Head of Quality & Product Industrialisation

Coats is a world leader in thread manufacturing and structural components for apparel and footwear, as well as an innovative pioneer in performance materials. These critical solutions are used to create a wide range of products, including ones that provide safety and protection for people, data, and the environment. Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE250 company and a FTSE4Good Index constituent. Revenues in 2022 were $1.6bn.

Trusted by the world's leading companies to deliver vital, innovative, and sustainable solutions, Coats provides value-adding products including apparel, accessory and footwear threads, structural components for footwear and accessories, fabrics, yarns, and software applications. Customer partners include companies from the apparel, footwear, automotive, telecoms, personal protection, and outdoor goods industries.

With a proud heritage dating back more than 250 years and spirit of evolution to constantly stay ahead of changing market needs, Coats has operations across some 50 countries with a workforce of over 17,000, serving its customers worldwide.

Coats connects talent, textiles, and technology, to make a better and more sustainable world. Worldwide, there are three dedicated Coats Innovation Hubs, where experts collaborate with partners to create the materials and products of tomorrow. It participates in the UN Global Compact and is committed to Science Based sustainability targets for 2030 and beyond, with a goal of achieving net-zero by 2050. Coats is also committed to achieving its goals in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, workplace health & safety, employee & community wellbeing, and supplier social performance.

Head of Quality & Product Industrialisation, India & Vietnam – Safety Fabrics

Location: Madurai, India

Role purpose: 

The Head of Quality & Product Industrialization - Safety Fabrics is responsible for leading the global quality strategy, product industrialization, certification and technical governance for Coats' Safety Fabrics business.
This role ensures that new and existing products are robustly industrialized, consistently manufactured and fully compliant with global safety standards. Working closely with Innovation, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Commercial teams, the role provides technical leadership across Coats' Safety Fabrics manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners, to drive product quality, manufacturing excellence, certification readiness and continuous improvement in support of sustainable global business growth. 
An ideal candidate for the role needs to technically strong and execution-oriented leader with proven experience in safety fabrics or technical textiles, responsible for product development, quality, certification and industrialisation within a manufacturing environment. Brings deep understanding of global safety standards, product testing, regulatory compliance and manufacturing processes, with the ability to successfully transition new products from development into stable, scalable production. Experienced in working across cross-functional teams, including manufacturing, quality, supply chain, procurement and commercial, to deliver consistent product performance, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. Demonstrates strong problem-solving capability, technical credibility and hands-on leadership, with experience supporting manufacturing operations across multiple sites and third-party manufacturing partners.

What you will do (Key Responsibilities): 

Quality Leadership

• Define and deploy the global quality strategy for Safety Fabrics.
• Establish common quality systems, standards and governance across all manufacturing locations.
• Drive zero-defect culture and Right First-Time performance.

Product Industrialization

• Lead industrialization of new products from development through commercial production.
• Ensure manufacturing readiness before product launch.
• Standardize manufacturing processes globally.

Certification, Compliance & Regulatory Readiness

• Define and maintain the global certification and compliance strategy for the Safety Fabrics portfolio.
• Ensure products meet applicable international and customer-specific standards, including EN, ISO, ASTM and NFPA.
• Lead product qualification, testing and certification activities with internal laboratories and external certification bodies.
• Establish and lead the Safety Fabrics Technical Laboratory at Perundurai, developing world-class testing, certification and product validation capabilities to support innovation, industrialization and customer qualification.
• Manage certification planning, technical documentation and ongoing compliance for new and existing products.
• Monitor changes in regulatory standards and ensure timely implementation across products and manufacturing operations.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain teams to ensure certified products are consistently produced across Coats manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners.
• Support customer technical approvals, audits and product validation while driving continuous improvement in testing, certification and quality systems.

Manufacturing Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Drive manufacturing excellence across Coats' Safety Fabrics operations by improving process capability, product consistency and operational efficiency.
• Lead industrialisation and standardisation of manufacturing processes to ensure robust, scalable and repeatable production.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives through root cause analysis, CAPA, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to reduce defects, improve yield and optimise cost.
• Establish and monitor key quality and manufacturing KPIs, including Right First Time (RFT), First Pass Yield (FPY), Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ), customer complaints and process capability.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Quality teams to implement best practices and ensure consistent execution across manufacturing sites in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners.

Product & Supplier Quality

• Establish and maintain robust product and supplier quality systems to ensure consistent product performance and compliance with customer and regulatory requirements.
• Lead supplier qualification, raw material approval, supplier audits and ongoing performance monitoring.
• Drive root cause analysis, CAPA and continuous improvement to reduce customer complaints, improve product reliability and minimise the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).
• Partner with Manufacturing, Procurement and Supply Chain to ensure quality standards are consistently achieved across Coats' manufacturing operations and third-party manufacturing partners.

People Management

• Build and develop the Quality & Product Industrialization team in line with business needs and future growth.
• Lead and influence cross-functional teams across Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain.
• Manage indirect reporting relationships across Coats' manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners.
• Foster a culture of quality, accountability and continuous improvement.

Financial Impact

• Support business profitability through improved product quality, manufacturing efficiency, reduced cost of poor quality and successful industrialisation of new products.

Who you are (Requirements): 

• Degree in Textile Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science or related discipline.
• 10+ years' experience in safety fabrics, technical textiles or engineered materials.
• Proven experience in product industrialisation, quality management and manufacturing processes.
• Strong working knowledge of EN, ISO, ASTM, NFPA and other relevant safety standards and certification processes.
• Experience working with manufacturing operations, preferably across multiple sites and external manufacturing partners.
• Demonstrated experience in root cause analysis, CAPA, process improvement and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional leadership skills.

What will set you apart (Nice to Have):

• Master's degree in Textile Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science or a related discipline.
• Six Sigma Green Belt/Black Belt, Lean Manufacturing or Quality Management certification.
• Experience with textile coating, dyeing, finishing or advanced fabric manufacturing processes.
• Experience working with international certification bodies (e.g. AITEX, UL, SEI) and global PPE standards.
• Experience supporting global customers, product qualification and customer technical audits.

At Coats Group, we are committed to innovation, excellence, and fostering a diverse and collaborative environment where every team member can thrive. If you are passionate 
about making an impact in the textile industry and eager to join a global leader with a rich heritage and a forward-thinking approach, we invite you to take the next step in your career 
with us.
Apply now to be part of our dynamic team and help shape the future of textiles

Role purpose: 

The Head of Quality & Product Industrialization - Safety Fabrics is responsible for leading the global quality strategy, product industrialization, certification and technical governance for Coats' Safety Fabrics business.
This role ensures that new and existing products are robustly industrialized, consistently manufactured and fully compliant with global safety standards. Working closely with Innovation, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Commercial teams, the role provides technical leadership across Coats' Safety Fabrics manufacturing operations in India and Vietnam, including third-party manufacturing partners, to drive product quality, manufacturing excellence, certification readiness and continuous improvement in support of sustainable global business growth. 
An ideal candidate for the role needs to technically strong and execution-oriented leader with proven experience in safety fabrics or technical textiles, responsible for product development, quality, certification and industrialisation within a manufacturing environment. Brings deep understanding of global safety standards, product testing, regulatory compliance and manufacturing processes, with the ability to successfully transition new products from development into stable, scalable production. Experienced in working across cross-functional teams, including manufacturing, quality, supply chain, procurement and commercial, to deliver consistent product performance, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. Demonstrates strong problem-solving capability, technical credibility and hands-on leadership, with experience supporting manufacturing operations across multiple sites and third-party manufacturing partners.

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