Director of Quality & EHS

Role: Director - Quality & EHS

The Director, Quality & EHS is responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously improving Black Box's Quality Management System (QMS) and Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) programs across all service delivery operations. This role drives a culture of Right First Time (RFT) execution, operational excellence, risk reduction, regulatory compliance, and employee safety while supporting profitable growth and customer satisfaction.

The position provides strategic leadership for quality assurance, quality control, safety governance, environmental compliance, incident management, audits, training, and continuous improvement initiatives across data center, structured cabling, network infrastructure, managed services, depot, logistics, and field operations. The role partners closely with Delivery, PMO, Operations, HR, Sales, and Customer Success leaders to ensure quality and safety are embedded in every aspect of execution.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Leadership

• Own and continuously improve the Black Box Quality Management System (QMS).
• Establish enterprise quality standards, policies, procedures, audits, and governance frameworks.
• Drive Right First Time (RFT) execution methodologies across all delivery organizations.
• Develop enterprise quality dashboards, KPIs, and executive reporting mechanisms.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action programs to address quality issues.
• Govern internal quality audits and customer quality reviews.
• Standardize quality processes across regions and business units.
• Reduce rework, defects, punch-list items, and warranty expenses through disciplined quality processes.

Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Leadership

• Develop and oversee enterprise EHS strategy, governance, and compliance programs.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, customer-specific safety requirements, and applicable international standards.
• Lead incident investigation, reporting, and corrective action processes.
• Drive hazard identification, job safety analysis, and risk assessment programs.
• Manage stop-work authority programs and enterprise safety culture initiatives.
• Oversee environmental compliance, waste management, and sustainability efforts.
• Establish and monitor leading and lagging EHS indicators and executive reporting.

Operational Excellence

• Lead Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement initiatives across field and delivery operations.
• Improve project execution consistency and operational performance across business units.
• Identify and mitigate operational risks before customer impact occurs.
• Establish enterprise Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) programs.
• Develop inspection, testing, and quality verification standards.
• Utilize automation, analytics, and reporting tools to improve quality and safety performance.

Training & Culture Development

• Develop and maintain quality and EHS training curricula.
• Create certification programs for field technicians, project teams, and delivery personnel.
• Promote a proactive culture focused on quality, safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Coach project leaders, managers, and operational teams on quality and compliance requirements.
• Build enterprise-wide awareness around quality ownership and safety accountability.

Customer & Executive Engagement

• Represent Black Box during customer audits, assessments, and compliance reviews.
• Participate in executive operational and business reviews.
• Lead quality and safety governance discussions with strategic customers.
• Support proposals, bids, sales presentations, and customer engagements involving quality and EHS programs.
• Provide executive leadership with visibility into quality performance, safety metrics, compliance risks, and improvement opportunities.

Leadership & Strategic Impact

• Make safety a non-negotiable operating principle across all business operations.
• Build and institutionalize a "Right First Time" culture throughout delivery organizations.
• Utilize data and analytics to proactively identify and mitigate risks before they impact customers.
• Drive operational consistency and performance standards across global delivery organizations.
• Balance compliance, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability objectives.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on quality, safety, risk management, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

Accountability

Demonstrates ownership for quality performance, safety compliance, operational risk management, and continuous improvement initiatives. Drives measurable business outcomes through disciplined execution.

Strategic Thinking

Develops long-term quality and EHS strategies aligned with organizational growth objectives and operational excellence goals.

Leadership & Influence

Builds alignment across business functions and influences stakeholders at all levels to adopt and maintain quality and safety standards.

Quality Management Expertise

Possesses deep knowledge of quality management systems, audits, root cause analysis, CAPA processes, quality assurance, and quality control methodologies.

Safety & Compliance Management

Strong understanding of OSHA standards, environmental regulations, safety governance, risk assessments, incident investigations, and compliance frameworks.

Continuous Improvement

Demonstrates expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, process optimization, and operational excellence initiatives.

Analytical & Problem-Solving Skills

Uses data, metrics, and trend analysis to identify issues, determine root causes, and implement sustainable solutions.

Communication & Customer Focus

Effectively communicates with executives, customers, regulators, and operational teams while maintaining focus on customer requirements and service excellence.

Education / Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, Occupational Safety, Environmental Sciences, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Master's degree preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Quality, EHS, Operational Excellence, Compliance, or related disciplines.
• Experience implementing and managing enterprise Quality Management Systems (QMS).
• Strong knowledge of OSHA regulations, environmental compliance requirements, and safety management systems.
• Experience leading quality audits, safety audits, compliance reviews, and corrective action programs.
• Proven track record driving continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies.
• Experience supporting field operations, deployment services, infrastructure projects, data centers, telecommunications, or technology services organizations.
• Strong executive presentation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience managing enterprise-level quality and safety metrics, reporting, and governance programs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or Master Black Belt certification.
• Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Quality Manager (CQM), CSP, CSPM, CHST, OSHA certifications, or similar credentials.
• Experience within data center, structured cabling, network infrastructure, managed services, telecommunications, or construction-related industries.
• Experience supporting multi-site, geographically dispersed operations.
• Demonstrated success building world-class quality and EHS programs in high-growth environments.

Success Profile

This role serves as the executive owner of Quality Management, Environmental Health & Safety, Operational Excellence, Compliance, Risk Management, and Continuous Improvement across Black Box service delivery organizations.

The successful candidate will build a culture where safety is non-negotiable, quality is embedded into every process, operational risks are proactively managed, and continuous improvement drives superior customer outcomes while protecting profitability, compliance, and employee well-being.