Director, Manufacturing Excellence

Location: Mesa, Arizona / Hybrid as required

Employment Type: Full-time

Position Summary

The Director of Manufacturing Excellence & reliability is responsible for defining and executing the manufacturing excellence, quality, and reliability strategy for utility-scale power electronics products produced through contract manufacturing partners. This role provides strategic and organizational leadership across Manufacturing Excellence, Quality & Supplier Excellence, and Reliability & Product Integrity, translating business objectives into functional strategies, operating plans, organizational priorities, and measurable results. The Director will lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and partner closely with senior leaders across Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Product, Service, and other functions to ensure products consistently achieve safety, quality, performance, cost, manufacturability, and reliability objectives throughout the product lifecycle. This leader will also serve as a senior representative of the organization with contract manufacturers, strategic suppliers, and customers, including executive business reviews, customer audits, factory acceptance activities, technical reviews, and other engagements involving matters of significance to the business.

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing Excellence Strategy & Leadership

Define and execute the long-term Manufacturing Excellence and Reliability strategy aligned with company and business objectives.

Translate broader business strategy into functional priorities, annual operating plans, objectives, and key results (OKRs).

Establish organizational policies, standards, governance models, methods, and performance expectations across manufacturing excellence, quality, and reliability.

Lead, develop, and mentor multidisciplinary engineering teams, building organizational capability and a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

Partner with senior management to establish priorities, resolve complex cross-functional issues, and drive decisions with significant operational and business impact.

Establish and monitor executive-level KPIs to measure manufacturing performance, quality, reliability, supplier performance, and continuous improvement.

Manufacturing Readiness & Operational Excellence

Establish manufacturing readiness requirements, governance, and evaluation criteria for new products, manufacturing processes, and production ramps.

Provide functional approval and leadership oversight for production readiness and manufacturing risk.

Ensure manufacturing processes demonstrate appropriate capability, control, scalability, and repeatability prior to and throughout production.

Sponsor automation, process optimization, Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives across internal and contract manufacturing operations.

Drive cross-functional resolution of complex manufacturing challenges involving Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Operations, and contract manufacturing partners.

Establish methods and standards that improve manufacturing performance, scalability, cost, and operational effectiveness.

Quality & Supplier Excellence

Own the strategic direction and performance framework for supplier and contract manufacturer quality.

Establish quality expectations, governance mechanisms, escalation processes, and performance standards for strategic manufacturing partners.

Lead executive-level supplier and contract manufacturer business and quality reviews, including negotiation and resolution of significant quality and operational matters.

Ensure robust quality management systems, corrective and preventive action (CAPA), root-cause analysis, and systemic corrective actions are implemented and sustained.

Drive supplier capability improvement and ensure manufacturing partners consistently meet business, customer, and product requirements.

Reconcile competing stakeholder priorities and drive decisions that protect product quality, customer commitments, and long-term business objectives.

Reliability & Product Integrity

Define and lead the product reliability and product integrity strategy across the product lifecycle.

Establish reliability objectives, qualification requirements, validation standards, and performance criteria in partnership with Engineering and Product organizations.

Provide leadership oversight of product qualification programs and ensure reliability risks are identified, understood, and addressed prior to production release.

Monitor field performance and translate product and warranty data into strategic reliability improvement priorities.

Sponsor cross-functional initiatives to reduce warranty exposure, improve product performance, and address systemic reliability risks.

Ensure lessons learned from manufacturing, field performance, and reliability analysis are incorporated into future product and process development.

Customer & Executive Engagement

Own senior-level customer engagement for Manufacturing, Quality, and Reliability matters.

Host and lead customer visits, quality audits, technical reviews, factory acceptance activities, and executive meetings.

Represent the organization in discussions involving significant manufacturing, quality, reliability, or supplier matters.

Communicate complex technical and operational issues clearly to executive, customer, and cross-functional audiences.

Partner with senior leadership to develop resolution strategies for critical customer or operational issues.

Organizational & Financial Leadership

Direct the activities and priorities of the Manufacturing Excellence & Reliability organization through engineering leaders and multidisciplinary teams.

Develop organizational capability, succession plans, talent strategies, and technical leadership within the function.

Own departmental budgets, resource planning, workforce priorities, and investment recommendations.

Ensure functional budgets, programs, and schedules meet corporate requirements.

Evaluate and prioritize investments in manufacturing technology, automation, quality, reliability, and engineering capability based on business impact and long‑term strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical discipline; Master’s degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in power electronics manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, quality, reliability, or related engineering disciplines.
• Significant experience supporting complex power electronics products and manufacturing environments; utility‑scale inverter, energy, or similar high‑power electrical product experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing manufacturing, quality, and/or reliability strategies within a contract manufacturing environment.
• Proven leadership experience managing multidisciplinary engineering organizations and developing technical leaders and teams.
• Demonstrated experience working with contract manufacturers and strategic suppliers, including executive-level performance management and issue resolution.
• Strong working knowledge of APQP, FMEA/PFMEA, SPC, CAPA, Lean, Six Sigma, manufacturing process capability, and reliability engineering methodologies.
• Experience establishing manufacturing readiness, production qualification, and operational governance for new product introduction and production ramp.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business strategy into functional plans, organizational priorities, operating mechanisms, and measurable outcomes.
• Experience managing departmental budgets, resources, priorities, and complex programs with significant business impact.
• Strong executive presence with demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders, customers, suppliers, and cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Experience leading customer‑facing quality, manufacturing, or reliability engagements, including audits, technical reviews, factory acceptance activities, and executive discussions.
• Ability to navigate complex, ambiguous issues, reconcile multiple stakeholder perspectives, and make decisions with significant long‑term operational and business impact.

About Nextpower

At Nextpower, we are driving the global energy transition with an integrated clean energy technology platform that combines intelligent structural, electrical, and digital solutions for utility‑scale power plants. Our comprehensive portfolio enables faster project delivery, higher performance, and greater reliability, helping our customers capture the full value of solar power. Our talented worldwide teams are redefining how solar power plants are designed, built, and operated every day with smart technology, data‑driven insights, and advanced automation. Together, we’re building the foundation for the world’s next generation of clean energy infrastructure.

Nextpower is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

We are Nextpower At Nextpower, we are driving the global energy transition with an integrated clean energy technology platform that combines intelligent structural, electrical, and digital solutions for utility‑scale power plants. Our comprehensive portfolio enables faster project delivery, higher performance, and greater reliability, helping our customers capture the full value of solar power. Our talented worldwide teams are redefining how solar power plants are designed, built, and operated every day with smart technology, data‑driven insights, and advanced automation. Together, we’re building the foundation for the world’s next generation of clean energy infrastructure.