Head - Quality

KEY JOB DETAILS: Position Title: Head of Quality Location: Gurgaon Experience Required: 15-22 years Education: Bachelors degree in engineering (Electronics, Electrical) from a recognized institution. Masters degree in engineering, Quality Management, Operations, or MBA preferred. Job Summary: Company is seeking an accomplished and visionary Quality Leader to head the Quality function across the organization. The Head Quality will be responsible for defining and driving the Quality strategy, governance framework, and operational excellence initiatives to ensure the highest standards of quality, reliability, safety, and regulatory compliance across all aerospace, defense, and avionics programs. The incumbent will provide strategic leadership for Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Supplier Quality, Reliability Engineering, and Compliance functions, while ensuring adherence to applicable national and international aerospace and defense standards. The role demands extensive experience in high-reliability manufacturing environments, customer quality management, certification processes, and continuous improvement methodologies. Key Responsibilities: Strategic Quality Leadership: - Formulate and execute the organizations Quality strategy in alignment with business objectives and customer expectations. - Establish and sustain a culture of quality excellence, continuous improvement, and operational discipline across the organization. - Serve as the principal authority on all quality-related matters and provide strategic guidance to senior leadership. - Drive quality transformation initiatives to enhance product reliability, process capability, and customer satisfaction. Quality Management Systems (QMS): - Lead the development, implementation, maintenance, and continual improvement of the Quality Management System. - Ensure compliance with applicable standards, including but not limited to: 1. AS9100 2. Defense and Aerospace Quality Requirements 3. Customer-specific Quality Standards - Conduct periodic management reviews and ensure organizational readiness for internal, customer, regulatory, and certification audits. - Establish governance mechanisms to monitor compliance and drive corrective actions where necessary. Product and Process Quality Assurance: - Ensure quality assurance throughout the product lifecycle, including design, development, qualification, manufacturing, testing, integration, and field support. - Establish robust quality planning, inspection, validation, and verification processes. - Lead initiatives to prevent defects, reduce variability, and improve process capability. - Oversee non-conformance management, root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and lessons learned implementation. Supplier Quality Management: - Define and implement supplier quality strategies to ensure consistency and reliability throughout the supply chain. - Oversee supplier qualification, audits, assessments, and performance evaluations. - Collaborate with Procurement and Supply Chain teams to develop strategic supplier quality improvement programs. - Ensure supplier compliance with contractual, regulatory, and quality requirements. Regulatory Compliance and Customer Interface: - Act as the primary quality interface with customers, regulatory agencies, certification authorities, and defense organizations. - Lead customer quality reviews, inspections, acceptance activities, and audit engagements. - Ensure compliance with all contractual, statutory, and regulatory obligations. - Support major defense and aerospace programs through effective quality governance and risk mitigation. Reliability and Continuous Improvement: - Champion reliability engineering principles and quality improvement methodologies across all programs. - Lead initiatives involving FMEA, SPC, APQP, First Article Inspection (FAI), process validation, and reliability assessments. - Drive Lean, Six Sigma, and operational excellence initiatives aimed at improving productivity and reducing the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ). - Establish quality metrics and dashboards to monitor organizational performance and drive data-based decision making. Leadership and Organizational Development: - Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing quality organization. - Strengthen technical capabilities, succession planning, and leadership development within the Quality function. - Foster collaboration across Engineering, Manufacturing, Programs, Supply Chain, and Customer Support functions. - Promote a culture of accountability, integrity, and continuous learning. Technical Competencies: - AS9100 and Aerospace Quality Standards - Quality Management Systems and Compliance - Reliability Engineering and Product Assurance - APQP, PPAP, FAI and Process Validation - Configuration Management and Change Control - Risk Management and Quality Governance - Defense and Aerospace Regulatory Requirements Experience: - Minimum 16-20 years of progressive experience in Quality Management within Aerospace, Defense, Avionics, Electronics Manufacturing, or other high-reliability industries. - Proven experience in leading enterprise-wide quality functions in a complex manufacturing environment. - Demonstrated experience in managing customer, regulatory, and certification audits. - Strong exposure to defense manufacturing programs, aerospace systems integration, and mission-critical products. - Experience working with organizations such as HAL, BEL, DRDO, DPSUs, aerospace OEMs, or equivalent defense and aviation ecosystems will be highly desirable. Personal Attributes: - Detail-oriented with a proactive approach to problem-solving. - Comfortable working in cross-functional, engineering-focused teams. - Curious and eager to stay updated with new technologies and component trends.