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Director of Quality Operations

Join us at Panasonic Energy as we expand to De Soto, Kansas, where we’re building the world’s largest lithium‑ion battery factory. This is an exciting opportunity to grow your career while contributing to the future of electric vehicles. As part of our team, you’ll help push the limits of battery technology, enhancing performance and efficiency in sustainable transportation.

Our state‑of‑the‑art facility, just outside the Kansas City Metro, will be a hub for innovation in green energy solutions. If you're passionate about sustainability and eager to contribute to the electric vehicle revolution, we invite you to be part of our dynamic team. Join us and make a meaningful impact on the future of energy and transportation.

Job Summary:

The Director of Quality Operations is responsible for leading site‑wide quality operations, quality systems, and manufacturing quality strategy to ensure products consistently meet customer requirements, regulatory standards, and business objectives. Reporting to the Vice President of Quality, this role translates enterprise quality strategy into operational execution, driving quality performance, risk reduction, and continuous improvement across the organization. The Director provides leadership for quality operations teams and partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Product Development to strengthen process capability, enhance product quality, and improve manufacturing performance. The role is accountable for quality management system effectiveness, key quality performance outcomes, compliance, and organizational capability within the quality function. Success in this position requires strategic leadership, sound business judgment, and the ability to influence decision‑making and drive operational excellence in a high‑volume lithium‑ion battery manufacturing environment.

Essential Duties:

• Provide strategic leadership and governance for site‑wide quality operations, ensuring alignment between quality objectives, manufacturing performance, and business priorities
• Establish quality operating standards, management systems, and governance processes that drive consistent execution across production areas, shifts, and functions
• Own overall quality performance outcomes, including First Pass Yield (FPY), Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ), scrap, customer defects, process capability, and product reliability
• Lead the development and execution of quality control strategies, inspection systems, testing frameworks, and product release processes to ensure scalable and effective quality assurance
• Ensure effective management of Nonconformance Report (NCR), Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA), and escalation processes to drive timely resolution of quality issues and prevention of recurrence
• Direct quality operations resources, priorities, and organizational structures to support production demands, business growth, and operational excellence
• Oversee quality performance reviews and governance forums, ensuring risks, trends, and improvement actions are communicated and addressed at appropriate leadership levels
• Utilize advanced analytics, statistical methods, and predictive quality tools to identify emerging risks and drive proactive mitigation strategies
• Develop, monitor, and communicate key quality performance indicators (KPIs) to executive leadership, ensuring visibility to organizational performance and risks
• Manage departmental budgets, resource allocation, and investment priorities to support operational objectives and continuous improvement initiatives

• Develop and execute the site quality operations strategy and roadmap, aligning quality initiatives with organizational objectives, customer expectations, and operational priorities
• Partner with executive and site leadership to establish quality goals, performance targets, and long‑term improvement plans
• Lead cross‑functional improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, statistical methodologies, and structured problem‑solving tools to improve quality performance and process capability
• Drive adoption of digital quality systems, advanced analytics, and data‑driven decision‑making to improve visibility, traceability, and operational effectiveness
• Analyze quality trends and systemic risks to identify strategic improvement opportunities and proactively address emerging challenges
• Provide executive oversight of audit programs, including VDA 6.3 process audits and internal assessments, to ensure effectiveness and sustainable corrective actions

• Build, lead, and develop a high‑performing quality organization capable of supporting current and future business needs
• Coach and develop Quality Managers and functional leaders to strengthen leadership capability, technical expertise, and organizational effectiveness
• Establish succession planning, talent development, and workforce strategies to ensure long‑term capability within the quality function
• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational excellence, and employee engagement
• Drive standardization of training frameworks, best practices, and knowledge‑sharing processes across quality teams
• Foster collaboration and alignment across quality, manufacturing, engineering, and support organizations

• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Product Development, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and Customer Quality teams to ensure quality requirements are integrated into business processes and manufacturing systems
• Influence strategic decision‑making and operational priorities by providing quality expertise, risk assessments, and performance insights
• Serve as the primary quality operations representative within site leadership forums, management reviews, and business planning discussions
• Support customer relationship management through quality performance reviews, customer issue resolution, escalation management, complaint response activities, and participation in customer audits
• Collaborate with supplier quality and procurement organizations to strengthen supplier performance and mitigate supply chain quality risks
• Communicate quality performance, strategic risks, and improvement initiatives to executive leadership and key stakeholders

