Overview
Senior Manager of Quality Assurance Jobs in Maryland, United States at National Fenestration Rating Council
Title: Senior Manager of Quality Assurance
Company: National Fenestration Rating Council
Location: Maryland, United States
NFRC is an ISO/IEC 17065-accredited product certification body serving the fenestration industry. The Senior Manager of Quality Assurance leads the function that protects the integrity of NFRC's certification program, from accreditation maintenance to internal audit to oversight of licensed participants. This is a leadership role. The person in this seat owns NFRC's relationship with its accreditation body, sets direction for the Quality Management System, and advises the CEO and executive team on compliance risk. They operate independently from program operations, challenge assumptions across the organization without breaking trust, and are trusted to make judgment calls where standards, business realities, and participant behavior meet. This is not a manufacturing QA role and it is not a documentation role.
Core Responsibilities
ISO/IEC 17065 Accreditation Leadership
- Own NFRC's ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation end-to-end, including the relationship with our accreditation body.
- Lead readiness for surveillance audits, reaccreditation cycles, and scope extensions.
- Serve as the primary interface with external auditors, accreditation body assessors, and regulatory contacts.
- Ensure impartiality safeguards, competence management, and certification decision integrity meet 17065 requirements.
- Partner with legal counsel on participant license agreements, complaints and appeals, fraud and copyright matters, and anything else that challenges NFRC's reputation or the integrity of its certification decisions.
Quality Management System Ownership
- Lead the QMS as a working system, not a binder of SOPs. Set the multi-year roadmap for QMS maturity.
- Drive SOP development, document control, and training compliance across certification programs.
- Define and report the metrics that matter: certification error rates, impartiality risk indicators, audit findings, corrective action closure time, and competence evaluation outcomes.
- Evolve the QMS as NFRC's programs (PCP, FenStar, CTA) and underlying systems (PCMS, CPD) change.
Internal Audit & Process Control
- Run a structured internal audit program across certification workflows, documentation, and system records.
- Identify gaps, flag deviations, and drive corrective and preventive actions to closure with program leads.
- Enforce version control, change management, and SOP compliance across certification processes.
- Use audit findings to inform training, SOP revisions, and systems changes rather than filing them away.
Cross-Functional Accountability
- Partner with the CTO and CPO to make sure systems and workflows meet 17065 requirements by design, not by retrofit.
- Operate independently from program operations to maintain objectivity, and serve as a check-and-balance against process drift.
- Challenge assumptions across departments and seniority levels with evidence and a path to resolution.
Reporting & Governance
- Report directly to the CEO on quality performance, audit outcomes, accreditation status, and risk areas.
- Prepare executive and Board-facing updates and dashboards on QMS health and audit readiness.
- Escalate unresolved compliance issues with a recommended course of action.
Qualifications
Required Experience
- 10+ years in quality assurance, audit, or compliance, with at least 5 years inside a certification body, testing laboratory, or other conformity assessment organization.
- Hands-on experience leading ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation. Experience with 17025 or 17020 is a plus but does not substitute for 17065.
- Demonstrated experience as the primary interface with an accreditation body (ANAB, IAS, A2LA, or equivalent).
- Track record leading internal audit programs in a certification body or conformity assessment context.
Education & Certifications
- Bachelor's degree required.
- Lead Auditor certification (ISO/IEC 17065 preferred), CQE, or equivalent strongly preferred.
Core Competencies
- Leadership presence. Able to enforce standards without becoming the person the rest of the organization works around.
- Strong independence and professional integrity.
- Clear, direct communication. Can push back on the CEO, a peer executive, and a licensee with equal composure.
- Fluent in the language of conformity assessment: impartiality, competence, certification decisions, scheme management, complaints and appeals.
- Process analysis, documentation, and change control applied to certification workflows specifically.
- Exceptionally organized, detail-driven, and deadline-focused, without losing the forest for the trees.
- Demonstrated ability to build and lead a Quality Assurance program.
Additional Requirements
- Authorized to work in the U.S.
- Travel as required for audits, accreditation activities, and inspections.
- Familiarity with the fenestration industry or building products sector is a plus but not required.
