Sr. Director Quality & EHS

The Senior Director of Quality & Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) is responsible for building, enhancing, and leading the Quality and EHS strategy, systems, and culture across Our Next Energy's cell manufacturing, pack assembly, and corporate engineering environments. This role provides hands-on leadership to ensure products meet safety, reliability, and customer performance expectations while maintaining full compliance with federal/state regulations and internal standards. The Senior Director drives continuous improvement, implements scalable systems, and ensures operational readiness as ONE advances commercialization and ramps manufacturing capacity.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Facilities, and Program teams to embed quality and EHS excellence into every stage of the product lifecycle, from early design through high-volume manufacturing.

Quality Leadership

• Own the Quality Management System (QMS) and ensure alignment with ISO 9001, IATF, and customer-specific requirements
• Build and lead the Quality organization across cell, pack, supply quality, and customer quality functions
• Establish and maintain product quality standards, inspection processes, and critical-to-quality metrics across all manufacturing operations
• Oversee root cause analysis, corrective actions, and systemic improvements using 8D, PFMEA, DFMEA, SPC, and other tools
• Lead quality readiness for all new product introductions (NPI) and product validation processes
• Provide oversight of incoming materials quality, supplier audits, and Supplier Quality Engineering (SQE) programs
• Partner with Engineering to ensure robust design controls, validation planning, and manufacturability standards
• Ensure traceability, documentation, and audit preparedness across programs and facilities

EHS Leadership

• Lead the EHS management system across all ONE sites ensuring compliance with OSHA, EPA, MIOSHA, fire code, hazardous materials regulations, and local requirements
• Develop site-level EHS teams, programs, and reporting structures
• Oversee emergency response planning, hazardous waste management, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, and safety culture programs
• Conduct risk assessments (JHAs, PHAs, HAZOP) and implement mitigation strategies
• Ensure proactive incident investigation, root-cause containment, and timely closure of corrective actions
• Build behavior-based safety programs and EHS leadership capability across managers and supervisors

Strategic & Operational Responsibilities

• Build a scalable framework to support rapid growth in manufacturing operations
• Establish and report Quality & EHS KPIs to executive leadership and the Board
• Lead enterprise-wide internal audit programs and customer audits/visits.
• Ensure product safety compliance and customer satisfaction for commercial programs
• Develop departmental budgets, staffing plans, and organizational structure.
• Oversee training requirements for Quality and EHS, including compliance and competency development
• Strengthen cross-functional relationships and act as a trusted advisor to leadership

Continuous Improvement

• Champion a culture of continuous improvement across all sites
• Implement Lean, Six Sigma, and problem-solving frameworks to increase efficiency, reduce scrap, and ensure safe operations
• Introduce digital tools for quality records, audits, EHS reporting, and analytics
• Improve first-pass yield, reduce defect rates, and drive system-level corrective action processes

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelors Degree in Engineering or related field
• 12+ years of Quality and/or EHS experience in manufacturing; EV battery, energy storage, automotive, or high-volume advanced manufacturing strongly preferred
• 7+ years of leadership experience managing multi-site teams
• Experience leading Quality and EHS functions in a scaling startup environment strongly preferred
• Working knowledge of ISO 9001; certification in ASQ, CQE, CQM/OE, Six Sigma Black Belt a plus
• Expert knowledge of OSHA, EPA, MIOSHA, hazardous materials, lithium-ion battery safety standards, and industrial safety practices
• Demonstrated success strengthening manufacturing quality, reducing defects, improving audit outcomes, and building safety culture
• Strong communication, influence, and executive presence

Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE) is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to disability or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.