Manager, Materials Quality Engineering

Job Description:

Manager, Materials Quality Engineering

We are seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Manager of Materials Quality Engineering (MQE) based in the Tokyo office to lead a regional team supporting critical raw materials and supplier quality activities across chemistry, membranes, and mechanical fabrication commodities. This role is central to strengthening a prevention-focused quality culture for the two Entegris manufacturing plants in Japan while supporting both the Advanced Purity Solutions (APS) and Materials Solutions (MS) divisions.

The MQE Manager will provide people leadership, technical direction, and strategic oversight for team members supporting Japan operations and regional supplier quality needs. This individual will enable strong execution across the four MQE pillars: Supplier Management, Raw Material Management, Management of Change, and New Product Development. The role requires close partnership with Japan plant leadership, global MQE teams, Procurement, Operations, R&D, Customer Quality, and suppliers to ensure robust material performance, disciplined change control, proactive risk mitigation, and aligned support for APS and MS business priorities.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Materials Quality Engineers supporting chemistry, membranes, and mechanical fabrication commodities across APS and MS.

• Manage and support employees located both in-person and remote, ensuring inclusive communication, balanced workload distribution, and effective collaboration with local plants and global partners.

• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development planning.

• Build technical capability through structured training, mentorship, and knowledge sharing across chemistry, membrane, mechanical fabrication, supplier quality, and raw material management disciplines.

• Promote collaboration, clear communication, and trust.

MQE Pillar Leadership

• Engage and influence Japan plant teams, global MQE partners, APS and MS business stakeholders, Procurement, R&D, Customer Quality, and suppliers to build alignment, clarify decision rights, and drive timely execution across all pillars.

• Communicate clearly and respectfully, translating complex technical and program information into concise, actionable insights tailored to engineers, leadership, suppliers, and customers.

• Provide technical guidance on investigations and prevention across chemistry, membranes, and mechanical fabrication commodities, including failure analysis, root cause, SPC, FMEA, control plans, and risk mitigation.

• Represent MQE as a steady, credible, and solutions‑oriented leader during audits, escalations, supplier reviews, and cross‑functional forums, ensuring a consistent voice and disciplined follow-through.

• Ensure consistent MQE support for Entegris manufacturing plants, balancing local responsiveness with global standards and cross-divisional alignment.

Execution & Governance

• Establish the operating rhythm to manage performance, risk, and improvement across the four MQE pillars for operations and regional supplier quality support.

• Ensure timely reporting of status, risks, and deliverables, escalating issues early and enabling fact-based decisions.

• Deploy best‑practice program management frameworks to drive cross-functional alignment, accountability, and on-time execution.

External Engagement

• Serve as an escalation point for supplier investigations, excursions, audits, and customer-facing quality issues tied to supported raw materials and commodities, ensuring disciplined containment, communication, and closure.

• Ensure high-quality external communication packages (technical reports, OCAPs, 8Ds, and presentations) that align to customer expectations and internal standards.

• Lead supplier quality engagements for chemistry, membranes, and mechanical fabrication commodities, including corrective and preventive actions, audit readiness, process capability reviews, and sustained closure of systemic issues.

Quality Systems & Operational Excellence

• Ensure compliance with global quality policies, raw material control plans, supplier quality expectations, and management of change requirements across APS and MS supported materials.

• Maintain zero‑overdue CAR, OFIs, OCAPs, or CRs.

• Monitor and improve key performance indicators (e.g., OOC%, QN/NCMR cycle time, SPC maturity, EQOS, change cycle time, and investigation timeliness) and drive corrective action when performance drifts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related field

• 10+ years industry experience; 3+ years people leadership required.

• Fluency in Japanese and English required; additional fluency in Mandarin or another regional language is a plus. Ability to communicate effectively across regional and global teams is essential.

• Experience managing employees and collaborating across global, cross-functional teams preferred.

• Strong understanding of SPC, FMEA, supplier quality systems, materials characterization, chemistry, membrane technologies, and mechanical fabrication processes. Six Sigma Green Belt desired.

• Proficiency with Minitab, JMP, SAS, SAP, Power BI, Microsoft Office.

Travel: Up to 20%, including travel between Japan manufacturing sites, suppliers, and regional/global meetings as needed.