Senior Manager Quality – Garnet

Coherent Corp.•Easton, PA

2d•$116,000 - $171,000

About The Position

The Senior Manager Quality – Garnet is a hands-on leadership role responsible for building and leading the Garnet Quality function while directly supporting manufacturing quality at the Easton, Pennsylvania, and Hillsborough, New Jersey, sites. The role will establish the organization, quality systems, standards, inspection and testing controls, metrics, prevention culture, continual-improvement activities, and corrective-action processes needed to support Garnet’s growth. It also focuses on cost reduction, profit improvement, waste elimination, faster execution, and employee and customer satisfaction. As the organization develops, the position could expand to lead the full Garnet Quality Department. The successful candidate will move between strategic planning and manufacturing-floor work, including directly performing or observing inspections, reviewing data, and working through defects with operators and engineers. They will create practical production systems, exercise judgment to balance quality containment with delivery needs, and develop a sustainable department rather than remain its sole quality resource. The position should report to the Senior Director of the Garnet Business and work cross-functionally with Engineering, Fabrication, LPE Growth, Supply Chain, Facilities, EH&S, and Global Quality. The role must follow site EHS procedures and Coherent corporate EHS standards. Depending on location, it may also be responsible for executing and maintaining applicable ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, or other standards within the Quality Management System and Environmental Management System. Coherent describes itself as a global leader in lasers, engineered materials, and networking components, serving industrial, optical communications, military, life sciences, semiconductor equipment, and consumer markets.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, quality, science, manufacturing, mathematics, statistics, or a related technical field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
Typically 10 or more years of progressive quality, manufacturing, or operations experience, including leadership of quality systems and problem-solving activities.
Demonstrated experience building or materially improving a quality organization, QMS, inspection system, or manufacturing quality process.
Hands-on experience with root-cause analysis, 8D corrective action, nonconformance control, audit preparation, SPC, process capability, and continuous improvement.
Experience working directly with production personnel and operating effectively in a developing, technically complex manufacturing environment.
Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, test data, process requirements, and customer quality requirements.
Strong communication, organization, judgment, and follow-through, with the ability to make timely quality decisions in a growing operation.
Ability to balance financial and quality objectives.
Willingness to perform or directly observe inspections, review data, and work through defects with operators and engineers.
Ability to challenge decisions when quality is at risk and balance containment with delivery needs.

Nice To Haves

Experience in semiconductor, optical, crystal growth, thin-film, ceramics, precision fabrication, or other high-precision manufacturing.
Experience supporting multiple manufacturing sites or standardizing quality practices across a manufacturing network.
Working knowledge of ISO 9001, customer audits, supplier quality, and formal quality-management systems.
Experience with Oracle, ERP/MES systems, electronic quality records, or manufacturing data systems.
Lean, Six Sigma, ASQ, CQE, or similar quality certification or formal training.

Responsibilities

Define the Garnet Quality organization, staffing plan, responsibilities, procedures, training requirements, and implementation roadmap.
Develop and maintain practical quality-management-system processes, document control, record retention, and metrics; achieve ISO 9001:2026 certification for Garnet operations.
Create inspection standards, control plans, sampling plans, acceptance criteria, hold/release practices, and product-release controls across Easton and Hillsborough.
Improve process repeatability and product consistency using SPC, data analysis, capability studies, yield analysis, defect Pareto analysis, and Gemba observations.
Own or facilitate root-cause analysis, containment, corrective and preventive actions, effectiveness checks, and escalation of significant quality issues.
Lead customer complaints, RMAs, supplier quality issues, corrective actions, quality documentation, and communication of quality requirements.
Create common Garnet quality standards and best practices for Easton and Hillsborough, aligned with Coherent Global Quality Manuals, Procedures, and Processes.
Support manufacturing quality directly, including performing or observing inspections, reviewing data, and working through defects with production personnel and engineers.
Help deliver cost reduction, profit improvement, waste elimination, faster execution, and employee and customer satisfaction.
Follow site EHS procedures and Coherent corporate EHS standards.
Depending on location, execute and maintain applicable quality and environmental standards within the QMS and EMS.