Assistant Shift Leader (Plastics Manufacturing)

SCHAEFER PLASTICS NA•Charlotte, NC

About The Position

The Assistant Shift Leader supports the Shift Leader in coordinating people, production, quality, safety, and technical activity across the assigned shift. This hands-on floor leadership role helps keep production running, directs and supports employees, completes required documentation, and responds to routine equipment and process issues within the employee’s training and authorization. When the Shift Leader is absent, the Assistant Shift Leader assumes assigned day-to-day leadership responsibilities within established procedures and management direction. The role provides daily work direction and technical support to an assigned shift or team of 30 or fewer employees, including temporary and seasonal employees. It supports coaching, training, staffing coordination, and performance feedback but does not independently administer formal discipline. The work takes place in a manufacturing environment around operating machinery, moving equipment, heat, and elevated noise levels. The position regularly involves standing, walking, communicating, and observing production activity, and may involve bending, reaching, climbing, handling materials, and lifting or moving up to 50 pounds. Required personal protective equipment and applicable safety procedures must be followed. Reasonable accommodations may be made for qualified individuals with disabilities. Schaefer Plastics describes itself as a family-owned, global injection molding manufacturer established in 1937, producing waste and recycling carts and reusable packaging systems. The company offers the opportunity to develop manufacturing leadership and technical skills while contributing to safety, quality, and production performance, with opportunities to grow as skills and qualifications develop.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
At least one year of production leadership, team lead, or comparable manufacturing experience.
Working knowledge of manufacturing safety, quality, production documentation, and standard operating procedures.
Intermediate computer skills, including Microsoft Office, and the ability to learn required production systems.
Ability to read and apply safety rules, procedures, work orders, operating instructions, diagrams, and production schedules.
Ability to communicate clearly, organize work, coach employees, make sound decisions, and solve routine production problems.
Documented training, qualification, and authorization for each machine, mold, robot, hot-stamp system, material system, crane or rigging activity, lockout/tagout activity, and process performed.
Ability to follow required personal protective equipment and safety procedures and work around operating machinery, moving equipment, heat, and elevated noise levels.
Ability to perform regular standing, walking, communicating, and observation; the role may also require bending, reaching, climbing, handling materials, and lifting or moving up to 50 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Experience in plastics manufacturing or injection molding.
Technical training, certification, or an associate degree in manufacturing, plastics, industrial technology, maintenance, or a related field.
Experience with PlantStar, RFID, production monitoring systems, or similar manufacturing software.
Hands-on experience with mold changes, robots, end-of-arm tooling, hot-stamp equipment, resin handling, or injection molding process support.

Responsibilities

Help organize daily production activity, align staffing with the production schedule, communicate priorities, and support effective shift handoffs.
Provide work direction, coaching, and on-the-job training to assigned employees while reinforcing safe work practices, quality standards, and production expectations.
Monitor staffing, attendance, housekeeping, safety, quality, productivity, scrap, downtime, and schedule performance throughout the shift.
Address routine floor issues and escalate disciplinary matters, sensitive employee concerns, and unresolved operating problems to the Shift Leader or appropriate manager.
Ensure employees have the tools, materials, instructions, and personal protective equipment needed to work safely and effectively.
Complete or verify first-piece and in-process inspections, work-order packages, job-change paperwork, downtime records, and shift reports.
Accurately and promptly enter and verify production information in PlantStar, RFID, and other assigned systems.
Respond to safety, quality, or compliance concerns by stopping or containing work when required, protecting employees and product, and notifying the appropriate support function.
Support stable production and timely recovery from interruptions while following approved process limits and escalation procedures.
Start, stop, and safely cycle assigned injection molding machines; verify controls, operating modes, interlocks, emergency stops, system pressure, oil temperature, and safe operating condition.
Support machine and mold start-up by confirming approved programs, mold and barrel heats, water, hydraulics, cores, ejectors, valve gates, robots, end-of-arm tooling, and auxiliary equipment.
Perform approved shutdown, purging, resin, regrind, additive, and color-change procedures for job changes, contamination control, and planned or unplanned shutdowns.
Support mold sets and pulls, including leveling, clamping, magnetic holding systems, water and hydraulic connections, die height, tool versions, approved programs, and required documentation.
Apply approved process knowledge to help maintain consistent production within established process limits.
Support robots and end-of-arm tooling by referencing robots, selecting approved programs, adjusting authorized setpoints, using permitted manual functions, and completing dry-cycle verification when required.
Support hot-stamp setup and changeovers, including dies, guides, backstops, temperatures, dwell, pressure, stroke, foil pull, setup security, and finished-stamp quality.
Complete foil changeouts and adjustments by verifying foil type, size, routing, direction, alignment, tension, temperature range, and pull timing.
Provide first-line troubleshooting for assigned machines, molds, processes, robots, end-of-arm tooling, hot-stamp equipment, dryers, conveying systems, heaters, programs, and auxiliary equipment within demonstrated qualification.
Do not bypass safeguards or change validated processes outside approved limits; stabilize and document issues and escalate problems beyond the employee’s qualification or authority.
When assigned to cover for the Shift Leader, carry out day-to-day shift leadership duties within established policy and management direction.