Customer & Product Quality Lead

Inland Label and Marketing Services•La Crosse, WI

About The Position

Join Inland Packaging, a family‑owned, local label and packaging manufacturer with a global reach. We’re seeking a dedicated Customer & Product Quality Lead to support quality excellence for well‑known brands including Kraft Heinz, New Glarus Brewing, Purina, AriZona, and Coors Light. At Inland, we value teamwork, innovation, and continuous improvement. We invest in advanced technology, provide hands‑on training, and offer clear opportunities for long‑term career growth. Job Summary: The Customer & Product Quality Lead is responsible for owning and leading Inland’s end-to-end customer and internal complaint processes while driving robust Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) execution across the organization. This role serves as a key interface between customers and internal teams, ensuring timely, effective resolution of quality issues and prevention of recurrence. This position operates with a high degree of autonomy and independent judgment, requiring the ability to assess complex quality issues, determine appropriate actions, and influence cross-functional decision-making. The role is accountable for outcomes and is expected to prioritize work, manage competing demands, and make sound decisions that impact customer satisfaction and business performance. In addition to execution, this role has full ownership of the complaint handling and RCCA processes, including defining, standardizing, and continuously improving workflows, tools, and systems. The individual will be responsible for establishing scalable, efficient processes that drive consistency, accountability, and visibility across the organization. This position requires strong leadership capability, as it is expected to scale into a people management role as the function grows. The individual will establish best practices, improve complaint handling systems, and build foundational processes that support future team expansion.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Quality, Engineering, Business or a related field with a minimum of 5 years of experience in a manufacturing environment, with direct experience in quality, complaints, or corrective action processes, and/or a combination of education and experience required.
Demonstrated experience leading RCCA or structured problem-solving initiatives.
Strong understanding of Quality Management Systems (QMS).
Experience interacting with customers in a quality or technical capacity.
Proven ability to analyze data, identify trends, and drive actionable insights.
Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
High sense of urgency and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office and familiarity with ERP or quality systems.
Knowledge and experience implementing and leading Quality Management Systems.
Strong familiarity with auditing methods and processes.
Ability and desire to coach, train, and mentor employees to grow and develop new skills to deliver positive results.
Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
Strong problem-solving skills including proactive root cause identification and resolution.
Ability to deliver multiple projects to completion using strong project management skills.
Experience in tracking, analyzing, and reporting quality data.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams to plan and execute projects on time and within budget.
Ability to compose and produce reports, documents and related materials.
High sense of urgency and ability to work self-directed and independently in a fast-paced environment.
Strong attention to detail and accuracy.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in Engineering, Science or Business or related field.
ASQ CQE/CQA certification desirable
Six Sigma Green Belt certification
Knowledge of the print and packaging industry

Responsibilities

Own and lead all aspects of the customer and internal complaint process, including intake, investigation, communication, resolution, and closure.
Exercise independent judgment in evaluating quality issues, determining root cause methodologies, and selecting appropriate corrective actions.
Serve as the primary point of contact for customer quality concerns, ensuring professional and timely communication.
Facilitate and drive RCCA processes across cross-functional teams, ensuring thorough root cause identification and sustainable corrective actions.
Influence cross-functional teams (operations, production, engineering, and sales) to drive alignment, accountability, and execution of corrective actions.
Ensure consistency, accuracy, and completeness of data within the quality management and complaint tracking systems.
Analyze complaint and quality data to identify trends, systemic issues, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
Develop and standardize RCCA methodologies, tools, and training across the organization.
Provide regular reporting on complaint metrics, resolution timelines, and quality performance to leadership, including insights and recommendations.
Lead or support customer-facing discussions related to quality issues, including escalations and corrective action reviews.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives aimed at reducing defects, improving response time, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Support audits, compliance activities, and quality system improvements.
Mentor and guide team members and cross-functional partners in problem-solving and quality methodologies.
Participates in customer, supplier, and 3rd party audits including audit preparation and action item follow-up.
Contributes to defining team structure, roles, and processes for a future complaints/RCCA team.
Provides informal leadership, coaching, and direction to peers and project teams.