Coherent

Director of Quality

Coherent$120K — $150K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering or a technical discipline; Master’s preferred.
  • 12+ years of quality leadership experience in a regulated manufacturing environment.
  • Experience in quality systems, auditing, and continuous improvement required.
  • Preferred background in ceramics, materials, machining, or semiconductor industries.
  • ITAR eligibility required.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the design and improvement of production processes and quality management systems.
  • Act as ISO 9001 Management Representative for audits and compliance.
  • Drive quality transformation initiatives focused on efficiency and waste elimination.
  • Establish and monitor key quality and operational performance metrics.
  • Deploy advanced quality and continuous improvement tools across the organization.
  • Lead customer-facing quality activities including complaint resolution and audits.
  • Mentor and develop the Quality organization to enhance engagement and accountability.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to lead significant quality transformation initiatives.
  • Involvement in a cross-functional collaborative environment.
  • Build strong customer and supplier relationships through impactful interactions.
  • Mentoring opportunities within the Quality organization.
  • Travel to diverse domestic and international sites for comprehensive exposure.
Full Job Description
Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

Quality Strategy & Systems
  • Lead the design, deployment, governance, and continuous improvement of production processes, business systems, and quality management systems.
  • Serve as ISO 9001 Management Representative and provide leadership for internal, external, customer, and certification audits.
  • Ensure compliance with all applicable quality standards, customer requirements, and regulatory obligations.

Operational Excellence & Performance
  • Drive enterprise-wide quality transformation initiatives focused on cost of quality reduction, waste elimination, throughput, and yield improvement.
  • Establish, monitor, and achieve key quality and operational performance metrics, including but not limited to PPM, cost of quality, nonconformities, and warranty performance in accordance with Coherent and Business Unit standards and requirements.
  • Deploy and standardize advanced quality and continuous improvement tools (SPC, FMEA, MSA, DOE, value stream analysis, Lean, Six Sigma, 6s) across the organization.

Customer & Supplier Quality
  • Lead customer-facing quality activities including complaint resolution, audits, corrective actions, and warranty management.
  • Build and maintain strong customer relationships through timely, effective, and world-class quality responses.
  • Drive supplier quality performance and partner with suppliers to resolve complex quality issues and improve capability.

Leadership & Organizational Development
  • Lead, develop, and mentor the Quality organization, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and engagement.
  • Ensure quality objectives are aligned with corporate and business unit strategic plans and integrated across Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams.

Education & Experience
  • Bachelor's degree in engineering or a technical discipline required; Master's degree preferred.
  • Minimum of 12 years of progressive experience in quality leadership within a regulated manufacturing environment, including quality systems, auditing, and continuous improvement.
  • Experience with ceramics, materials, machining, and/or semiconductor industry strongly preferred.

Skills

Strong leadership, statistical analysis, quality systems expertise, problem-solving capability, communication skills, and ability to operate in regulated manufacturing environments. Must meet ITAR eligibility requirements.

Working Conditions

Office and manufacturing environment with travel to both domestic and international manufacturing and customer sites as needed. Extended hours may be required during audits, critical business needs, and communication with Coherent sites and customers outside the Eastern US time zone.

Physical Requirements

Ability to sit, stand, walk manufacturing floors, and communicate effectively.

Safety Requirements

All employees are required to follow the site EHS procedures and Coherent Corp. Corporate EHS standards.

Quality and Environmental Responsibilities

Depending on location, this position may be responsible for the execution and maintenance of the ISO 9000, 9001, 14001 and/or other applicable standards that may apply to the relevant roles and responsibilities within the Quality Management System and Environmental Management System.

About Coherent

Coherent, Inc. is a global leader in providing laser-based solutions to a broad range of commercial and scientific research customers. The company designs, manufactures, and markets lasers, laser-based systems, precision optics, and related accessories for a diverse group of customers. Coherent's markets include scientific research, OEM components and instrumentation, microelectronics, materials processing, and life sciences. The company's products are used in a wide range of applications. Coherent was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
Learn more about Coherent
Size
5,085 employees
Market Cap
$4.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$419.7 million
Founded
1966
5 Year Trend
+27.8%
Revenue
$1.2 billion
NASDAQ

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