Director, Global Manufacturing & Quality Transformation

This role leads the transformation of Coates' global manufacturing and quality operations, not simply administering a quality management system, but driving the strategic, cross-cultural change needed to scale nearshored manufacturing, lift supplier performance, and rewire how quality and compliance operate across a rapidly growing global segment. This is a leadership mandate first: the successful candidate will build and lead a high performing global team, reshape operating models across regions, and act as the change agent who moves manufacturing and quality from a compliance function into a genuine driver of competitive advantage. Deep quality and manufacturing expertise is expected, but it exists in service of leading transformation, not as the primary skill being hired for.

Key responsibilities for the role

Leading Change & Global Transformation

• Lead the strategic redesign of Coates' global contract manufacturing network, including site selection, capacity planning, and production transfers, balancing cost, quality, and scale across culturally and operationally diverse markets.
• Drive a step-change in manufacturing and quality maturity across the Global segment, moving beyond incremental fixes to reshape how teams, suppliers, and processes operate together.
• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing global manufacturing and quality organisation, with a track record of developing capability and leadership in others, not just executing personally.
• Act as a change leader across the business, building buy-in and alignment across Product, Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, and Commercial teams for major manufacturing and quality initiatives.

Manufacturing Operations Leadership

• Own manufacturing engineering and strategy, including site selection, transfer projects, capacity planning, and operational risk management, with clear accountability for time to market, cost, and quality outcomes.
• Build strong global supplier and manufacturing partner relationships that drive reliability, agility, and continuous improvement, leading through influence and relationship, not just contract terms.
• Provide strategic leadership in scaling operations to support business growth, including entry into new markets or technologies.

Quality & Compliance, Enabling the Transformation

• Introduce and evolve a Global Quality Management System aligned to ISO and regulatory/customer standards, using it as a platform for broader operational change rather than an end in itself.
• Establish and monitor quality KPIs, lead CAPA processes for systemic issues, and ensure products meet applicable regulatory, environmental and safety standards (UL, CE, FCC, RoHS, REACH) across all segments.
• Champion compliance initiatives, training, documentation, certification, as tools that support the broader manufacturing transformation.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational, quality, and compliance risk across the supply chain and manufacturing network.

Qualifications and experience

• A proven change leader with a track record of transforming manufacturing or operations functions across multiple countries and cultures, not just managing an existing quality system.
• 15+ years of senior leadership experience in global manufacturing, operations, or supply chain, ideally including complex, multi-country production transfers and supplier network transformation.
• Engineering, Manufacturing, or Quality degree (Master's or equivalent leadership experience preferred), combined with credible working knowledge of lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and international product compliance frameworks, enough to lead technical experts, not necessarily to be the most technical person in the room.
• Excellent leadership, cross-cultural communication and stakeholder influence skills, with experience building and developing high-performing teams.
• Comfortable operating with ERP systems (PtP, Demand-to-Build, QTC) and standard collaboration tools (SharePoint, Teams, CAD), without requiring deep hands-on technical mastery.