**What you will do:*** Directly supervise all plant quality inspectors across lines or departments* Plan and assign daily work schedules to ensure inspection coverage for all production areas* Balance inspector workload based on production demand, risk level, and staffing availability* Monitor team attendance, punctuality, overtime, and shift handoff effectiveness* Lead shift start-up meetings with inspectors to review priorities, quality alerts, and problem areas* Provide day-to-day direction, coaching, and support to inspectors on inspection expectations and decision-making* Set clear performance expectations for inspectors regarding accuracy, timeliness, discipline, and reporting* Conduct regular one-on-one coaching and feedback sessions with inspectors* Complete performance evaluations and document employee performance issues or achievements* Support corrective action, disciplinary steps, and recognition programs for team members as needed* Identify skill gaps and coordinate cross-training to improve team flexibility* Develop backup coverage plans for absences, vacations, and high-volume production periods* Participate in hiring, onboarding, and training new inspectors* Build a culture of accountability, urgency, teamwork, and quality ownership within the inspection team* Oversee all in-process, first-piece, last-piece, and final inspection activities in the plant* Ensure inspectors follow approved inspection plans, sampling methods, control plans, and work instructions* Verify inspection results are recorded accurately, completely, and in a timely manner* Ensure nonconforming material is properly identified, segregated, documented, and escalated* Review inspection findings daily to identify repeat issues, trends, and missed opportunities for prevention* Coordinate inspector assignments to support new launches, engineering changes, containment activity, and customer-specific requirements* Ensure inspection coverage is aligned with production schedules, critical operations, and customer risk* Standardize inspection methods and judgment criteria across all inspectors to improve consistency* Audit inspector performance on the floor to confirm compliance with procedures and standard work* Drive timely communication of defects and quality concerns to production supervision and other stakeholders* Serve as the primary point of contact for inspector-related quality issues on the production floor* Escalate significant quality concerns to quality management, engineering, production leadership, and other functions as needed* Ensure smooth communication between shifts so open issues, suspect material, and containment actions are handed off effectively* Lead response coordination when inspectors identify major nonconformances or process deviations* Support daily production meetings by providing inspection status, quality issues, and staffing updates* Partner with manufacturing leaders to resolve conflicts related to product acceptance or inspection disposition* Train inspectors on defect recognition, inspection techniques, measurement methods, documentation, and escalation procedures* Maintain training records and verify inspectors are qualified for assigned areas and tasks* Assess inspector competency through observation, layered audits, and periodic verification checks* Update inspectors on revised procedures, engineering changes, customer requirements, and quality alerts* Promote standard work and consistency in how inspections are performed and documented* Track inspector productivity, accuracy, error rates, and compliance to standard work* Monitor department KPIs related to inspection effectiveness, escapes, rework, scrap, and response time* Investigate inspection misses, documentation errors, or breakdowns in process discipline* Implement corrective actions when inspection performance does not meet expectations* Enforce safety rules, PPE requirements, and good housekeeping standards for the inspection team* Work closely with production, manufacturing engineering, supplier quality, and operations teams to address plant quality issues **What you will bring:*** High school diploma or equivalent with extensive on-the-job experience* Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality Management, or related technical field preferred* 3+ years of direct manufacturing inspection experience* 5+ years in a Quality Control/Assurance role within a manufacturing environment* 2+ years of formal supervisory or team lead experience* Proven experience mentoring junior inspectors or leading shift handoffs* ASQ Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt* Lean Manufacturing/5S basics, ISO 9001, or IATF 16949 awareness