Lead Quality. Shape Processes. Drive Change.

About Kanto Corporation

Kanto is a leading U.S. manufacturer of high-purity specialty chemicals that power the world’s most advanced industries. With a legacy of precision, safety, and innovation, we support global leaders in semiconductor, technology, and chemical processing by delivering products that meet uncompromising standards of quality and reliability.

At Kanto, we believe our people are our greatest strength. We foster a culture where collaboration, continuous improvement, and excellence are not just values, but daily practices. Joining Kanto means contributing to work that shapes the future of technology and manufacturing—while growing your career in a dynamic, high-impact environment.

The Role at a Glance

Kanto is seeking a Director of Quality to lead our QA, QC, and QMS functions across high-purity chemical manufacturing operations. This role offers the opportunity to shape the future of Quality at Kanto—building a culture of excellence, embedding process discipline, and strengthening the systems that ensure every product meets the highest standards of precision, consistency, and reliability.

This role calls for a visionary leader who thrives at both the strategic and operational levels. As a strategic and hands-on leader, you will drive initiatives that enhance operational rigor and continuous improvement., You will coach and inspire teams to embed a culture of consistent execution—“the same way, every time”—so that every product we deliver reflects the uncompromising standards our customers expect.

If you thrive on building best-in-class quality systems, leading cross-functional change, and inspiring teams to embrace a quality-first culture, we want to meet you.

What You’ll Do

1.      Lead Ongoing Quality Transformation

• Establish & Sustain Process Discipline (Embedding SOP-Centered Practices)
• Continue strengthening and evolving SOPs to ensure they remain robust, compliant, and effective.
• Drive consistency, safety, and operational excellence through disciplined
• Seamlessly connect laboratory precision with execution on the production
• Partner closely with all Kanto operations and materials teams to embed a culture where every critical task is performed the same way, every time.
• Serve as the hands-on architect of a cultural and procedural shift in
• Drive change management initiatives across the

2.      Oversee QA & QC

• Direct all testing, inspection, and verification activities for high-purity chemical products—up to and including consistent part-per-trillion and beyond manufacturing growth.
• Ensure documentation meets internal, customer, and regulatory
• Act as the escalation point for non-conformances, CAPAs, and deviation
• Lead root cause analysis and resolution of high-stakes quality

3.      Strengthen the QMS

• Develop, refine, and maintain an audit-ready Quality Management
• Ensure compliance with ISO, SEMI, NFPA, OSHA, and chemical manufacturing
• Establish KPIs, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms for proactive quality
• Identify trends early and take preventive action before issues

4.      Manage Change Control

• Oversee the entire lifecycle of change in a complex chemical production
• Lead impact assessments and risk mitigation
• Manage validation, training, and post-implementation
• Chair cross-functional change review meetings to address operational, safety, and regulatory impacts.

5.      Foster a Culture of Quality

• Lead from the floor, modeling hands-on leadership for quality and production
• Coach and mentor staff on the “why” behind procedures and
• Use deep chemical engineering expertise to connect technical requirements to day-to-day execution.
• Inspire accountability and ownership for quality at every level of the

What You Bring—A DNA of Precision and Leadership

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a closely related scientific discipline required; Master’s degree strongly preferred
• Experience: Minimum of twelve (12) years of progressive Quality leadership experience in high-purity, sterile, or contamination-controlled environments within the semiconductor industry or its Tier I supply base, including chemical processing Experience must demonstrate deep expertise in contamination control, process validation, and rigorous adherence to customer specifications
• Management Experience: A minimum of five (5) years of director-level or equivalent senior leadership experience with responsibility for enterprise-wide Quality Leadership experience must include directly leading, coaching, developing, and evaluating individual employees and teams; exercising authority over performance management, corrective action, and employment decisions; and partnering with suppliers, supply chain stakeholders, and customers to ensure sustained Quality compliance, effective risk mitigation, and operational integrity.
• Quality Systems & Operational Excellence: Demonstrated success leading full scale quality management system (QMS) design, implementation, optimization, and sustainment, including operational process standardization, governance, and disciplined change management across complex, cross-functional organizations.
• Regulatory & Standards Expertise: Deep, working knowledge of ISO 9001, relevant SEMI standards, NFPA codes, OSHA requirements, and cleanroom and high-purity manufacturing protocols, with a proven ability to translate regulatory requirements into practical, scalable operational controls.
• Leadership & Influence: Highly collaborative, values-driven leader with exceptional written and verbal communication skills; capable of influencing across Operations, Engineering, EHS, Supply Chain, and Executive Leadership while setting clear expectations and holding teams accountable.
• Mindset & Culture: Demonstrated ownership of a continuous improvement and growth mindset, combined with a pragmatic, hands-on “startup” mentality—able to build, scale, and mature quality systems while balancing speed, rigor, and business priorities.
• Preferred Credentials: Formal training and/or certifications in ISO auditing, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and related regulatory or continuous-improvement methodologies, with applied experience delivering measurable quality, compliance, and performance improvements.

Kanto welcomes candidates who bring proven quality leadership from adjacent industries and can successfully translate high-regulation, high-precision quality practices into chemical manufacturing.

Why Join Kanto

• Help lead a company-wide quality transformation with executive
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Operations, Logistics, Engineering, and Sales to shape sustainable processes and expectations.
• Work with cutting-edge high-purity chemical products serving advanced technical global
• Competitive pay, generous FTO, 9 paid holidays, rich medical/dental benefits, job focused tuition/education reimbursement, , and the opportunity to leave a lasting operational legacy.

Kanto Corporation is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and talents that each individual brings, and we are committed to fostering a workplace where everyone feels respected, included, and empowered to contribute to our shared success.

About Nagle & Associates for Kanto

OUR MISSIONNagle & Associates’ overall objective is to help outstanding professionals align their career goals with an organization’s culture and strategic goals, which creates highly successful, long-term matches. This ensures leadership at all levels, which ultimately maximizes an organization’s strategic potentialFour Fundamental Principles Guide Our PracticeWe definitely discriminate on the basis of character, capability, and performance. Our professionals have the same base attributes as those we seek in our candidates. First and foremost with us is sincerity, followed by well-developed communication skills, and a commitment to our vision. We are highly principled and take what we do seriously.We have an unrelenting focus on our clients. Through that, we create trust and mutual success. Our commitment is to win/win scenarios. Each search is as unique to us as the clientele we serve.We focus on providing real value. The answer to one simple question drives all of our decisions. Does this action create real value for our customers? If answered affirmatively, it creates real value for us as a byproduct.We listen hard and talk frankly. Nothing strengthens our business relationship...s (or for that matter, our personal ones) better than trust developed via an open and honest exchange of information and ideasCorporate PhilosophyWe will continue to explore new contemporary ideas related to executive search and to focus on executive level talent acquisition but often as part of a larger talent solution. We believe that bringing talented professionals on board is a good start but a laser focus on an evidence/data-based cultural definition will ultimately lead to long-term retention which will most certainly be a strategic differentiator for successful hospitals, health systems, and larger independent physician groups particularly given the growing leadership talent drain that we have perceived over the last decade or so. To further ensure retention, our executive coach actively works with the chosen professional for several months post-hire to ensure effective communication between the chosen candidate and the senior leadership team is taking place and discernable results are being achieved within the context of the alignment of decision styles and culture.

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