Quality Assurance Lead (Senior Manager)

About the role

The Quality Assurance Lead (Senior Manager) establishes, standardizes and leads end-to-end quality assurance across product development, vendor management, in-house production, laboratory testing and warehousing. The role develops product-specific quality standards, implements inspection and testing protocols, strengthens supplier quality performance and drives continuous improvement through data-driven analysis, root-cause identification and corrective actions.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and implement product-specific quality standards, specifications, inspection criteria, AQL parameters, defect classifications and quality benchmarks.
• Set vendor qualification criteria, run supplier quality assessments and audits, monitor vendor performance and run CAPA and vendor quality scorecards.
• Oversee raw material inspections, in-process controls, finished goods inspections, defect identification, root-cause analysis and quality documentation.
• Define testing requirements, standardize laboratory protocols, set sampling methods and testing plans, and use test results for product approval and vendor decisions.
• Ensure quality checks at receiving and pre-dispatch, maintain storage controls, identify damaged goods and strengthen checks between warehouses and retail stores.
• Build centralized quality reporting, KPIs, dashboards and scorecards, track defect trends and corrective actions, and report quality performance to management.
• Identify quality gaps, improve SOPs and work with cross-functional teams to improve product consistency and efficiency.

Required profile

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Quality Management, Industrial Engineering or a related field.
• 8-10 years of relevant experience in Quality Assurance or Quality Management, preferably in footwear, fashion or retail.
• Proven experience developing quality standards and managing quality processes across multiple operational stages.
• Demonstrated ability to improve supplier performance, reduce product defects and establish quality governance.

Required skills

• Quality Assurance, Quality Control and quality management systems.
• Supplier quality management, audits and CAPA implementation.
• AQL, sampling techniques, laboratory testing and inspection methodologies.
• Analytical, problem-solving and root-cause analysis skills.
• Quality reporting, KPI dashboards and performance monitoring.
• Leadership, communication and cross-functional coordination.