Injection Molding Shift Lead Process Technician in Rittman, Ohio at J&O Plastics Inc.

Our team shows up every day to serve our customers and vendors with focus, ingenuity, and a commitment to quality. Each and every one of our employees is an integral part of our operations, and part of what makes J&O Plastics leaders in precision injection molding. We strive to create an inclusive environment that celebrates our different lived experiences, with the hope of fostering a community atmosphere.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly capable Shift Lead Injection Molding Process Technician to support and lead injection molding production on the assigned shift. This role is responsible for maintaining stable, repeatable molding processes while also providing technical oversight, direction, and support to other process technicians.

The Lead Process Technician is accountable for the quality, performance, process stability, and production output of the entire shift’s molding operation. This includes active production troubleshooting, technician guidance, process discipline, machine performance, quality support, escalation of major issues, and ensuring that currently running jobs remain controlled and productive.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. The right candidate must be strong enough technically to solve molding issues, but also mature enough to coach others, communicate clearly, prioritize problems, and help drive the shift toward safe, efficient, high-quality production.

This role also requires strong communication both upstream and downstream. The Lead Process Technician must be able to communicate floor-level issues, risks, needs, and opportunities upward to supervisors, engineering, quality, maintenance, tooling, and operations leadership, while also clearly communicating direction, priorities, expectations, and lessons learned downstream to process technicians, operators, and other shift personnel.

Required Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience as an injection molding process technician or similar plastics manufacturing technical role.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot injection molding processes and molded part defects.
• Ability to provide technical direction, coaching, mentoring, and support to other technicians.
• Solid understanding of injection molding process fundamentals, machine operation, molds, materials, auxiliary equipment, and part quality.
• Ability to make disciplined process adjustments while maintaining process control.
• Ability to recognize process drift, production instability, equipment concerns, and quality risk.
• Strong communication skills with operators, technicians, supervisors, maintenance, tooling, quality, and engineering.
• Ability to communicate issues both upstream to leadership and support teams, and downstream to technicians, operators, and shift personnel.
• Ability to prioritize multiple production issues across several machines.
• Ability to work independently and make sound technical decisions under pressure.
• Strong documentation habits and willingness to follow established procedures.
• Commitment to safety, quality, production discipline, team accountability, and continuous learning.
• Basic computer or manufacturing system skills.