The Quality Lab Manager is responsible for managing all activities within Receiving Inspection Quality Laboratory areas to ensure raw materials, components, and finished products meet internal specifications, customer requirements, and regulatory standards. This position oversees receiving and lab personnel, manages testing resources and supplies, supports production demand, leads the nonconforming material process, and collaborates cross-functionally with Supplier Quality and Materials Engineering. The Quality Lab Manager also plays a key role in maintaining compliance and continued certification to AS9100 and Nadcap standards.
Required Skills
• Supervise, train, and develop laboratory and receiving inspection personnel to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant testing and inspection activities.
• Plan and assign daily work priorities to support production schedules and material release requirements.
• Promote a culture of safety, quality, accountability, and continuous improvement within the team.
• Oversee the receipt, inspection, sampling, and testing of raw materials and components per internal specifications and customer requirements.
• Ensure materials are properly reviewed and dispositioned prior to release for use in production.
• Monitor inspection throughput and resolve bottlenecks to maintain production flow.
• Manage all laboratory resources, including supplies, consumables, and reference materials, to ensure consistent operational readiness.
• Support the calibration, maintenance, and qualification of laboratory equipment and software systems used for testing.
• Ensure all laboratory procedures and test methods are properly documented, validated, and followed.
• Lead the nonconforming material review and disposition process, ensuring timely containment, root cause analysis, and resolution.
• Partner with Supplier Quality and Purchasing to address supplier nonconformance and implement effective corrective actions.
• Collaborate with Supplier Quality to investigate material issues, drive supplier corrective actions, and improve supplier performance.
• Participate in supplier audits or material qualifications as required.
• Schedule and manage outsourced testing to ensure compliance with internal and customer specifications.
• Partner with Materials Engineering to support material development, characterization, and qualification testing as needed.
• Provide laboratory and testing support for new material validation and process qualification activities.
• Assist in the analysis and interpretation of test data to support material selection and performance verification.
• Support and maintain compliance with AS9100 and Nadcap requirements, including internal audits, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure all laboratory operations, documentation, and testing activities align with applicable quality and regulatory standards.
• Participate in certification audits and customer assessments as required.
• Define, monitor, and report departmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including:
o Safety: Incident rate, near-miss reporting, and EHS compliance.
o Quality: Defect rates, rework, first-pass yield, and audit performance.
o Delivery: On-time testing, inspection turnaround, and support to production.
o Cost: Resource utilization, consumables management, and test outsourcing efficiency.
o Engagement: Training completion, team performance, and employee engagement metrics.
• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance laboratory efficiency, data accuracy, and overall quality performance.
Required Experience
Education Level: (Required): Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Chemistry, Engineering, or a related technical field (Master’s preferred).
Field of Study/Area of Experience : 5 years of experience
• Minimum 5 years of experience in quality control, materials testing, or manufacturing quality management.
• At least 2 years of supervisory or management experience preferred.
• Experience working in an AS9100 or Nadcap-certified environment strongly preferred.
• Supervise, train, and develop laboratory and receiving inspection personnel to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant testing and inspection activities.
• Plan and assign daily work priorities to support production schedules and material release requirements.
• Promote a culture of safety, quality, accountability, and continuous improvement within the team.
• Oversee the receipt, inspection, sampling, and testing of raw materials and components per internal specifications and customer requirements.
• Ensure materials are properly reviewed and dispositioned prior to release for use in production.
• Monitor inspection throughput and resolve bottlenecks to maintain production flow.
• Manage all laboratory resources, including supplies, consumables, and reference materials, to ensure consistent operational readiness.
• Support the calibration, maintenance, and qualification of laboratory equipment and software systems used for testing.
• Ensure all laboratory procedures and test methods are properly documented, validated, and followed.
• Lead the nonconforming material review and disposition process, ensuring timely containment, root cause analysis, and resolution.
• Partner with Supplier Quality and Purchasing to address supplier nonconformance and implement effective corrective actions.
• Collaborate with Supplier Quality to investigate material issues, drive supplier corrective actions, and improve supplier performance.
• Participate in supplier audits or material qualifications as required.
• Schedule and manage outsourced testing to ensure compliance with internal and customer specifications.
• Partner with Materials Engineering to support material development, characterization, and qualification testing as needed.
• Provide laboratory and testing support for new material validation and process qualification activities.
• Assist in the analysis and interpretation of test data to support material selection and performance verification.
• Support and maintain compliance with AS9100 and Nadcap requirements, including internal audits, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure all laboratory operations, documentation, and testing activities align with applicable quality and regulatory standards.
• Participate in certification audits and customer assessments as required.
• Define, monitor, and report departmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including:
o Safety: Incident rate, near-miss reporting, and EHS compliance.
o Quality: Defect rates, rework, first-pass yield, and audit performance.
o Delivery: On-time testing, inspection turnaround, and support to production.
o Cost: Resource utilization, consumables management, and test outsourcing efficiency.
o Engagement: Training completion, team performance, and employee engagement metrics.
• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance laboratory efficiency, data accuracy, and overall quality performance.