Job description:.

Head of Quality & Product Industrialisation, India & Vietnam - Safety Fabrics.

Role purpose:

- The Head of Quality & Product Industrialization Safety Fabrics is responsible for leading the global quality strategy, product industrialization, certification and technical governance for Coats' Safety Fabrics business.

- This role ensures that new and existing products are robustly industrialized, consistently manufactured and fully compliant with global safety standards.

- Working closely with Innovation, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Commercial teams, the role provides technical leadership across Coats' Safety Fabrics manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners, to drive product quality, manufacturing excellence, certification readiness and continuous improvement in support of sustainable global business growth.

- An ideal candidate for the role needs to technically strong and execution-oriented leader with proven experience in safety fabrics or technical textiles, responsible for product development, quality, certification and industrialisation within a manufacturing environment.

- Brings deep understanding of global safety standards, product testing, regulatory compliance and manufacturing processes, with the ability to successfully transition new products from development into stable, scalable production.

- Experienced in working across cross-functional teams, including manufacturing, quality, supply chain, procurement and commercial, to deliver consistent product performance, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

- Demonstrates strong problem-solving capability, technical credibility and hands-on leadership, with experience supporting manufacturing operations across multiple sites and third-party manufacturing partners.

What you will do (Key Responsibilities):

Quality Leadership:

- Define and deploy the global quality strategy for Safety Fabrics.

- Establish common quality systems, standards and governance across all manufacturing locations.

- Drive zero-defect culture and Right First-Time performance.

Product Industrialization:

- Lead industrialization of new products from development through commercial production.

- Ensure manufacturing readiness before product launch.

- Standardize manufacturing processes globally.

Certification, Compliance & Regulatory Readiness:

- Define and maintain the global certification and compliance strategy for the Safety Fabrics portfolio.

- Ensure products meet applicable international and customer-specific standards, including EN, ISO, ASTM and NFPA.

- Lead product qualification, testing and certification activities with internal laboratories and external certification bodies.

- Establish and lead the Safety Fabrics Technical Laboratory at Perundurai, developing world-class testing, certification and product validation capabilities to support innovation, industrialization and customer qualification.

- Manage certification planning, technical documentation and ongoing compliance for new and existing products.

- Monitor changes in regulatory standards and ensure timely implementation across products and manufacturing operations.

- Partner with Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain teams to ensure certified products are consistently produced across Coats manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners.

- Support customer technical approvals, audits and product validation while driving continuous improvement in testing, certification and quality systems.

Manufacturing Excellence & Continuous Improvement:

- Drive manufacturing excellence across Coats' Safety Fabrics operations by improving process capability, product consistency and operational efficiency.

- Lead industrialisation and standardisation of manufacturing processes to ensure robust, scalable and repeatable production.

- Drive continuous improvement initiatives through root cause analysis, CAPA, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to reduce defects, improve yield and optimise cost.

- Establish and monitor key quality and manufacturing KPIs, including Right First Time (RFT), First Pass Yield (FPY), Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ), customer complaints and process capability.

- Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Quality teams to implement best practices and ensure consistent execution across manufacturing sites in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners.

Product & Supplier Quality:

- Establish and maintain robust product and supplier quality systems to ensure consistent product performance and compliance with customer and regulatory requirements.

- Lead supplier qualification, raw material approval, supplier audits and ongoing performance monitoring.

- Drive root cause analysis, CAPA and continuous improvement to reduce customer complaints, improve product reliability and minimise the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).

- Partner with Manufacturing, Procurement and Supply Chain to ensure quality standards are consistently achieved across Coats' manufacturing operations and third-party manufacturing partners.

People Management:

- Build and develop the Quality & Product Industrialization team in line with business needs and future growth.

- Lead and influence cross-functional teams across Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain.

- Manage indirect reporting relationships across Coats' manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners.

- Foster a culture of quality, accountability and continuous improvement.

Financial Impact:

- Support business profitability through improved product quality, manufacturing efficiency, reduced cost of poor quality and successful industrialisation of new products.

Who you are (Requirements):

- Degree in Textile Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science or related discipline.

- 10+ years' experience in safety fabrics, technical textiles or engineered materials.

- Proven experience in product industrialisation, quality management and manufacturing processes.

- Strong working knowledge of EN, ISO, ASTM, NFPA and other relevant safety standards and certification processes.

- Experience working with manufacturing operations, preferably across multiple sites and external manufacturing partners.

- Demonstrated experience in root cause analysis, CAPA, process improvement and continuous improvement methodologies.

- Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional leadership skills.

What will set you apart (Nice to Have):

- Master's degree in Textile Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science or a related discipline.

- Six Sigma Green Belt/Black Belt, Lean Manufacturing or Quality Management certification.

- Experience with textile coating, dyeing, finishing or advanced fabric manufacturing processes.

- Experience working with international certification bodies (AITEX, UL, SEI) and global PPE standards.

- Experience supporting global customers, product qualification and customer technical audits.

- At Coats Group, we are committed to innovation, excellence, and fostering a diverse and- collaborative environment where every team member can thrive.