Ceres Power is a global leader in solid oxide technology, driving the clean energy revolution. Our steel-supported fuel cell and electrolyser technology gives partners a decade of development advantage, accelerating innovation in power generation, green hydrogen, and distributed power solutions for data centre's. Trusted by some of the world’s most progressive companies, our proven designs deliver efficient, low-cost solutions backed by over 5 million test hours. At Ceres, innovation is in our DNA. Join us and be part of a world-class team making a positive impact on the planet.

Purpose of the role:

The Head of Quality will lead the development, implementation and continual improvement of the company-wide Quality Management System, providing quality leadership across R&D, laboratories, pilot and volume manufacturing, supply chain and commercial partner activities. You will ensure that raw materials, chemical formulations, ceramic powders, inks, pastes, components and finished products consistently meet defined product, process, customer and partner requirements, with particular focus on chemical and advanced materials processing, supplier quality, process capability and robust product release.

You will develop and maintain an integrated Quality Management System aligned with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, ensuring robust and scalable processes for non-conformance, CAPA, change and deviation management, product traceability and release. This will include strengthening supplier and material quality through supplier qualification, certificate of analysis review, appropriate sampling and testing, batch disposition and effective incoming, in-process and finished-product controls.

A key focus will be supporting New Product Introduction (NPI), technology transfer and manufacturing scale-up, ensuring critical material attributes, process parameters, specifications, control plans, validation evidence and release criteria are clearly defined before industrialisation. You will also provide expert quality support to commercial partner development programmes, including material qualification, process validation, specification development and the quality requirements needed for successful technology transfer.

You will ensure laboratory and analytical methods are fit for purpose, controlled and repeatable, supported by appropriate method validation, measurement-system analysis, calibration, reference standards and data-integrity controls. Through Quality Management Reviews and meaningful quality metrics, you will identify risks and trends, address systemic issues and use data and structured problem-solving to improve right-first-time performance, process capability, supplier performance and CAPA effectiveness.

As the senior Quality leader, you will champion a strong quality culture and business process excellence across the organisation, developing capability in areas such as root-cause analysis, risk assessment, SPC and control-plan discipline. You will build and develop a high-performing team spanning quality systems, laboratory, supplier, process and manufacturing quality, with appropriate succession planning for key roles.

Knowledge and skills required:

• Several years’ experience in quality leadership within chemical processing, advanced materials, ceramics, coatings, inks, pastes, powders, formulated products or a related process-manufacturing environment

• A proven track record of leading and developing multi-disciplinary Quality teams, covering quality systems, laboratory/analytical, supplier and manufacturing/process quality

• Strong practical understanding of chemical and materials manufacturing, including raw-material variability, formulation and mixing, batch processing, contamination control, scale-up, process capability, sampling, testing, product release and traceability

• Experience managing or assuring quality-control laboratory, analytical and metrology activities, with a good understanding of test-method suitability, measurement uncertainty, repeatability and material/process specifications

• Strong experience maintaining and improving ISO 9001-certified Quality Management Systems, ideally with practical ISO 14001 experience. You’ll be an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor or able to demonstrate equivalent audit leadership; ISO 14001 auditor training would be an advantage

• Strong statistical and process-control capability, including SPC, process capability, Design of Experiments (DoE), measurement-system analysis and structured root-cause analysis. Experience with Minitab or equivalent is preferred, with Six Sigma Green Belt or higher beneficial

• Strong technical-writing skills, with experience producing specifications, control and quality plans, validation protocols and reports, laboratory methods, procedures and customer/partner quality documentation

• A degree or equivalent professional qualification in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, Ceramics, Process Engineering or a related scientific or engineering discipline

• Experience with digital quality and manufacturing systems, including document control, MES, ERP, SharePoint, process-mapping tools and databases. Knowledge of UK REACH, GB CLP and COSHH would be advantageous

• Most importantly, you’ll bring a hands-on, pragmatic approach, comfortable managing change and complexity in a growing high-technology business and able to introduce scalable, fit-for-purpose quality controls without unnecessary bureaucracy