Director, Quality

Job Title: Director of Quality

FLSA Status: Exempt

Group: Regular - Full Time

Department: Continuous Improvement / Quality

Location: Houston, TX

About Cooper Machinery Services:

Cooper Machinery Services provides natural gas compression equipment and services to customers globally in the Oil & Gas, Power, Transportation, and Marine sectors. With a proud heritage dating back to 1833, Cooper Machinery Services is the OEM for legendary product lines including Cooper-Bessemer™, Ajax™, Superior™, Gemini, TSI, CSI, Enterprise, and Joy. Headquartered in Houston, TX, but with commercial and services hubs around the world, Cooper Machinery Services provides world-class services to more than 22,000 units in its installed base.

Our strength is our people. Each employee plays an integral role in our success and growth. With a commitment to our vision that strong relationships drive strong results and better business, our people make Cooper Machinery Services legendary.

Job Overview:

The Director of Quality will provide enterprise-level leadership for Quality across all Cooper Machinery Services operations, including manufacturing, field service, remanufacturing, supply chain, and engineering. This role is accountable for developing and executing the Cooper Quality Management System, driving world-class quality culture, and ensuring consistent standards, processes, and results across the organization.

The Director will lead a team of quality professionals, partner with executive leadership, and collaborate with functional leaders to improve product reliability, reduce cost of poor quality (COPQ), and strengthen customer satisfaction.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership
  • Develop and implement the enterprise Quality vision, strategy, and roadmap aligned with Cooper's business objectives.
  • Serve as the champion for quality excellence, regulatory compliance, and continuous quality improvement.
• Quality Management System (QMS)
  • Standardize and oversee QMS across all sites (manufacturing, reman, field service).
  • Ensure compliance with ISO 9001:2015 standards, industry codes, and customer requirements.
  • Lead audit programs, corrective/preventive actions, and management reviews.
• Supplier & Partner Quality
  • Oversee supplier qualification, audits, and ongoing performance monitoring.
  • Work with sourcing to mitigate risk (tariffs, foundry capacity, heavy-iron supply).
  • Ensure suppliers meet Cooper's standards for critical components (engines, compressors, turbochargers, etc.).
• Operational Excellence
  • Establish enterprise-wide metrics for quality performance, including COPQ, Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs), warranty, on-time delivery (OTD), and customer satisfaction.
  • Drive reduction in COPQ and field service issues through robust root cause analysis (RCA), corrective action preventive action (CAPA), and lessons learned loops.
  • Lead deployment of best practices in inspection, testing, and supplier quality management.
• Customer Focus
  • Partner with sales, service, and engineering teams to capture customer voice and translate into quality standards.
  • Lead customer quality forums, investigations, and improvement initiatives to strengthen trust and relationships.
• People Leadership
  • Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing quality organization across sites.
  • Define roles and responsibilities (QA, QC, Supplier Quality, Field Quality, NCR/CCM teams).
  • Foster a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and proactive quality ownership.
• Continuous Improvement & Transformation
  • Integrate quality with Lean/CI initiatives, driving process capability and error-proofing.
  • Deploy advanced tools (FAI templates, statistical analysis, predictive quality methods).
  • Champion digital quality reporting dashboards and advanced analytics.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or related field (Master's preferred).
• 12+ years of progressive leadership in Quality within manufacturing, industrial equipment, or energy sectors. In lieu of Bachelor's degree, 18+ years of progressive leadership in Quality within manufacturing, industrial equipment, or energy sectors with at least a High School Diploma or GED.
• Proven track record managing…