Director of Quality

What we need 

The Director of Quality will lead Symbotic’s Quality organization across automation and robotics products, encompassing Quality Engineering, Manufacturing Quality, Supplier Quality, and Installation Quality. This role is responsible for defining quality requirements and ensuring that standards are consistently met—from supplier components through manufacturing and field deployment—to deliver reliable performance and exceptional customer satisfaction at scale. 

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in automation and robotics, with a proven track record of leadership in operational quality, compliance, and technical excellence. They will collaborate closely with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and service teams—both internally and with external partners—to drive continuous improvement, ensure execution to plan, and achieve flawless customer installations. This role requires frequent travel to supplier, manufacturing, and customer sites, including occasional extended stays based on project needs. 

What you’ll do 

• Lead product quality engineering efforts to ensure design intent translates into reliable, manufacturable solutions. 

• Partner with R&D and Product Engineering to embed quality requirements into new product development. 

• Apply advanced quality tools (FMEA, root cause analysis, risk assessments) to identify and mitigate risks early. 

• Support Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) for new product introductions and production ramps. 

• Oversee manufacturing quality across internal operations and external partners, defining and enforcing quality standards for production processes, testing, and validation. 

• Monitor yield, process stability, and defect trends; drive corrective and preventive actions to sustain continuous improvement. 

• Ensure timely resolution of deviations and manage change control processes effectively. 

• Develop and maintain supplier quality programs to ensure consistent delivery of reliable components and materials. 

• Audit and monitor supplier performance, qualify new suppliers, support sourcing decisions, and drive improvement initiatives. 

• Partner with field service and operations teams to ensure installation quality, safety, and performance standards are met. 

• Resolve field issues quickly and capture lessons learned to feed back into engineering and manufacturing for continuous improvement. 

• Establish and manage quality metrics across all functions to measure performance and improvement. 

• Facilitate cross-functional problem-solving, CAPA activities, and cost-of-quality reduction initiatives. 

• Act as a senior escalation point for critical product, supplier, or installation quality issues. 

• Foster a culture of quality, accountability, and continuous improvement across all teams. 

What you’ll need 

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline required; advanced degree (MBA, Master’s in Engineering, or Quality/Regulatory focus) preferred. 

• Minimum of 15 years of experience in quality, manufacturing, and automation development, with a strong preference for robotics or advanced automation environments. 

• Proven leadership experience across Quality Engineering, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing Quality, and Installation Quality functions. 

• Deep technical understanding of automation equipment, system integration, and field installations. 

• Strong knowledge of quality systems, standards, and methodologies (ISO, APQP, FMEA, 8D, Lean Six Sigma). 

• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and service organizations. 

• Strong project management, analytical, and problem-solving skills. 

• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage effectively across all levels of the organization and with external partners. 

• Ability to thrive in complex, fast-paced environments with evolving priorities. 

• Willingness to travel frequently to supplier, manufacturing, and customer sites as required. 

Our Environment  

• Travel is required up to 50% of the time. Employees must have a valid driver’s license and the ability to drive and/or fly to client, other customer locations or our main office in Wilmington, MA.  

• The person taking this position will be required to perform work at our customer installation locations for extended periods of time where equipment is installed and ready for commissioning.    

• The employee is responsible to own a credit card and manage expenses personally to be reimbursed on a bi-weekly basis.    

• The employee is frequently required to walk and reach with hands and arms.    

• The employee is routinely required to work at heights of up to 45 feet and within restrictive areas of 24 inches. to stand; climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.    

• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.    

• Must comply with all safety requirements and protocols, including without limitation Lock out tag out safety protocols and fall protection safety protocols.     

• Approximately 80% of time will be spent on a construction site with PPE required (hard hat, safety vest, steel toes, eyeglasses, ear protection, fall protection (e.g., safety harness).    

• There will be steep stairs to climb into the structure. You may be required to routinely walk up and down stairs to navigate the automation structure.   

• You will regularly be near railings that are high off the ground.    

• Subject to environmental conditions, protection from weather conditions but not necessarily temperature changes. Must be capable of working in temperatures ranging from 105° to 32° Fahrenheit.   

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