Job Description – Head – Quality Control
Industry: Welding Consumables / Welding Products Manufacturing
Department: Quality Assurance & Quality Control
Designation: Head – Quality Control / Head – Quality
Reporting To: Plant Head / Director / COO
Location: [Plant Location]
Job Purpose
To lead the Quality Control function for welding consumables and ensure that all raw materials, manufacturing processes, finished products, and customer deliveries consistently meet applicable quality standards, technical specifications, customer requirements, and regulatory requirements.
The position will be responsible for establishing a strong quality culture, reducing rejection and customer complaints, improving process capability, ensuring product consistency, and leading the QA/QC team.
Key Responsibilities1. Quality Management
- Develop, implement, and maintain the company's Quality Management System.
- Establish quality objectives, KPIs, inspection standards, control plans, and quality procedures.
- Ensure compliance with applicable ISO, AWS, BIS/IS, ASME, EN and customer-specific requirements, as applicable to the product range.
- Lead internal, customer, certification-body, and third-party quality audits.
- Drive continuous improvement and quality-cost reduction initiatives.
2. Incoming Raw Material Quality
- Establish inspection standards for raw materials such as welding wire, alloying materials, fluxes, chemicals, minerals, powders, binders, and other inputs.
- Ensure incoming materials are inspected against approved specifications and test certificates.
- Maintain material traceability from incoming raw material through finished product.
- Approve/reject materials based on defined quality criteria.
- Develop and monitor supplier quality performance.
3. In-Process Quality Control
- Establish process control parameters for manufacturing of welding consumables.
- Monitor critical parameters affecting product quality and consistency.
- Ensure proper inspection at all stages of production, including mixing, extrusion, drying/baking, coating, sintering, winding, packing, etc., depending on product type.
- Implement SPC and statistical analysis for critical product/process parameters.
- Identify process deviations and coordinate corrective actions with Production and Process Engineering.
4. Finished Product Quality
- Establish and approve specifications and inspection/test plans for finished products.
- Ensure testing of welding consumables for relevant characteristics such as:
- Chemical composition
- Moisture/hydrogen control
- Mechanical properties
- Weld metal properties
- Deposition efficiency
- Tensile/yield strength
- Elongation
- Impact properties
- Weld appearance and usability
- Dimensional and coating characteristics
- Ensure laboratory equipment, testing methods, and calibration systems are properly maintained.
- Review and approve test reports and certificates of analysis/conformance.
5. Welding & Application Quality
- Provide technical guidance on welding consumables and their application.
- Review welding procedures, qualification requirements, and product performance data where applicable.
- Support welding trials, customer trials, product qualification, and new product development.
- Investigate welding-related product failures and performance issues.
- Work closely with Welding Engineers, R&D, Production, and Technical Service teams.
6. Customer Complaints & CAPA
- Lead investigation of customer complaints related to product quality or welding performance.
- Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA) using appropriate problem-solving tools.
- Implement and monitor Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA).
- Track complaint trends, rejection rates, returns, and warranty-related quality issues.
- Ensure effective closure and verification of corrective actions.
7. Non-Conformance Control
- Establish procedures for identification, segregation, disposition, and traceability of non-conforming products.
- Review and approve NCRs, concessions, rework, and rejection decisions.
- Monitor internal rejection, scrap, rework, and customer rejection trends.
- Drive actions to reduce Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).
8. Supplier Quality
- Develop supplier quality standards and evaluation systems.
- Conduct supplier audits and quality reviews.
- Monitor supplier rejection and performance trends.
- Work with Purchase and suppliers on corrective actions and quality improvement.
- Support qualification of new suppliers and alternate raw materials.
9. Documentation & Traceability
- Ensure complete and accurate quality records.
- Control specifications, SOPs, inspection standards, test methods, formats, and quality manuals.
- Ensure batch-wise product traceability.
- Review Certificates of Analysis/Test Certificates before product release.
- Maintain quality records required for audits and customer requirements.
10. Team Leadership
- Lead and develop the QA/QC, laboratory, inspection, and testing teams.
- Define responsibilities, competency requirements, and performance objectives.
- Conduct training on quality systems, testing methods, welding consumables, problem-solving, and applicable standards.
- Build a strong quality-first culture across Production, R&D, Purchase, Stores, and Sales/Technical Service.
Key Quality KPIs
- Customer complaint PPM / complaint rate
- Internal rejection %
- Customer rejection %
- Scrap and rework %
- First Pass Yield
- Cost of Poor Quality
- CAPA closure time
- Supplier rejection %
- On-time quality release
- Audit non-conformities
- Repeat complaints
- Process capability / SPC performance
Qualification
- B.E./B.Tech in Mechanical, Metallurgy, Materials, Chemical Engineering, or equivalent.
- Postgraduate qualification in Quality Management/Metallurgy would be an advantage.
- Relevant certifications in Quality Management, Welding Technology, NDT, or Lead Auditor will be preferred.
Experience
- 12–18+ years of experience in Quality Assurance/Quality Control, preferably in:
- Welding consumables
- Welding electrodes
- MIG/TIG wires
- SAW flux/wires
- Welding products
- Special alloys
- Steel/metallurgical manufacturing
- Heavy engineering or related manufacturing industries
- At least 5 years in a managerial/leadership position.
Technical Competencies
- Strong knowledge of welding consumables and welding metallurgy.
- Knowledge of SMAW, GMAW/MIG, GTAW/TIG, FCAW and SAW consumables.
- Understanding of welding consumable classifications and applicable AWS/ASME/EN/ISO/BIS standards.
- Knowledge of chemical and mechanical testing.
- Knowledge of laboratory practices and calibration.
- Strong understanding of QMS, SPC, 7 QC Tools, FMEA, CAPA, RCA and continuous improvement.
- Experience with supplier quality and customer audits.
- Ability to interpret technical specifications, test reports, drawings and standards.
- Strong analytical, leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Preferred Certifications
- ISO 9001 Lead Auditor
- Welding Inspector / Welding Technology certification
- NDT Level II/III, where relevant
- Six Sigma / Lean certification
- Internal Auditor certification
- Knowledge of AWS/ASME/ISO welding standards
Key Interfaces
Internal: Production, R&D, Process Engineering, Purchase, Stores, Sales, Technical Service, Maintenance, and Plant Management.
External: Customers, suppliers, certification agencies, auditors, laboratories, and third-party inspection agencies.
Authority
- Hold/reject raw materials or finished products that do not meet approved specifications.
- Stop or hold production when a critical quality deviation is identified.
- Approve quality release of finished products.
- Initiate NCR and CAPA processes.
- Recommend supplier suspension/development based on quality performance.
- Escalate critical quality risks directly to Plant Head/Management.
Pay: ₹100,000.00 - ₹120,000.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Leave encashment
- Provident Fund
Work Location: In person
