Manufacturing & ProductionEngineering - Mechanical & IndustrialFull time
30 Oct
Quality Manager – Plant, Product & Customer Quality
Vadodara, India
20-25 LPA
Full time
JOB DESCRIPTION
Quality Manager – Plant, Product & Customer Quality
Gearbox / Drivetrain / Heavy Engineering
Location: Vadodara, Gujarat, IndiaExperience: 15+ yearsFunction: Quality / Manufacturing / Product QualityReporting: Global Quality / Product Quality LeadershipTravel: Extensive domestic and international travel
1. Role Overview
Our client is looking for a senior Quality Management professional to lead Plant Quality, Product Quality and Manufacturing Quality for its Gearbox & Drivetrain business.
The role requires a highly experienced quality leader who can manage quality across the complete product lifecycle — from manufacturing, machining, assembly and testing through installation, commissioning, customer operation, field issues, warranty and long-term product performance.
The individual will act as the Quality owner and customer-facing quality representative for complex product and quality issues throughout the operational life of the product.
This is not a conventional Supplier Quality, Service Engineering or Solutions Engineering role. The individual will be responsible for understanding customer and field problems from a quality, reliability, manufacturing and root-cause perspective, developing sustainable quality solutions, and coordinating their implementation with the relevant internal and external stakeholders.
2. Key Responsibilities
A. Plant & Manufacturing Quality Management
Lead and manage plant-level quality activities across manufacturing, machining, fabrication, assembly and testing.
Establish and maintain robust quality systems, standards, inspection plans, control plans and quality procedures.
Ensure products are manufactured in accordance with engineering drawings, specifications, applicable standards and customer requirements.
Drive reduction in defects, rejection, rework, process variation and Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).
Monitor manufacturing quality performance through appropriate KPIs and management reviews.
Work closely with Production, Manufacturing Engineering, Design Engineering and Operations teams to resolve process and product-quality issues.
Ensure effective implementation of corrective and preventive actions within manufacturing.
Promote a strong quality culture across the plant and manufacturing organization.
B. Product Quality Management
Own and drive product quality throughout the complete product lifecycle.
Support product development, industrialization, validation, manufacturing, assembly, testing, commissioning and operational phases.
Identify recurring product-quality issues and ensure that lessons learned are incorporated into product and manufacturing improvements.
Work closely with Product Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering to identify technical and process-related quality risks.
Review product performance data and identify opportunities for improving reliability and quality.
Ensure that product-related corrective actions are effectively implemented and their effectiveness is verified.
C. Customer & End-Client Quality Management
Act as the primary Quality interface for significant customer and end-client quality issues.
Take ownership of complex quality problems arising after product installation and commissioning.
Engage directly with customers to understand their concerns, operating conditions, product performance and failure symptoms.
Visit customer locations to investigate significant quality issues and understand problems firsthand.
Work with customer engineering, maintenance and technical teams to gather relevant information and evidence.
Ensure that customer concerns are addressed through a structured quality investigation rather than only an immediate technical/service response.
Maintain regular communication with customers throughout the investigation, corrective-action and resolution process.
Build long-term customer confidence through professional handling of quality issues and transparent communication.
D. Field Failure, RCA & Quality Solutions
Lead investigation of product failures, field complaints, warranty issues and recurring quality problems.
Conduct detailed Root Cause Analysis (RCA) using appropriate problem-solving methodologies.
Lead 8D, CAPA, 5-Why, Fishbone, Fault Tree Analysis and other structured problem-solving approaches as appropriate.
Determine whether the root cause is related to:
Manufacturing process
Machining
Material
Heat treatment
Assembly
Product design
Supplier/component
Installation
Operating conditions
Process control
Develop sustainable quality-based corrective and preventive solutions.
Coordinate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Suppliers, OEMs and other stakeholders to implement corrective actions.
Verify the effectiveness of corrective actions at the customer/site level.
Ensure recurring problems are eliminated rather than temporarily contained.
E. Product Lifecycle Quality Support
Maintain quality ownership from manufacturing through commissioning, customer operation and long-term product life.
Monitor field performance and identify recurring failure patterns.
Analyse customer complaints, warranty cases, field failures and operational data.
Feed field experience and lessons learned back into:
Product Engineering
Manufacturing
Quality Systems
Supplier Management
Product Development
Process Engineering
Support continuous improvement of existing products throughout their lifecycle.
Develop mechanisms to prevent recurrence of field issues across other products, plants and customers.
F. Supplier & OEM Coordination
Supplier management is an important supporting responsibility, but this is NOT a Supplier Quality Manager position.
Coordinate with suppliers when supplier-related issues contribute to customer or product-quality problems.
Engage suppliers in RCA, corrective actions and verification of effectiveness.
Work with OEMs and strategic partners where product quality issues require joint investigation.
Ensure supplier corrective actions are aligned with the overall product-quality solution.
Collaborate with Procurement and Supplier Quality teams without making supplier management the primary focus of the role.
G. Global Stakeholder Management
Work closely with global engineering, manufacturing, product management, supply chain, procurement, service, project management and quality teams.
