Job Summary Required Qualifications and Skills
We are seeking a Quality Lead for a direct hire opportunity in Buffalo, NY. This onsite role is ideal for a hands-on quality assurance professional with manufacturing experience who is ready to take ownership of product inspections, testing programs, quality team coordination, and continuous improvement initiatives.
The Quality Lead will support a fast-paced manufacturing operation by ensuring products, materials, inspection systems, and testing processes meet customer specifications, regulatory requirements, and internal quality standards. This position offers stability, meaningful responsibility, and the opportunity to work with advanced quality systems, automated inspection technology, and cross-functional teams.
This is a strong opportunity for someone who values teamwork, accountability, and process improvement. The role offers exposure to supportive leadership, collaborative operations and engineering partners, and a quality-focused environment where your technical skills and leadership potential can make a direct impact.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead daily quality activities, including Quality Auditor scheduling, time-off coordination, training, payroll timesheets, and department coverage as needed.
- Perform first-off, in-process, and final inspections, including dimensional, functional, visual, Go/No-Go gauge, ATEQ, water bath, SST, and preform testing.
- Verify incoming raw materials, Certificates of Analysis, production samples, and non-conforming materials to ensure compliance with specifications and quality standards.
- Support product qualifications, process validation, root cause analysis, corrective actions, customer complaints, mock recalls, and traceability exercises.
- Inspect, validate, troubleshoot, and optimize machine vision systems, spark testers, automated inspection equipment, and related quality technologies.
- Review quality data, SPC trends, audit findings, and inspection records to identify defects, reduce waste, and support continuous improvement.
Compensation and Benefits
- Pay Rate: $29.00 per hour.
- Job Type: Direct hire.
- Location: Buffalo, NY 14225.
- Work Arrangement: Onsite.
- Stable full-time opportunity in a growing manufacturing operation.
- Exposure to advanced quality systems and inspection technologies.
- Collaborative team environment with professional growth opportunities.
- Coordinate quality assurance operations, including auditor scheduling, training support, testing activities, and production floor quality coverage.
- Perform product inspections, quality testing, raw material verification, and non-conforming material containment.
- Support product validation, microbiological compliance, machine vision system performance, and continuous improvement projects.
- Maintain quality documentation, testing records, COAs, SAP or system transactions, audit support, and quality hold activity.
- Minimum 3 years of Quality Assurance experience in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience performing product testing, inspections, quality investigations, and compliance checks.
- Knowledge of quality management systems, GMP, HACCP, ISO, SQF, food safety, or related regulatory programs.
- Ability to conduct dimensional, functional, visual, and specialized product testing using established test methods.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.
- Strong analytical, mathematical, mechanical, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work effectively with production, engineering, and management teams.
- Strong organization, time management, accountability, and ability to work independently in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
- Associate's Degree, College Diploma, or Bachelor's Degree in Quality Assurance, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related technical discipline preferred.
Preferred Qualifications
- Injection molding manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
- Experience with machine vision systems, automated inspection equipment, spark tester systems, or advanced quality technologies.
- Previous leadership, team lead, training, or quality auditor coordination experience.
- Experience using SAP, Freedom, or similar systems for quality holds, investigations, inventory, and reporting.
- Experience supporting internal audits, customer audits, recalls, mock recalls, and traceability exercises.
Equal Opportunity Employer / Disabled / Protected Veterans
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For temporary assignments lasting 13 weeks or longer, AppleOne is pleased to offer major medical, dental, vision, 401k and any statutory sick pay where required.
We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact your staffing representative who will reach out to our HR team.
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We also consider for employment qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements, including, if applicable, the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. Pursuant to applicable state and municipal Fair Chance Laws and Ordinances, we will consider for employment-qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, including, if applicable, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For Los Angeles, CA applicants: Qualified applications with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.