Quality Assurance Lead - Pallet Services

48forty Solutions•Douglas, GA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Quality Assurance Lead is the site’s hands-on quality lead for pallets and reusable assets, working primarily on the sort floor and dock. The role inspects, audits, documents, and coaches associates to ensure pooled pallets, Good Wood pallets, and reusable assets meet customer and pooler specifications before being returned or shipped. This work supports audit performance, controls damage and rejection costs, and protects customer relationships. The position also supports customer and pooler audits, investigates quality failures and complaints, maintains quality records and reporting, trains and recertifies associates, verifies site procedures, and communicates quality trends and training needs to site leadership. The role may step into floor work when quality or throughput requires it.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED.
One to three years of experience in quality, warehouse, logistics, or production.
Working knowledge of pooled pallet specifications, or the ability to learn and apply them consistently.
Ability to accurately complete audit forms and perform basic data entry and reporting in Excel or similar tools.
Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to coach peers and speak directly with customer and pooler representatives.
Forklift certification, or ability to obtain certification within the introductory period.
Ability to work overtime, weekends, and alternate shifts when needed.

Nice To Haves

Pallet sort or pallet repair experience.
Lean Six Sigma, ISO, or formal quality program exposure.

Responsibilities

Perform and record daily spot audits of sorted product on every shift against customer and pooler specifications, including CHEP, PECO, iGPS, Walmart Good Wood, reusable plastic crate, and corrugate reuse standards.
Inspect and grade pallets for broken or missing boards and blocks, protruding nails, structural damage, and contamination; remove non-conforming product before staging or shipment.
Host and support announced and unannounced quality audits from Walmart and pallet poolers, maintaining complete and current audit records, photos, and sign-offs.
Lead root cause investigations for failed audits, rejected loads, and customer complaints, and draft corrective action plans with the Site Manager within 48 hours of a failure.
Maintain the site quality tracker and report audit pass rate, rejection rate, and damage ratio to site and regional leadership on the required cadence.
Train new pallet sorters and leads on sorting standards and recertify associates whose audit results fall below standard.
Verify adherence to site SOPs on the sort floor and dock, including sorting standards, staging, load quality, and removal of trash and unapproved items; coach associates in the moment.
Support pest control program compliance and asset documentation requirements, including reporting unapproved assets.
Communicate daily with the Shift Lead and Site Manager about quality trends, repeat offenders, and training needs.
Step in as a working lead on the floor when quality or throughput requires it and maintain a clean, safe work area.