• Own the effectiveness and continuous improvement of the Quality Management System (QMS), ensuring compliance with applicable standards, regulatory requirements, and customer expectations
• Ensure compliance with quality management systems, including ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and applicable regulatory requirements such as UL, CE, and RoHS
• Lead enterprise quality risk management activities, including FMEA, control plans, product safety initiatives, and preventive quality strategies
• Ensure readiness for internal, external, regulatory, and customer audits while maintaining robust compliance systems and controls
• Establish proactive mitigation strategies to reduce quality risks, customer disruptions, product nonconformance, and safety‑related concerns
• Monitor product safety, reliability, and compliance performance to ensure timely execution of corrective and preventive measures
• Promote and reinforce a culture of safety, quality, integrity, and environmental responsibility throughout the organization

• Provide direct leadership to Quality Operations Managers, Metrology leadership, and other quality function leaders, with overall responsibility for organizational effectiveness across Quality Operations
• Responsible for workforce planning, organizational design, talent development, succession planning, budget management, and performance management within the quality organization
• Establish departmental goals, performance expectations, and strategic priorities to ensure alignment with quality, operational, and business objectives

• This position is primarily site‑based with up to 20% travel as needed to support customer engagements, audits, benchmarking activities, training, and business initiatives

• To ensure the health and safety in the workplace and for the protection of our employees, wearing PPE is a possibility and may include equipment such as a full Tyvek suit, safety shoes, gloves, safety glasses, face mask, bump cap, and a full hazmat suit that includes a respirator.

The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills and efforts or work conditions associated with the job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the general nature and level of the job.

Requirements - Required and/or Preferred

Education, Certifications, and Licenses:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Quality Assurance, Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Business Administration, or a related technical field
• Relevant work experience may be substituted for required education

Preferred:

• Master's degree (MBA, MS, or equivalent) in a related discipline
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification or higher
• American Society for Quality (ASQ) certifications (e.g., CQE, CMQ/OE, CQA)

Essential Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive quality leadership experience within manufacturing environments, including responsibility for quality systems, quality operations, and organizational performance
• Demonstrated success leading quality organizations and delivering measurable improvements in key performance indicators, including FPY, scrap, COPQ, customer defects, process capability, and product reliability
• Extensive knowledge of quality management systems (e.g., ISO 9001, IATF 16949) and applicable regulatory requirements (e.g., UL, CE, RoHS)
• Proven experience developing and executing quality strategies aligned with business objectives and operational priorities
• Demonstrated experience leading large‑scale cross‑functional quality improvement initiatives in complex manufacturing environments
• Strong knowledge of quality methodologies and tools, including SPC, MSA, FMEA, Control Plans, CAPA, 8D, and structured problem‑solving techniques
• Experience utilizing data analytics, statistical methods, and digital quality systems to drive business decisions and quality performance improvements
• Experience leading, developing, and coaching managers and building high‑performing teams
• Strong business acumen and the ability to balance quality, cost, delivery, safety, and operational objectives when making decisions
• Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, and executive presentation skills across all organizational levels
• Demonstrated ability to influence executive and cross‑functional decision‑making and drive results in fast‑paced, complex manufacturing environments
• Must have working‑level knowledge of the English language, including reading, writing, and speaking English
• Alignment to Panasonic's seven (7) core principles (contribution to society, fairness and honesty, cooperation and team spirit, untiring effort for improvement, courtesy and humility, adaptability, gratitude)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience in a Director‑level or senior management role leading quality operations teams within large‑scale manufacturing environments
• Experience within lithium‑ion battery manufacturing, automotive, semiconductor, or other advanced manufacturing environments
• Experience leading site‑wide or multi‑site quality operations and quality management systems
• Experience supporting greenfield manufacturing startups, rapid production scale‑up, or high‑growth manufacturing environments
• Strong knowledge of customer‑specific quality requirements in automotive or high‑reliability manufacturing environments
• Experience implementing digital quality systems, advanced analytics, predictive quality tools, and data visualization platforms
• Experience presenting quality strategy, performance, risk, and compliance updates to executive leadership teams and external stakeholders

Physical Activities: Percentage of time (equaling 100%) during the normal workday the employee is required to:

• Sit: 40%
• Walk: 30%
• Stand: 30%

Required Lifting and Carrying: Rare (<1%), Occasional (1-33%), Frequent (34-66%), Continuous (67-100%)

For this position, the required frequency is:

• Up to 10 lbs.: Occasional
• Up to 20 lbs.: Occasional
• Up to 35 lbs.: Rare
• Team‑lift only (over 35 lbs.): Rare

• Health Benefits – Offering medical, dental, vision, prescription plans, plus Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account options.
• Voluntary Benefits – Life, accident, critical illness, disability, legal, identity theft, and pet insurance.
• Panasonic Retirement Savings & Investment Plan (PRSIP) – 401(k) plan with company matching contributions and immediate vesting.
• Paid Time‑Off Benefits – Vacation, holidays, personal days, sick leave, volunteer, and parental & caregiver leave.
• Educational Assistance – Tuition reimbursement for job‑related courses after six months of service