Quality Director

Department: Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Reports To: Executive Leadership

Employment Type: Full-Time

Location: INOX SOLAR Manufacturing Facility

Job Summary

The Director of Quality is responsible for leading and overseeing all quality assurance and quality control activities at INOX SOLAR USA. This position ensures that solar modules, manufacturing processes, raw materials, and finished products meet established quality standards, customer requirements, applicable regulatory requirements, and company specifications.

The Quality Director develops and implements quality management systems, drives continuous improvement initiatives, leads quality investigations, and partners with Production, Engineering, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and executive leadership to reduce defects, improve product reliability, and maintain consistent manufacturing performance.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Quality Leadership and Strategy

• Develop and implement the company's overall quality strategy, objectives, policies, and procedures.

• Establish quality performance metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and departmental goals.

• Lead the Quality Assurance and Quality Control teams, including inspectors, technicians, engineers, and supervisors.

• Establish accountability for quality performance across all manufacturing departments.

• Provide regular quality performance reports, trend analyses, and improvement recommendations to executive leadership.

• Promote a culture of quality, accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.

2. Quality Management Systems and Compliance

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve the Quality Management System (QMS).

• Ensure compliance with applicable ISO standards, customer specifications, industry requirements, and internal quality procedures.

• Maintain controlled quality documentation, inspection records, work instructions, and standard operating procedures.

• Lead internal audits, support external audits, and coordinate corrective actions resulting from audit findings.

• Maintain appropriate records to support product traceability, quality investigations, and compliance requirements.

• Coordinate quality certification activities and customer or third-party audits as applicable.

3. Solar Module Manufacturing Quality

• Oversee quality throughout the solar module manufacturing process, from incoming materials to final product release.

• Establish and maintain inspection standards for incoming materials, in-process production, and finished solar modules.

• Monitor manufacturing quality at critical production stages, including cell handling, stringing, layup, lamination, framing, junction box installation, EL testing, final inspection, and packaging.

• Ensure effective implementation of electroluminescence (EL) testing, visual inspections, electrical performance testing, and other required quality verification activities.

• Investigate manufacturing defects, process deviations, nonconforming products, and recurring quality issues.

• Work with Production and Engineering to identify root causes and implement sustainable corrective and preventive actions.

• Establish procedures for product identification, traceability, nonconforming material control, and final product release.

4. Quality Control and Performance Improvement

• Establish and monitor quality KPIs, including defect rates, first-pass yield, scrap rates, rework, customer complaints, and corrective action closure.

• Analyze quality data to identify trends, recurring issues, and opportunities for improvement.

• Lead root cause analysis using appropriate methodologies, such as 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagrams, and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).

• Implement corrective and preventive action processes to prevent recurrence of quality issues.

• Partner with Production and Engineering to improve process capability, reduce variation, and minimize manufacturing losses.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve product quality, manufacturing efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

5. Supplier and Incoming Quality Management

• Establish supplier quality standards and incoming material inspection requirements.

• Collaborate with Purchasing, Supply Chain, and Engineering to evaluate supplier quality performance.

• Lead supplier corrective action requests and investigations involving defective or nonconforming materials.

• Monitor supplier quality trends and recommend supplier improvement plans when necessary.

• Support supplier audits, qualification activities, and ongoing supplier performance reviews.

6. Customer Quality and Product Reliability

• Serve as the senior point of contact for significant customer quality concerns and escalations.

• Oversee investigations into customer complaints, product defects, and warranty-related quality issues.

• Coordinate corrective action responses and ensure timely resolution of customer concerns.

• Prepare quality reports and technical documentation for customers and executive leadership.

• Collaborate with relevant departments to identify opportunities to improve product reliability and customer satisfaction.

• Support product testing, validation, and quality requirements associated with new products and manufacturing process changes.

7. Leadership and Team Development

• Recruit, develop, coach, and evaluate Quality Department employees.

• Establish clear departmental responsibilities, performance expectations, and development plans.

• Provide training on quality standards, inspection procedures, documentation, and problem-solving methods.

• Ensure adequate staffing, equipment, and resources to support production quality requirements.

• Collaborate with department leaders to address quality issues and strengthen cross-functional communication.

• Encourage employees to identify quality risks and take appropriate action to prevent defects.

8. Risk Management and Continuous Improvement

• Identify and evaluate risks that could affect product quality, reliability, safety, or customer satisfaction.

• Implement preventive controls to reduce the likelihood of manufacturing defects and product failures.

• Review quality risks associated with new equipment, process changes, materials, and product designs.

• Support change management processes to ensure changes are properly reviewed, validated, documented, and approved.

• Monitor emerging quality concerns and recommend appropriate preventive measures.

• Ensure lessons learned from quality incidents are incorporated into manufacturing procedures and employee training.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Quality Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical field required.

• Master's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or Business Administration preferred.

Experience

• Minimum of 8–10 years of progressive experience in quality assurance, quality control, or manufacturing quality management.

• Minimum of 5 years of leadership experience managing quality teams or departments.

• Experience in solar module manufacturing, photovoltaic production, electronics manufacturing, or a related manufacturing environment strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience implementing and maintaining quality management systems.

• Experience leading internal and external audits, root cause investigations, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Experience managing customer quality concerns, supplier quality issues, and manufacturing process improvements.

Technical Skills

• Strong knowledge of Quality Management Systems (QMS) and ISO 9001 requirements.

• Familiarity with applicable photovoltaic module standards, such as IEC 61215 and IEC 61730, as relevant to the company's products and markets.

• Knowledge of manufacturing inspection methods, product testing, defect analysis, and quality documentation.

• Experience with root cause analysis, CAPA, FMEA, statistical process control (SPC), and other quality improvement methodologies.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and quality reporting or manufacturing data systems.

• Ability to analyze complex quality data and translate findings into actionable improvement plans.

Core Competencies

• Strategic leadership and decision-making

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

• Attention to detail and commitment to product quality

• Cross-functional collaboration

• Effective communication and presentation skills

• Employee development and team management

• Risk assessment and corrective action management

• Continuous improvement and process optimization

• Customer focus and accountability

Performance Measures (KPIs)

The Director of Quality will be evaluated based on performance against established departmental and company goals, including:

• First-pass yield and overall production yield

• Manufacturing defect and nonconformance rates

• Scrap and rework reduction

• Customer complaints and warranty-related quality trends

• Corrective and preventive action closure rates

• Supplier defect rates and supplier corrective action performance

• Internal and external audit results

• Quality documentation accuracy and compliance

• Employee training completion and team performance

• Progress toward continuous improvement and product reliability goals

Working Conditions

• Work is performed in both an office and manufacturing environment.

• Regular presence on the production floor is required to monitor quality performance and support investigations.

• Must be able to work collaboratively with production personnel, engineers, technicians, suppliers, customers, and executive leadership.

• May require occasional extended hours or schedule flexibility to address significant quality issues, production concerns, audits, or customer escalations.

• Must comply with applicable company safety policies and manufacturing facility requirements.

Equal Employment Opportunity

INOX SOLAR is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.