ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:Manufacturing Quality Leadership- Lead all day-to-day quality activities supporting battery cell manufacturing operations.
- Develop and execute the plant quality strategy in alignment with ONE's manufacturing and business objectives.
- Establish clear quality standards, controls, inspection requirements, and escalation processes throughout the manufacturing process.
- Maintain a strong floor presence and partner directly with production leadership to identify and resolve quality issues.
- Ensure quality requirements are integrated into production processes, work instructions, control plans, and manufacturing standards.
- Provide quality leadership during production ramp-up, equipment commissioning, process changes, and new product introductions.
- Establish appropriate quality coverage and support for plant operating schedules.
Process & Product Quality- Monitor and improve critical-to-quality characteristics throughout the cell manufacturing process.
- Establish and maintain appropriate process controls, inspection plans, sampling plans, control plans, and acceptance criteria.
- Lead investigations involving process deviations, defects, yield losses, scrap, rework, and product nonconformance.
- Partner with Manufacturing and Process Engineering to improve process capability and reduce manufacturing variation.
- Utilize statistical methods to identify trends and prevent quality escapes.
- Drive improvements in first-pass yield, scrap, defect rates, process capability, and overall manufacturing quality performance.
- Ensure product traceability and appropriate disposition of suspect or nonconforming materials.
Nonconformance, Root Cause & Corrective Action- Own or oversee the plant nonconforming material process.
- Lead containment activities when significant quality issues are identified.
- Ensure timely and effective disposition of nonconforming materials.
- Lead structured root cause investigations using methodologies such as:
- 8D
- 5 Why
- Fishbone/Ishikawa
- Fault Tree Analysis
- DMAIC
- Develop and verify corrective and preventive actions.
- Ensure corrective actions address systemic causes rather than symptoms.
- Track corrective actions through closure and verify effectiveness.
Quality Systems- Support implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of ONE's Quality Management System.
- Ensure plant quality processes comply with applicable internal standards, customer requirements, and regulatory requirements.
- Support compliance with ISO 9001 and, where applicable, automotive quality requirements including IATF 16949.
- Develop, maintain, and improve quality procedures, work instructions, forms, records, and control plans.
- Support internal, customer, certification, and regulatory audits.
- Lead corrective actions resulting from audit findings.
- Ensure appropriate document control and quality record retention.
Advanced Quality & Manufacturing Readiness- Participate in APQP activities supporting new products and manufacturing processes.
- Lead or support development and maintenance of:
- PFMEAs
- Control Plans
- Process Flow Diagrams
- Measurement System Analysis (MSA)
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Process Capability Studies
- PPAP documentation, when applicable
- Participate in manufacturing readiness reviews and process validation activities.
- Ensure quality risks are identified and mitigated before production launch or significant process changes.
Supplier & Incoming Quality- Partner with Supplier Quality and Supply Chain to establish incoming material quality requirements.
- Monitor incoming material performance and supplier-related quality trends.
- Lead plant containment activities associated with supplier defects.
- Support supplier corrective action requests and verification of corrective actions.
- Ensure suspect supplier material is appropriately identified, segregated, controlled, and dispositioned.
- Provide manufacturing data and technical analysis to support supplier quality improvement efforts.
Measurement, Inspection & Laboratory Controls- Ensure appropriate inspection and test methods are established for critical product and process characteristics.
- Support management of measurement equipment, calibration systems, and gauge controls.
- Ensure measurement systems are capable, repeatable, and appropriate for their intended use.
- Partner with laboratory and engineering teams regarding material characterization, cell testing, failure analysis, and product validation.
- Ensure inspection and testing results are appropriately documented and traceable.
Quality Metrics & Continuous ImprovementDevelop, monitor, and report plant quality KPIs including:
- First Pass Yield (FPY)
- Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY)
- Scrap and rework
- Defects per unit / defect rates
- Supplier defect performance
- Customer complaints and escapes
- Nonconformance aging
- Corrective action closure
- Process capability (Cp/Cpk)
- Audit findings
- Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
Analyze trends and lead cross-functional improvement initiatives based on quality performance data.
Customer Quality- Support investigation and resolution of customer quality concerns.
- Coordinate containment, root cause analysis, corrective action, and customer response activities.
- Support preparation of 8D and other formal customer quality responses.
- Ensure lessons learned from customer issues are incorporated into manufacturing processes and quality systems.
- Support customer audits, visits, and manufacturing quality reviews.
Team Leadership- Lead, coach, and develop plant Quality Engineers, Quality Technicians, Inspectors, and other assigned quality personnel.
- Establish clear expectations, responsibilities, and performance objectives.
- Develop the technical capabilities of the plant quality organization.
- Ensure appropriate quality staffing and floor coverage based on manufacturing needs.
- Build strong working relationships across Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Supply Chain, EHS, and Product Development.
- Promote a culture in which quality is owned by the entire organization rather than solely by the Quality department.
QUALIFICATIONS:Required- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Materials Science, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline
- 7+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing quality, quality engineering, or related manufacturing operations
- 3+ years of experience leading quality teams or quality functions within a manufacturing environment
- Experience in high-volume or highly automated manufacturing
- Strong working knowledge of quality systems and manufacturing quality methodologies
- Demonstrated experience with PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC, MSA, process capability, root cause analysis, and corrective action
- Experience leading complex manufacturing quality investigations
- Strong understanding of nonconforming material control and containment processes
- Demonstrated ability to analyze manufacturing data and translate findings into corrective actions
- Experience working directly with production and engineering teams in a manufacturing environment
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive accountability
Preferred- Experience in lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing
- Experience in battery, automotive, semiconductor, chemical processing, electronics, pharmaceutical, medical device, or other highly controlled manufacturing environments
- Knowledge of battery cell manufacturing processes such as mixing, coating, calendaring, slitting, electrode processing, cell assembly, electrolyte filling, formation, aging, and end-of-line testing
- Experience with ISO 9001 and/or IATF 16949 quality systems.
- Experience with APQP and PPAP
- ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, or similar certification
- Experience supporting manufacturing launches, production ramp-up, or greenfield manufacturing operations
- Experience with automated inspection, manufacturing data systems, MES, and statistical quality software
- Familiarity with battery safety, product traceability and failure analysis
