Role Purpose
The Head of Quality will lead and manage the overall quality assurance and quality control function for the organization. This role ensures that all product, process and supplier quality standards are met, drives a culture of continuous improvement, and supports business growth through defect reduction, cost optimization, compliance and customer-satisfaction.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Quality Leadership
- Define and deploy the quality vision, strategy, policies and objectives aligned with the company's business goals and growth plans (e.g., new product development, scaling production)
- Lead the roll-out of robust Quality Management Systems (QMS) (e.g., ISO 9001, IATF 16949, or relevant industry standard across manufacturing operations.
- Partner with senior leadership on setting quality KPI targets (PPM, COPQ, first-pass yield, customer complaints) and monitor performance.
- Promote a right-first-time”, zero-defect culture in all functions (production, engineering, supply chain).
Operational Quality Management
- Oversee QA/QC for raw materials, in-process manufacturing, finishing, assembly, and final goods to ensure compliance with specifications.
- Lead supplier quality management: vendor qualification, audits and performance monitoring, corrective actions for non-conformities.
- Manage internal quality audits, process audits, product audits, gap analyses, CAPA (Corrective & Preventive Action), root-cause investigations, 8D/A3 problem solving and drive implementation.
- Work closely with engineering, production & NPD teams to infuse “design for quality” (DFQ), ensure new products/manufacturing processes meet quality & reliability requirements.
- Maintain calibration, measurement & test equipment management, gauge R&R, SPC (Statistical Process Control), process capability (Cp/Cpk) tracking.
Compliance, Standards & Certifications
- Ensure compliance with regulatory, industry and customer quality requirements (for example automotive OEM norms, defence/industrial if relevant).
- Maintain and improve certifications (ISO, IATF, AS9100 or other as relevant) including leading external audits.
- Drive continuous improvement programs: Lean, Six Sigma, cost of poor quality reduction, waste elimination.
Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management
- Build, lead and develop the quality team across all shifts/plants (if multi-plant) and foster quality mindset.
- Collaborate with other functions (Production, Engineering, Procurement, Supply Chain) to ensure quality is embedded end-to-end.
- Interface with customers and suppliers on quality issues, audit responses, complaint resolution and improvement initiatives.
- Report quality status, trends, risk analyses to senior leadership and recommend corrective strategic action.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical/Industrial/Manufacturing) or equivalent. A Master’s or additional qualification in Quality/Operations is preferred.
- Typically
10-15+ years’ experience
in manufacturing quality management, with minimum 5+ years in a senior leadership role (Head/GM level) in relevant industry (automotive components, heavy engineering, electric motor/rotor/stator manufacturing). - Hands-on knowledge of quality tools & techniques (APQP, PPAP, FMEA, MSA, SPC, 8D, Root Cause Analysis) and QMS implementation.
- Experience with supplier quality management, multi-plant operations (if applicable) and managing audit/certification processes.
- Familiarity with measurement & inspection systems, calibration, gauge R&R, process capability in a manufacturing environment.
- Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder management and change-management skills.
Key Skills & Competencies
- Quality strategy development and execution
- Process and product quality assurance, manufacturing quality systems
- Supplier quality management & vendor development
- Problem solving / root cause analysis / CAPA management
- Data-driven decision making – using metrics, KPIs, statistics
- Lean/Six Sigma mindset – continuous improvement culture
- Team leadership & cross-functional collaboration
- Customer focus – understanding and fulfilling OEM/customer quality requirements
- Integrity, attention to detail, accountability
Success Metrics
- Reduction in rejection rates (internal & customer) and PPM (parts per million)
- Improvements in first-pass yield, customer complaint metrics, warranty claims
- Supplier quality improvements – reduction in vendor rejects, improvements in vendor DPU (defects per unit)
- Achievement/maintenance of certification/audit compliance with zero major non-conformities
- Time to close CAPAs and root cause effectiveness validation
- Satisfaction of internal/external stakeholders for quality performance
- Embedding of quality culture – e.g., number of process improvement initiatives, employee training in quality tools
Reporting Structure & Team
- Reports to: [CEO/MD/COO]
- Direct reports: Quality Managers / Supervisors (Plant level), QA/QC Engineers & Inspectors
- Indirect: All production, engineering, maintenance teams for quality-related processes
Work Environment & Travel
- Based at Chakan, Pune, may require travel to vendor sites, customer sites and other manufacturing locations.
- May involve multi-shift coordination and working outside standard hours during audits or issue resolution
Address
Email ID: hr@himtej.com
