Vera Mitic
HEAD OF QUALITY | SENIOR QUALITY MANAGER | QMS & AUDIT LEADERSHIP Heavy Industry •Steel And Refractory Material Manufacturing • ISO 9001 • Multi-Site Operations Europe & United States
Cincinnati, OH
Summary
Senior Quality and QMS leader with 20+ years of experience across heavy industry, steel, and refractory manufacturing in Europe and the United States. Proven track record in leading ISO 9001–certified quality systems, audit readiness, and cross-functional quality improvement in safety-critical, high-risk environments.
Recognized for stabilizing quality performance, reducing customer complaints and non-conforming material, and strengthening governance across multi-site operations. Trusted partner to operations, engineering, supply chain, and leadership teams to protect business continuity, compliance, and customer confidence.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Quality & Operational Excellence Manager
United Refractories
Cincinnati, OHIO
02.2020 - Current
- Led quality governance and ISO 9001 QMS across multi-site refractory manufacturing operations; Owned internal and external audit readiness, maintaining certification status and strengthening compliance culture across operations.
- Full Quality Ownership: Held total technical responsibility for monolithic refractories and precast shapes, serving as the final release authority.
- Cost Optimization: Re-engineered formulations using recycled or non-conforming materials, reducing cost while maintaining performance.
- Reduced customer complaints by 65% and non-conforming material by 45% through structured CAPA, root cause analysis, and process stabilization initiatives.
- Key Achievement (Revenue Protection): Reduced complaint frequency by 65% (from 1.89 to 0.65 per $1M revenue) for an $80M business. Key Achievement (Risk Mitigation): Reduced non-conforming material (NCM) inventory by 45%.
- Key Achievement (Expansion): Established ISO 9001 frameworks for two new production facilities from the ground up; achieving Zero-Finding ISO 9001 audits, for five consecutive Zero-Finding ISO 9001:2015 Audits
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
U.S. STEEL – GARY WORKS
Gary, INDIANA
02.2018 - 02.2020
- Soft Reduction Validation: Orchestrated metallurgical validation of the Soft Reduction System to eliminate center-line segregation
- R&D Grade Development: Led quality trials for Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) and HSLA grades to ensure metallurgical integrity Operations Management:
- Directed Etch Lab operations, technician scheduling, and enforcement of "Zero-Harm" safety protocols
- Regulatory Oversight: Conducted daily operational audits to ensure 100% readiness for corporate and industry standards.
Facility Manager Quality Assurance
HARBISON WALKER INTERNATIONAL
Gary, INDIANA
01.2017 - 01.2018
- Strategic Risk Architecture: Engineered a corporate-recognized Risk Management Program and executed process-based SOPs.
- ISO 9001 Leadership: Served as a Certified Internal Auditor, ensuring 100% systemic compliance and audit readiness.
- CAPA & Recovery: Developed Corrective and Preventive Actions to resolve customer complaints and systemic process deviations.
- Operational Excellence: Integrated Lean Six Sigma practices (5S, Visual Management) into daily plant operations to remove waste.
- Key Achievement: Resolved critical ladle lip casting issues, generating $65,000 in direct annual savings.
- Key Achievement: Developed a risk-assessment framework adopted as a "Corporate-Recognized standard
Operations & Refractory Manager
U.S. STEEL SERBIA
Smederevo, Podunavlje
06.2005 - 02.2015
- Managed refractory operations within large-scale steel production, overseeing people, suppliers, safety, and operational performance.
- Accountable for refractory reliability in continuous 24/7 operations, where failures directly impacted production continuity and safety
- P&L Management: Directed multi-million dollar refractory budgets; achieved a 15% reduction in TCO via strategic supplier re-alignment.
- Failure Elimination: Eradicated hot metal ladle breakouts (reduced from 10 to 0.5/year) via innovative refractory redesign.
- Safety Excellence: Achieved an 83% reduction in recordable injuries by embedding a behavior-based safety culture.
- Asset Extension: Increased hot metal ladle service life by 11% while reducing repair material consumption by 5%.
Education
Master of Science - Chemistry
University of Belgrade
University Of Belgrade 04.2001 -
Bachelor of Science - R&D Chemistry
University of Belgrade
University Of Belgrade 04.2001 -
Skills
- Executive Leadership: Multi-Site ISO 9001:2015 Governance, Strategic Risk Mitigation, Operational Excellence (OpEx), Change Management
- Business Intelligence: Revenue Protection Strategies, Predictive Quality, KPI Tracking, Data-Driven Decision Making
- Technical Authority: Refractory Material Technology and testing (Monolithics/Precast), Steelmaking & Blast Furnace Operations, Advanced RCA, CAPA, FMEA
- Operational Excellence: Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma (DMAIC), Waste Reduction, ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System -Greenfield implementation
Certification
Green Belt Six Sigma
Timeline
Quality & Operational Excellence Manager
United Refractories
02.2020 - Current
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
U.S. STEEL – GARY WORKS
02.2018 - 02.2020
Facility Manager Quality Assurance
HARBISON WALKER INTERNATIONAL
01.2017 - 01.2018
Operations & Refractory Manager
U.S. STEEL SERBIA
06.2005 - 02.2015
Master of Science - Chemistry
University of Belgrade
04.2001 -
Bachelor of Science - R&D Chemistry
University of Belgrade
04.2001 -