Lead QA Associate - Distribution Center

A position at White Cap isn’t your ordinary job. You’ll work in an exciting and diverse environment, meet interesting people, and have a variety of career opportunities.

The White Cap family is committed to Building Trust on Every Job. We do this by being deeply knowledgeable, fully capable, and always dependable, and our associates are the driving force behind this commitment.

Job Summary

Oversees daily quality operations, ensures that products, processes, and procedures meet established standards, and supports continuous improvement across the facility. This role acts as the bridge between frontline associates, supervisors, and management by monitoring compliance, coaching team members, and driving quality-focused behaviors.

Major Tasks, Responsibilities and Key Accountabilities:

Quality Control & Compliance

• Conduct inspections, audits, and quality checks across receiving, picking, packing, shipping, and inventory control.
• Verify that processes comply with company SOPs, safety standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Document defects, non-conformances, and process deviations with accuracy and clarity.
• Support root-cause analysis for quality issues and participate in corrective action planning.

Leadership & Support

• Serve as the primary point of contact for QA-related questions during the shift.
• Mentor and guide QA associates and cross-functional team members on quality practices.
• Provide on-the-floor coaching to ensure proper execution of SOPs and quality procedures.
• Support onboarding and training of new team members on QA processes.

Data Collection & Reporting

• Maintain accurate QA logs, inspection reports, audit findings, and sample records.
• Track trends in errors, defects, and process gaps.
• Prepare daily or weekly reports for supervisors, managers, or cross-functional partners.

Process Improvement

• Assist in developing and implementing quality improvement initiatives.
• Participate in continuous improvement projects, Kaizen events, or problem-solving teams.
• Recommend changes to workflows, SOPs, or tools to reduce errors and improve consistency.
• Partner with operations teams to pilot new quality control methods.

Collaboration & Communication

• Work closely with operations, safety, training, and leadership to align on quality standards.
• Escalate critical issues promptly to supervisors or managers.
• Help drive a culture of quality, accuracy, and accountability on the floor.

Documentation & SOP Management

• Support the creation, revision, and distribution of work instructions and SOPs.
• Ensure all documentation is current, version-controlled, and accessible.
• Train associates on updated instructions and audit for adherence.

Other duties as assigned.

Nature and Scope

• Problems are typically difficult and/or high impact. Troubleshoots complex support or operational problems for junior level associates.
• Under limited supervision, independently resolves issues and applies a variety of methods to develop customized solutions. Work typically involves infrequent review of output by a supervisor or direct customers of the process.
• Assists with supervisory duties but does not have hiring/firing authority.
• Trains, delegates tasks, and reviews the work of junior level associates.

Work Environment

• Located in a comfortable indoor area. Any unpleasant conditions would be infrequent and not objectionable.
• Most of the time is spent sitting in a comfortable position and there is frequent opportunity to move about. On rare occasions there may be a need to move or lift light articles.
• Typically requires overnight travel less than 10% of the time.

Education and Experience

• Technical certification or associate degree may be required in some areas.
• Generally 7+ years of experience in area of responsibility.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with managing inventory controls.

• Strong attention to detail and analytical thinking

• Ability to lead without formal authority, coach peers and influence behavior

• Excellent verbal and written communication

• Knowledge of quality tools (5 Whys, Pareto, root-cause analysis, auditing)

• Proficiency in documentation and process validation

• Be able to lift up to 50 lbs

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