Position: Head Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Department: Quality

Role Summary:

The Head Quality Assurance / Quality Control is responsible for leading the organization's end-to-end quality function across all manufacturing operations. The role ensures compliance with quality standards, drives continuous improvement initiatives, enhances product reliability and customer satisfaction, and develops robust quality systems across supplier, manufacturing, and field operations.

Key Responsibilities:

Quality Management:

- Develop and implement the organization's quality strategy, policies, and procedures.

- Lead Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC), and Supplier Quality Management (SQM) functions.

- Establish and monitor quality objectives, KPIs, and improvement plans.

- Ensure compliance with applicable quality standards, statutory requirements, and customer specifications.

Supplier Quality Management:

- Develop and qualify suppliers through audits and performance assessments.

- Establish incoming quality standards and inspection plans for raw materials and bought-out components.

- Monitor supplier quality performance and drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).

Manufacturing Quality:

- Ensure effective implementation of in-process quality controls across fabrication, machining, painting, assembly, and testing operations.

- Develop inspection plans, quality control procedures, and work instructions.

- Lead root cause analysis and implement corrective actions for internal quality issues.

- Drive reduction in defects, rework, and scrap through continuous improvement initiatives.

Final Inspection & Product Validation:

- Oversee final inspection and testing of machines before dispatch.

- Ensure products meet functional, safety, and performance requirements.

- Validate product performance through testing and field evaluations.

Customer Quality & Warranty Management:

- Lead customer complaint resolution through structured root cause analysis.

- Monitor warranty claims, field failures, and product reliability.

- Implement corrective and preventive actions to improve product quality and reduce warranty costs.

- Coordinate with service, engineering, and manufacturing teams to resolve recurring issues.

Quality Systems & Compliance:

- Maintain and continually improve the Quality Management System (QMS).

- Lead internal and external quality audits.

- Ensure compliance with ISO standards and other applicable regulatory requirements.

- Standardize quality processes across manufacturing locations.

Continuous Improvement:

- Drive Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, 5S, and other quality improvement initiatives.

- Promote a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

- Monitor and improve key quality metrics such as First Pass Yield (FPY), rejection rates, Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ), warranty costs, and customer satisfaction.

Leadership & Team Development:

- Lead, mentor, and develop the quality team.

- Build organizational capability through training and competency development.

- Foster cross-functional collaboration with Engineering, Production, Procurement, Supply Chain, Sales, and Service teams.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

- Customer complaint reduction

- Warranty cost reduction

- Supplier quality performance (PPM)

- Internal rejection and rework reduction

- First Pass Yield (FPY)

- Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)

- Audit compliance and CAPA closure

- Product reliability and customer satisfaction

Qualification & Experience:

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Production, Industrial, or related discipline).

- Minimum 15 years of relevant experience in Quality Assurance and Quality Control, including at least 5 years in a leadership role.

- Experience in the post-harvesting machinery, agricultural equipment, farm machinery, or allied manufacturing industry is preferred.

- Strong knowledge of quality systems, supplier quality, manufacturing processes, product testing, and warranty management.

Required Competencies:

- Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001)

- Supplier Quality Management (SQM)

- APQP, PPAP, FMEA, MSA, SPC

- Root Cause Analysis (8D, 5 Why, Fishbone)

- Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma

- Quality auditing and regulatory compliance

- Leadership and people management

- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills

- Cross-functional stakeholder management and decision-making