Director, Quality

ŌURA • San Francisco, CA

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

ŌURA is seeking a Director, Quality to lead quality strategy and execution across its global engineering organization and supply chain. The role ensures quality and reliability are designed into products, components, suppliers, and manufacturing processes from concept and development through launch, ramp, and sustaining operations. The Director leads a global quality team and partners across Product Development, Hardware, Software, Reliability, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Customer Experience, and external suppliers.

This cross-functional leadership role connects customer and field needs with engineering requirements, component controls, supplier capability, manufacturing performance, and product reliability. The Director sets quality strategy and operating mechanisms, develops talent, influences engineering and operations leaders, and engages in product and supply chain quality issues as needed. The position is hybrid and based out of ŌURA’s San Francisco office.

Requirements

• 15+ years of experience in product quality, supplier quality, manufacturing quality, reliability, operations quality, or a related engineering discipline, including significant people leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success leading quality for complex, high-volume consumer electronics, wearable, medical-adjacent, or similarly reliability-sensitive products.
• Experience leading and developing teams in one or more of product quality, component quality, supplier quality, manufacturing quality, reliability, program quality, or sustaining quality.
• A track record of establishing quality strategy and operating mechanisms and delivering measurable improvements from early product development through launch and sustaining.
• Strong understanding of product development, design verification and validation, component qualification, reliability engineering, supplier quality, manufacturing processes, and production ramp.
• Strong command of quality and problem-solving methods, including FMEA, 8D, CAPA, SPC, GR&R, DOE, root-cause analysis, control plans, and process capability.
• Experience using engineering, field, warranty, customer support, supplier, and manufacturing data to identify systemic risks and drive corrective action.
• Ability to influence engineering, operations, suppliers, and executive leadership without relying solely on direct authority.
• Experience with engineering change control, supplier changes, component qualification, process validation, manufacturing readiness, or production quality improvement.
• Strong understanding of DFM/DFA, GD&T, Lean and Six Sigma principles, measurement systems, and quality management systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical risks into concise decisions and actions.
• Self-directed, pragmatic, and resilient leadership style, with willingness to engage in details while maintaining a strategic perspective.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Systems, Manufacturing, or a related engineering field.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree or quality certification.
• Experience across both product quality and supplier or manufacturing quality, or demonstrated ability to operate effectively across both domains.
• Experience with batteries, electronics, sensors, RF systems, precision mechanics, adhesives, miniaturized assemblies, or other demanding product technologies.
• Experience leading quality for products that combine hardware, firmware, software, and cloud-enabled member experiences.
• Experience building or scaling quality management systems during rapid company growth.
• Familiarity with product safety, regulatory, compliance, traceability, and risk-management requirements relevant to wearable technology.
• Experience with supplier development, APQP, PPAP, SCAR processes, multi-source strategies, capacity expansion, or major manufacturing transitions.
• Experience working across multiple countries, engineering sites, suppliers, and manufacturing partners.
• Hardware experience.
• Experience with global distributor teams.
• Experience growing and organizing a team.

Responsibilities

• Define the quality vision, operating model, standards, metrics, and priorities across product development, components, suppliers, manufacturing, reliability, and the field.
• Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing global team across product, component, supplier, manufacturing, reliability, program, and sustaining quality.
• Establish quality gates and decision criteria throughout the product lifecycle, from concept and architecture through EVT, DVT, PVT, launch, ramp, and sustaining.
• Partner with engineering and product leaders to influence architecture, design, materials, specifications, interfaces, validation plans, and manufacturability.
• Translate product requirements into component specifications, supplier quality requirements, qualification plans, control plans, inspection strategies, and process controls; improve supplier capability and performance.
• Ensure production processes are validated and controlled through PFMEA, process capability, measurement systems, yield targets, traceability, reaction plans, and continuous improvement.
• Establish risk-based quality planning using DFMEA, PFMEA, reliability planning, design reviews, tolerance analysis, GR&R, SPC, DOE, and risk-based verification and validation.
• Lead containment, failure analysis, root-cause investigations, corrective and preventive actions, and verification of effectiveness for product, component, supplier, manufacturing, reliability, and field issues.
• Use warranty, returns, customer support, field failure, reliability, manufacturing, and supplier data to identify systemic risks and improve field quality.
• Review product and component qualification, supplier capability, manufacturing readiness, validation evidence, yield, open risks, reliability results, and corrective actions before launch and ramp decisions.
• Ensure design, material, component, supplier, process, software, and manufacturing changes are assessed for quality and reliability impact and controlled through ECR/ECN and change-control processes.
• Define leading and lagging indicators across development, suppliers, manufacturing, and the field; improve data quality, traceability, dashboards, and escalation mechanisms.
• Reduce defects, escapes, returns, warranty claims, rework, scrap, and other costs of poor quality while improving reliability, supplier performance, and customer experience.
• Provide clear, risk-based recommendations when quality, schedule, cost, performance, capacity, and supply-continuity priorities compete.
• Present concise assessments of product risk, supplier and manufacturing performance, launch readiness, field quality, and improvement priorities to senior leadership.
• Build a culture of prevention and accountability, with clear ownership for requirements, validation, supplier controls, manufacturing execution, and sustained performance.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity packages.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance, and mental health resources.
• An ŌURA Ring and employee discounts for friends and family.
• 20 days of paid time off, 13 paid holidays, and 8 days of flexible wellness time off.
• Paid sick leave and parental leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director