Assistant Shift Leader (Plastics Manufacturing)

SCHAEFER PLASTICS NA LLC•Charlotte, NC

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Assistant Shift Leader supports the Shift Leader in coordinating people, production, quality, safety, and technical activity across an assigned shift. This hands-on floor leadership role helps maintain production, 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 position 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 role regularly involves standing, walking, communicating, and observing production activity in a manufacturing environment. It may also require bending, reaching, climbing, handling materials, and lifting or moving up to 50 pounds. Work takes place around operating machinery, moving equipment, heat, and elevated noise levels. Required personal protective equipment and safety procedures must be followed; reasonable accommodations may be made for qualified individuals with disabilities.

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 ability to learn required production systems.
Ability to read and apply safety rules, procedures, work orders, operating instructions, diagrams, and production schedules.
Demonstrated 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 lift or move up to 50 pounds.
Ability to follow required personal protective equipment and safety procedures in a manufacturing environment.

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 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, or 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.
Enter and verify production information accurately and on time 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 appropriate support functions.
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 changes 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 those 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.