customer protection plans are defined and executed.
• •Lead launch quality readiness activities, including launch control plans, inspection strategy, containment requirements, entry criteria, exit criteria, and post-launch monitoring.
• •Monitor launch performance through FPY, defect trends, customer escapes, containment results, test failures, early warranty indicators, and defect pareto reduction.
• •Drive immediate containment, root cause analysis, corrective action, and escalation when launch defects, readiness gaps, or customer risks are identified.
• •Ensure product and process risks are reviewed and controlled prior to production release, with verified corrective actions and objective evidence required before safe launch exit.
• •Apply post-launch lessons learned from warranty, field failures, customer complaints, manufacturing defects, and launch performance to strengthen future product and process designs

VAVE & Change Management

• •Lead quality review and validation for VAVE, cost-out, design change, and process change initiatives.
• •Ensure changes are not released without risk review, validation evidence, updated documentation, training, inspection requirements, and process control verification.
• •Partner with engineering, manufacturing engineering, supplier quality, and operations to confirm changes are controlled before implementation.
• •Drive post-change monitoring to verify changes do not create customer escapes, rework, warranty exposure, process instability, or hidden COPQ.

Customer & Product Quality

• •Manage product quality performance for all non-top strategic customers, maintaining accountability for customer escapes, chronic issues, warranty trends, and reliability performance.
• •Identify and prioritize product and customer risks using manufacturing data, field feedback, warranty data, test results, and performance indicators.
• •Lead containment and mitigation actions to protect customers and minimize operational and business impact.
• •Support customer communication and issue resolution with clear status, ownership, timing, and corrective action follow-up.

Manufacturing Quality Support & Continuous Improvement

• •Partner with manufacturing operations to improve First Pass Yield, reduce quality holds, eliminate rework, and improve launch and change-related process performance.
• •Ensure in-process controls, inspection strategies, verification methods, final test requirements, PFMEAs, control plans, work instructions, quality alerts, and inspection requirements are current, aligned, and consistently executed.
• •Analyze quality-related losses and use data-driven methods to prioritize actions that reduce scrap, rework, test failures, warranty cost, customer complaints, and change-related defects.
• •Lead structured problem-solving and corrective actions that strengthen process controls, layered process discipline, launch readiness, and prevention of repeat issues.

Education and Experience Requirements

• •Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Operations, Process Management, or related field.
• •Minimum of 5 years of experience in manufacturing, quality, reliability, operations, product launch, or change management.
• •Proven experience supporting NPD, safe launch, production validation, VAVE/cost-out, or product/process change implementation.
• •Working knowledge of PFMEA, control plans, inspection methods, corrective action, APQP principles, risk mitigation, and continuous improvement.
• •Demonstrated ability to prioritize work, influence cross-functional teams, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• •Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• •Experience with AIAG APQP, PFMEA, control plan, PPAP, MSA, and capability study principles.
• •Experience supporting engine, mechanical, electrical, or complex assembly manufacturing.
• •Experience with safe launch, early production containment, customer protection plans, or launch readiness reviews.
• •Background in cost of poor quality (COPQ) reduction, warranty analysis, and reliability improvement.
• •SAP Experience

The Salary range for this position is $89,800.00-$114,100.00.The specific Salary rate offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including the candidate’s experience, their education, and the work location.

About Us

Rehlko proudly offers a rich history steeped in creativity and commitment to our associates and communities, along with competitive benefits and compensation. Our Purpose—Creating an energy resilient world for a better future—and Values: Curiosity, Trust, Pace, and Excellence, are important cultural components that shape the way we work and relate to one another. Learn more about Rehlko at http://www.rehlko.com/who-we-are .

In addition to the investment in your development, Rehlko offers a benefits package including a competitive salary, health, vision, dental, 401(k) with Rehlko matching, and mor