Head of Reliability & Quality Engineering

First Solar; Perrysburg (OH); On-site; USD 131,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

First Solar is seeking a senior Reliability leader to drive design reliability, qualification strategies, and RCAs across high‑volume manufacturing and fielded products. You will partner with Development Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Product Management and Global Customer Service to ensure robust performance.

The role leads a global reliability team, develops testing methodologies, monitors MTBF, and ensures compliance with UL/IEC standards while delivering continuous improvement

Qualifications

• MS in engineering; PhD preferred.
• BS in engineering or related field; 10+ years in engineering incl. volume manufacturing.
• 10+ years in reliability modeling/physics and MTBF.
• 8+ years in engineering leadership in process engineering/development.
• 5+ years managing Quality and/or Reliability with UL & IEC familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Implements a world class safety culture and safety-first mindset.
• Verification & Validation of product design; qualify new technologies at module level.
• Lead cross-functional FMEA-based risk assessments linked to product reliability.
• Develop and execute qualification processes; identify factors affecting tests and reliability.
• Develop reliability test methods; interpret results and validate field assumptions.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for excursions and field returns.
• Build, lead and mentor a high-performing Reliability Engineering team.

Skills

Reliability leadership

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Safety culture

Problem solving

Education

MS in engineering (Materials Science, Physics, Electrical, Chemical, Mechanical) or related; PhD preferred

BS in engineering or related field

Tools

DFMEA/PFMEA

SPC

Six Sigma

UL/IEC standards familiarity

Job description

First Solar is seeking a senior Reliability leader to drive design reliability, qualification strategies, and RCAs across high‑volume manufacturing and fielded products. You will partner with Development Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Product Management and Global Customer Service to ensure robust performance.

The role leads a global reliability team, develops testing methodologies, monitors MTBF, and ensures compliance with UL/IEC standards while delivering continuous improvement