Director, Quality Assurance

ABOUT AWAY We believe travel makes us better. Launched in 2016 with one perfectly designed carry-on, we now offer a range of luggage and travel essentials for every journey. Together we create, innovate, and embark on this journey as a community of travelers, helping to make travel more seamless for everyone. JOIN THE CREW We are hiring a Director of Quality Assurance to lead our Quality team. This role reports to the Head of Operations and takes Away further by owning the strategic roadmap to optimize our global supply chain. We are looking for a strategic cross-functional partner who can advocate for Quality throughout the organization while prioritizing cost optimization and the post-purchase customer experience. In this role, you will architect the digital infrastructure and customer DIY solutions that define the next era of Away. WHAT YOU’LL DO AS THE DIRECTOR OF QUALITY ASSURANCE - Supply Chain Transformation & AI Ownership - You’ll own the evolution of Quality at Away, building a proactive, tech-enabled model that optimizes the entire global supply chain - You’ll identify and champion solutions that bridge the gap between our US-based design vision and Asia-based manufacturing reality - You’ll enable supply chain systems that provide real-time visibility into factory performance, ensuring data drives our manufacturing decisions and are proactive vs reactive - Engineering Innovation & Tooling Strategy - You’ll lead global manufacturing innovation, driving the strategy for equipment, tooling, and retooling with an uncompromising eye on innovation and newness - You’ll design and govern technical excellence standards for our global factory partners, ensuring manufacturing infrastructure is capable of executing Away’s complex product roadmap - You’ll manage the routine testing program, serving as the primary escalation point for quality issues and partnering with US and Asia-based leadership on supplier strategy - You’ll modernize manufacturing capabilities by identifying where manual processes create quality bottlenecks, advocating for targeted automation or tooling upgrades that improve precision and scalability - You’ll partner with global Product Development leadership to direct supplier engagements, ensuring quality benchmarks are met from early-stage development through mass production - Cost Optimization & Value Engineering - You’ll architect and execute a comprehensive 'Cost of Quality' roadmap, leveraging value engineering and predictive testing to optimize the total cost of ownership and drive measurable margin improvements - You’ll revolutionize the Post-Purchase Ecosystem by developing DIY kits and modular product designs that lower return rates, improve customer experience, and reduce environmental impact - You’ll actively seek out product quality improvements to reduce product-related warranty claims, improving repairability of existing and upcoming products, and improving overall customer experience related to product quality - You’ll lead the integration of AI-driven analytics into the product lifecycle, transforming post-purchase data into automated feedback loops that inform future product design and sourcing strategies WHO YOU ARE - You have a minimum of 10 years of experience in Quality leadership with a deep technical background in engineering, with a proven track record of scaling global QMS and modernizing them through technology and data-led innovation - You possess deep expertise in raw materials and finished goods engineering, with an understanding of the "how" of equipment tooling and retooling - You have the leadership presence and no-ego collaborative style required to advocate for quality standards across the organization - You are passionate about cost optimization and value engineering, constantly keeping an eye on ways to reduce warranty claims that improve the customer experience - You are autonomous and capable of pivoting global strategies or halting production in response to quality risks