QA Technician

Company: GCP PAPER USA, Inc.

Location: Houston/New Caney, TX

Job Type: Full-Time, Hourly

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Job Summary

GCP PAPER USA, Inc. is seeking a safety-minded QA Technician to join our Quality team in Houston. In this role, you will perform routine floor inspections, line clearances, production startups, and technical laboratory testing on raw materials, in-process components, and newly developed products. This position ensures early detection of manufacturing deviations to guarantee absolute product standardization and compliance with corporate quality guidelines.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Floor Inspection & Line Clearance: Conduct regular walkthroughs across active production lines to evaluate processes against approved quality procedures for semi-finished and finished materials.
• Line Startups: Verify and certify manufacturing lines during initial production startups or product format changeovers using standard checklists to validate operational parameters before mass cycles begin.
• Sample Collection: Collect, register, and store daily retention samples by date and shift in designated laboratory areas to build physical archives for quality auditing.
• Laboratory Analysis & Material Disposition: Perform physical and chemical property tests on raw supplies and components using specialized laboratory testing equipment and approved analytical methods to issue quality determinations.
• Internal Verification: Execute scheduled routine cleanings, maintenance, and verification routines on laboratory instruments and gauges to ensure continuous reading accuracy.
• Production Halt Authority: Authorized to halt active manufacturing lines or initiate inventory blockades immediately if materials or products fail to meet established technical specifications.
• Safety Compliance: Adhere strictly to plant safety protocols, internal employee handbooks, and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) to maintain a secure and hazard-free workplace.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Education: High School Diploma or GED required; Associate’s degree in Paper Science Technology, Chemical Technology, or Industrial Systems highly preferred.
• Certifications: Valid TAPPI certification or Laboratory Technician certification required.
• Technical Knowledge: Beginner-to-intermediate knowledge of laboratory testing methodologies, instrument calibration, basic manufacturing standardization, and core ISO 9001:2015 quality standards.
• Technical Systems: Experience working with inventory ERPs, Oracle, WMS, FSC data tracking, GMP frameworks, and Minitab software.
• Skills: High manual and motor coordination, precise attention to detail, assertive reporting of defects, and commitment to 5S plant organization.
• Work Authorization: Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Postures: Physical capacity to stand and walk constantly throughout the manufacturing floor for up to 12 hours per shift. Ability to bend, twist, crouch, ascend machinery stairways, and inspect storage racks occasionally.
• Lifting: Ability to occasionally lift, carry, or move objects and material samples weighing from 0 to 50 lbs.
• Environment: Constant movement between a controlled testing laboratory and an industrial plant floor exposed to machinery noise, paper dust, and seasonal temperature variations.
• Required PPE: Mandatory use of company-provided safety boots, safety glasses, hairnets/coifs, and cut-resistant gloves.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Company Benefits

• 100% Employer-Paid Healthcare: Fully covered individual Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance.
• 100% Employer-Paid Disability: Fully covered Short-Term Disability (STD) and Long-Term Disability (LTD).
• Retirement: 401(k) Plan.
• Time Off: Paid Time Off (PTO).

Standard Disclaimers & Compliance

Other Duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

• Employment At-Will: This job description does not constitute an employment contract. Employment with GCP PAPER USA, Inc. is "At-Will," meaning that either the employee or the company can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause or prior notice.
• Equal Opportunity Employer: GCP PAPER USA, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.
• Regulatory Compliance: The individual in this position is responsible for adhering to all OSHA safety protocols, ISO 9001:2015 standards, FSC certification requirements, the corporate Code of Ethics, Employee Manual, and active Human Resources policies.