Guided Search Partners (GSP)
Guided Search Partners is an Executive Search firm built on Trust, Transparency, Specialization, and Long-term Relationships.
We connect high-performing professionals with organizations that value people, performance, and growth, helping leaders find roles where they can make an impact and build meaningful careers.

About the Opportunity
We’re supporting a search for a Sustaining Quality Manager with a plastics manufacturing organization in Vermont. This role will lead manufacturing quality across silicone, plastics, and clean-room operations. The focus is on strengthening execution, aligning quality practices across two facilities, improving customer satisfaction, reducing complaints, and ensuring existing products and manufacturing processes consistently meet quality, regulatory, and customer requirements.

What You’ll Do
You’ll lead sustaining and manufacturing quality activity with a focus on production performance, customer communication, process discipline, and continuous improvement.

Key areas of focus include:

• Lead quality activity across silicone, plastics, and clean-room operations
• Manage and develop quality supervisors and team members
• Strengthen manufacturing quality processes and execution
• Align quality practices across two facilities
• Ensure production teams understand and follow the quality system
• Work directly with customers on quality concerns and changes
• Manage field complaints and customer issues
• Mediate challenging customer situations with calm, professional communication
• Protect production teams by managing direct customer communication
• Improve customer satisfaction and reduce recurring complaints
• Support nonconformance reduction and CAPA effectiveness
• Maintain quality performance for existing products and manufacturing processes
• Support process validation maintenance
• Support supplier quality and regulatory compliance
• Partner with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Program Management, Regulatory Affairs, and customers
• Ensure products meet quality, regulatory, and customer requirements
• Drive process improvements and strengthen accountability for shipped products

Who You Are
You are a production-oriented quality leader who knows how to bring structure, discipline, and calm to a manufacturing environment.

You can work directly with demanding customers, manage change, resolve complaints, and communicate professionally under pressure. You understand that execution is central to this role and take ownership of product quality through shipment.

You would do well here if you bring emotional intelligence, strong customer communication, and the ability to help teams return to consistent quality fundamentals.

Preferred Experience & Attributes
• Manufacturing quality leadership experience
• Plastics manufacturing experience strongly preferred
• Medical manufacturing experience strongly preferred
• Experience supporting clean-room manufacturing is a plus
• Experience managing customer changes and field complaints
• Strong customer-facing communication skills
• Ability to remain calm under pressure
• Strong emotional intelligence and mediation skills
• Experience improving quality processes and reducing complaints
• Understanding of quality systems and regulatory requirements
• Experience in both larger organizations and job-shop environments is beneficial
• Production-focused approach to quality improvement
• Strong professional written and verbal communication skills

Why This Role Matters
This role will help strengthen manufacturing quality, align practices across facilities, improve customer confidence, and reduce complaints. The Sustaining Quality Manager will bring quality execution back to the fundamentals: following established processes, producing conforming parts, and taking ownership of product quality before shipment.