Head of Quality and Product Reliability in Stewartby

Location: Stewartby, Bedfordshire, UK - must live within a short commute of Stewartby

Department: Engineering

Reporting To: Engineering Director

Role Overview: Andersen EV Plc is the UK leader in the design, development, manufacture, sale and distribution of prestigious, smart-enabled domestic and work-place charging points for electric vehicles. We are proud of our reputation for quality that has enabled partnerships with car manufacturers and energy companies, including, but not exclusively, Jaguar Land-Rover, Porsche, Renault, Geely, Octopus Energy and OVO.

We are looking for a multi-skilled Head of Quality and Product Reliability to be responsible for the quality of our products and services and to also have control and investigation of all units and equipment that have been returned by or on behalf of our customers. We have high quality standards and expect minimal product issues. We are proud of outstanding customer satisfaction and as our success grows with market expansion, we must ensure that all our products and services meet the highest level of quality and reliability. Furthermore, any emerging faults or issues must be identified at the earliest possible point and then eradicated from our production and systems.

Following product training, the successful applicant will be expected to have the necessary level of skills to differentiate between hardware, firmware and software faults and issues. In respect of hardware with digital and analogue circuits, you will have the ability to fault find down to component level and will be able to identify design defects and errors. In respect of firmware and software you will be able to identify the systems and sub-systems causing errors and faults and be able to demonstrate the deficiency to the design engineers responsible for the firmware and software. You will be skilled at replicating reporting faults and errors. You will have an understanding of mechanical engineering and will be adept at using accurate, high resolution, measuring equipment.

You will be responsible for all aspects of quality, ensuring that products and services reach our customers in pristine condition and superbly presented. For example, you will ensure that all our packaging is extremely robust to ensure that there is no risk of damage when in transit with third-party couriers. This is a senior role, and you will be expected to ensure that all persons having responsibility for the maintenance of quality standards within the company carry out quality related processes with due diligence and in a timely manner. You will have sufficient supervisory experience to ensure that your will prevails. It is envisaged that you will have significant experience of working to build quality and product reliability within a small to medium sized company that produces smart enabled or IoT electrical and electronic products.

Duties: You will be an integral member of the Engineering Team, reporting to the Engineering Director. You will have a proactive role in all development projects, whether relating to products or services, to ensure the highest level of quality and that prior to commercial release the product or service is of exemplary standards of quality and free from inherent fault. Your input and recommendations will be a key focus of the sign-off process. You will also ensure ongoing conformity of all constituent parts and systems.

On a daily basis, you will check all received returned units and parts that are related to a fault report and remedial action that has taken place at the customer’s address. You will check that all returned units and parts are accompanied by the correct documentation. You will report any errors in the returns process. You will then examine the returned units and parts. In the case of a fault, you will investigate the unit, in our fully equipped laboratory, to pinpoint the fault and the root cause, which you will document and report. In the case of a hardware fault, you will fully identify the design or component defect and make recommendations for the immediate action to be taken to eradicate that fault from further occurrences. In the case of a firmware or software issue, you will identify the system or sub-system that is faulty or has incompatibilities or bugs and you will document and report the fault, which will then be allocated to a firmware or software design engineer in the team, with whom you will support in validating the elimination of the fault. You will also work closely with hardware design engineers within the team.

You will directly supervise an assistant who will be responsible for booking in product returns, confirmation of fault categories, and initial testing as directed by you. Following the technical investigation that is carried out by you or at your direction, your assistant will also strip, restock or otherwise dispose of returned products.

You will have significant interface with senior management and will have considerable input into staff training and definition of new processes, whilst maintaining cost effective overheads and not introducing unnecessary bureaucracy.

Qualifications and Experience: Selection of the successful candidate will be based upon ability, but you will likely be educated to degree level in electronic/electrical engineering. You will have an understanding of mechanical engineering. You will be self-motivated and have a strong proactive motivation to permanently solve faults, problems and issues. You will be expected to work methodically and contribute to the overall excellence of the Engineering Team.

You will have had a minimum of five years’ experience in a quality assurance role with management responsibilities. You will have previously held a position of ensuring quality and product reliability within a small to medium sized business. You will be entirely conversant with fault finding and fault resolution with electronic and IOT products. It will be advantageous to be conversant with ISO 9001:2015 and the quality requirements for a Business Management System.

Salary: £60,000 to £65,000 per annum

Benefits: Salary Sacrifice Electric Car (optional), Company events, Company pension, Employee discount, On-site parking (free)

Schedule: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:30 with one hour for lunch

Ability to commute: Must be able to reliably commute to Bedford, MK43 9ND, on a daily basis. Will live within 30 miles road distance from MK43 9ND

Job Type: Full-time

Work authorisation: United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: Stewartby. In person. There is no remote or hybrid working.