Operate effectively within a global, multidisciplinary and matrix organization.
Coordinate quality investigations across different countries, plants, suppliers and customer locations.
Present quality issues, RCA findings, risks, corrective actions and improvement plans to senior/global management.
Ensure effective alignment between local operations and global quality/product requirements.
Represent the Quality function confidently in global meetings and customer discussions.
3. Customer Site & Travel Responsibilities
The position involves significant domestic and international travel.
The Quality Manager may be required to:
Visit customer locations following major product-quality issues.
Investigate failures at installed/operational sites.
Interact directly with customer engineering and maintenance teams.
Visit manufacturing plants and supplier locations.
Participate in installation and commissioning quality reviews.
Support global quality investigations.
Attend customer, supplier and global stakeholder meetings.
The candidate should be comfortable with extensive travel across India and international locations.
4. Leadership & Communication
The role requires an individual with a strong, confident and influential leadership presence.
The successful candidate should demonstrate:
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
Strong customer-facing capability.
Ability to communicate complex quality problems in a clear and structured manner.
Confidence in challenging technical and quality issues constructively.
Ability to influence senior stakeholders without relying solely on formal authority.
Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
Ability to manage difficult customer situations professionally.
High ownership and accountability.
Dynamic, proactive and solution-oriented approach.
Ability to work effectively with senior management, customers, OEMs, suppliers and global teams.
5. Product / Industry Experience
Essential
Candidates should have significant experience with complex engineered mechanical products, preferably in:
Gearboxes
Drivetrains
Rotating equipment
Heavy machinery
Heavy engineering
Industrial equipment
Mining equipment
Power generation
Hydropower
Oil & Gas equipment
Large mechanical assemblies
Capital equipment
Experience with large-size gearboxes, drivetrain systems or comparable heavy engineered equipment will be highly relevant.
6. Required Technical Competencies
The candidate should have strong practical knowledge of:
Manufacturing Quality
Plant Quality Management
Product Quality Management
Machining Quality
Assembly Quality
Testing & Validation
Installation & Commissioning Quality
Customer Quality
Field Quality
Warranty Quality
Product Lifecycle Management
Root Cause Analysis
8D Problem Solving
CAPA
FMEA / PFMEA
SPC / MSA
APQP / PPAP
Quality Audits
Lean Manufacturing
Six Sigma
Continuous Improvement
Quality KPI Management
7. Education & Experience
Education
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Production Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Quality Management or a related discipline.
Experience
15+ years of relevant professional experience in Quality, Manufacturing, Product Quality or related functions.
Significant experience in plant/manufacturing quality management.
Demonstrated experience handling customer/end-client quality issues.
Experience conducting or leading customer-site investigations and RCA.
Experience supporting products through installation, commissioning and operational lifecycle.
Experience working with global stakeholders and multinational organizations.
Experience in heavy engineering, gearbox, drivetrain, rotating equipment or complex engineered products preferred.
8. Preferred Experience
Preference will be given to candidates with:
Large-size gearbox/drivetrain experience.
Heavy machinery or capital equipment background.
Experience with GE, Siemens, ZF, Flender, Voith, ABB, BHEL or comparable global engineering organizations.
Mining, power generation, hydropower, oil & gas or industrial equipment exposure.
Customer-site quality investigation experience.
Warranty and field-failure management experience.
International customer and stakeholder exposure.
Experience working within a global matrix organization.
Lean Six Sigma certification.
APQP/PPAP/PFMEA/SPC/MSA expertise.
9. Key Performance Indicators
The Quality Manager will be measured on areas including:
Plant First Pass Yield (FPY)
Manufacturing defect and rejection rate
Rework reduction
Cost of Poor Quality
Customer complaint reduction
Warranty claim reduction
Recurring field-failure reduction
RCA/8D closure effectiveness
Corrective-action effectiveness
Customer satisfaction
Field quality performance
Product reliability
Commissioning quality
Response and resolution time for customer quality issues
Successful implementation of lifecycle quality improvements
Candidate Summary:
Current Details:Current Company:
Current Designation:
Total Experience:
Current CTC:
Expected CTC:
Notice Period:
Current Location:
Willing to relocate to Vadodara:
Total Experience:
Relevant Quality Experience:Relevant Heavy Engineering / Industrial Equipment Experience:Gearbox / Drivetrain Experience:Large-Size Gearbox / Heavy Machinery Experience:Manufacturing / Plant Quality Experience:Machining Quality Experience:Assembly & Testing Quality Experience:Product Quality Experience:Customer / End-Client Quality Experience:Field Quality / Warranty / Field Failure Experience:Installation & Commissioning Quality Experience:RCA / 8D / CAPA / 5-Why / Fishbone Experience:FMEA / PFMEA / SPC / MSA / APQP / PPAP Experience:Quality Systems / Audits / ISO Experience:Lean Manufacturing / Six Sigma Experience:Quality KPI / FPY / COPQ / Rejection / Rework Experience:Global Teams / Global Customers Experience:International Travel Experience / Willingness to Travel Internationally:Customer-Site Investigation Experience:Education / Engineering Qualification:Six Sigma Certification: