Product Quality & Deployment Lead (Bus & Truck, EV Preferred)

Department: Contract Manufacturing

Reports to: Head – Contract Manufacturing (SCM/COE)

Location: Mumbai, Pune with occasional travel

Employment type: Full-time

Role Summary

This role owns the quality of vehicles from end-of-line through to customer handover. It also owns the end-to-end deployment process: pre-delivery inspection (PDI), dispatch, statutory registration and on-ground commissioning of Electric buses and trucks. The lead will work across manufacturing, logistics, sales, homologation and service teams to make sure every vehicle leaves the plant defect-free, compliant and ready to run.

Key Responsibilities

Product quality

• Define and run end-of-line, PDI and pre-dispatch quality checks for buses and trucks, including EV-specific checks (battery pack, BMS, motor, inverter, charging system, HV safety and insulation resistance).
• Drive root-cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone) for field failures, warranty claims and audit findings.
• Track and improve quality KPIs: DPU/defects per vehicle, first-time-right, PDI rejection rate, warranty cost per vehicle, and customer complaints.
• Work with OEM regarding scheduling and deliveries of vehicles.
• Maintain quality documentation and support internal and external audits (IATF 16949 / ISO 9001 or equivalent).
• Taking part in Authority Inspections and signing off from regulatory bodies.
• Participating in OEM Trials to ensure product quality.

Dispatch and deployment

• Manage the vehicle dispatch process: dealer/customer allocation, dispatch planning, transporter coordination, transit damage prevention and delivery-note documentation.
• Ensure a complete, accurate document set accompanies each vehicle (invoice, Form 21/22, Form 20 support documents, insurance, PUC/certificates, battery and warranty documents).
• Own the registration process with RTO/transport authorities, including temporary registration, permanent registration, fitness certificates, permits, and Vahan portal updates, in coordination with dealers and customers.
• Ensure compliance with CMVR, AIS standards and type-approval/homologation requirements (ARAI/ICAT), including certificates for EV components and charging interfaces.
• Coordinate customer-site deployment: charging infrastructure readiness, driver/operator handover training, commissioning checks and fleet onboarding for STUs, fleet operators and corporate customers.
• Resolve delays in dispatch, registration and delivery through escalation and cross-functional follow-up.

Cross-functional and customer

• Provide field quality feedback to design, manufacturing and supplier teams to close the loop on recurring issues.
• Serve as the technical point of contact for key customers during deployment and the initial run-in period (early-life failures, warranty).
• Prepare regular MIS and dashboards on quality, dispatch lead time and registration turnaround for leadership.
• Lead and develop a team of quality engineers, PDI inspectors and deployment coordinators.

Qualifications

• B.E./B.Tech in Mechanical, Automobile or Electrical/Electronics Engineering (MBA or quality certification is a plus).
• 8-12 years in the automotive CV industry (buses, trucks or both) with at least 6-10 years in a quality, PDI, dispatch or deployment leadership role.

Required Skills and Experience

• Strong knowledge of bus and truck construction, body-building and chassis-body integration.
• Hands-on understanding of dispatch, RTO registration, homologation and vehicle documentation.
• Proficiency in quality tools: 8D, FMEA, SPC, Pareto, and audit methods.
• Working familiarity with CMVR, AIS standards, and type approval processes.
• Good command of ERP/DMS systems, Excel and reporting tools.
• Strong stakeholder management, negotiation and communication skills; comfortable engaging with customers, dealers, transporters and authorities.

Preferred (EV-specific)

• Experience with electric buses/trucks: HV systems, battery packs, BMS, charging (CCS2/GB-T), thermal management and HV safety practices.
• Knowledge of EV-specific standards such as AIS-038, AIS-039, AIS-156, AIS-004 and battery safety/transport regulations.
• Exposure to fleet deployment for state transport undertakings, city bus programs or e-logistics operators, including charging infrastructure coordination.
• Experience with telematics/fleet data for early-life monitoring.

Key Performance Indicators

• PDI first-time-right % and defects per vehicle
• Dispatch on-time %, and transit damage incidents
• Registration turnaround time from invoice to registration
• Warranty and early-life failure rate
• Customer satisfaction and handover quality scores
• Audit and compliance closure rate

Interested candidate please share your cv at [Confidential Information]