Quality Manager - Cell Manufacturing Plant

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 Improvement

Develop, 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

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS & EEO: 

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. 

An individual must be able to perform the essential functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation. 

Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE) is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to disability or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.