Senior Specialist, Material Quality, Equipment

Accountabilities: In this role, you will lead material quality initiatives, strengthen supplier performance, and ensure consistent quality standards across equipment manufacturing operations. Manage material quality risks: Work with suppliers to identify and mitigate execution risks during early mass production stages, ensuring materials meet required quality and performance standards. Lead quality issue resolution: Independently investigate and resolve material quality issues through structured root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and effectiveness validation. Collaborate across teams: Partner with sourcing, product development, manufacturing engineering, regional quality, global material services, and other stakeholders to identify risks and develop effective solutions. Coordinate testing and validation: Work with internal laboratories and third-party testing facilities to ensure materials meet technical specifications, compliance requirements, and performance expectations. Maintain quality visibility: Ensure accurate documentation of quality issues, risk levels, action plans, progress, and closure evidence. Use quality data to identify recurring defects and systemic supplier performance gaps. Monitor supplier performance: Prepare and publish monthly supplier quality performance dashboards and provide regular updates to leadership. Apply technical expertise: Serve as a subject matter expert in textile and polyurethane materials, including printing, heat transfer, lamination, coating, bonding, embossing, finishing, and other surface treatments. Drive process excellence: Identify process gaps, contribute to standardized quality workflows, and develop guidelines and best practices that improve material consistency across synthetics, textiles, and leather. Strengthen supplier capabilities: Lead and support supplier training and certification initiatives, ensuring alignment with quality standards and appropriate calibration procedures. Promote knowledge sharing: Translate lessons learned from quality investigations into preventive guidance, supplier improvement priorities, and manufacturing best practices. Build strategic relationships: Develop trusted partnerships with internal teams and global suppliers, facilitating solution-oriented discussions around material performance, innovation, and quality targets. Support continuous improvement: Participate in cross-functional projects that enhance quality governance, issue management, manufacturing consistency, and material reliability. Requirements The ideal candidate combines strong technical knowledge of textile and equipment materials with analytical thinking, supplier management capabilities, and the ability to lead quality improvement initiatives independently. At least 5 years of relevant experience in textile material manufacturing, material quality engineering, supplier (Tier 2) quality, equipment vendor (Tier 1) quality, or production issue resolution within textile or equipment manufacturing. Strong technical expertise in textile materials and manufacturing processes, including printing, lamination, coating, bonding, finishing, and surface treatments. Demonstrated experience independently managing material quality issues and leading root cause analysis, corrective actions, preventive measures, and validation activities. Ability to assess manufacturing processes, material specifications, testing results, inspection findings, and defect patterns to identify effective solutions. Experience working directly with suppliers, manufacturing facilities, and cross-functional teams to improve quality performance. Understanding of material testing, validation procedures, quality standards, and supplier certification programs. Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret quality data, identify recurring failure patterns, and develop actionable improvement plans. Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and build effective working relationships across different teams and regions. Strong organizational skills, accountability, and disciplined execution, particularly when managing complex or high-risk quality issues. Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and escalate critical or ambiguous situations appropriately. A proactive mindset focused on continuous improvement, process excellence, technical knowledge sharing, and supplier development. Benefits Full-time employment opportunity. Remote working arrangement. Opportunity to collaborate with international teams and a global supplier network. Exposure to cross-functional quality, sourcing, product development, and manufacturing initiatives. Opportunity to contribute to supplier development, technical training, and quality improvement programs. Professional growth through advanced material quality projects and subject matter expertise development.