The posting
We are seeking an experienced, detail-oriented Quality Control Manager to oversee the inspection and quality assurance of yellow school buses prior to delivery to our customers.
This position is responsible for ensuring every bus leaving our facility meets our company's quality standards, applicable safety requirements, customer specifications, and required documentation standards.
The Quality Control Manager will serve as the final line of defense before a vehicle is approved for delivery. This individual must be comfortable identifying deficiencies, holding work when standards have not been met, communicating corrective actions to technicians and management, and verifying that repairs have been properly completed before releasing a vehicle.
Safety, quality, consistency, and accountability are the priorities of this position.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform and oversee final quality-control inspections on school buses prior to customer delivery.
- Verify completed Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) work for accuracy, completeness, and workmanship.
- Inspect vehicle systems, equipment, components, body condition, interior condition, and installed options.
- Confirm buses meet applicable federal, state, manufacturer, customer, and company requirements.
- Verify customer specifications and required equipment have been properly installed and are functioning correctly.
- Identify defects, damage, incomplete repairs, installation issues, cosmetic concerns, and other deficiencies.
- Document QC findings clearly and accurately.
- Create and communicate corrective-action items to the appropriate technicians, departments, or managers.
- Reinspect completed corrections before approving a bus for release.
- Maintain accurate inspection records, checklists, photographs, and supporting documentation.
- Ensure required paperwork and inspection documentation are complete before delivery.
- Work closely with PDI technicians, service personnel, parts, operations, and management to resolve quality issues efficiently.
- Track recurring defects and workmanship issues and help identify their root causes.
- Develop and improve standardized QC inspection procedures and checklists.
- Monitor quality trends and provide management with information regarding recurring problems and opportunities for improvement.
- Help establish consistent quality expectations across technicians and departments.
- Maintain an organized QC process that supports production and delivery goals without compromising safety or quality.
- Participate in discussions regarding warranty issues, repeat repairs, customer complaints, and preventable quality concerns.
- Ensure vehicles are not released until identified safety or quality deficiencies have been properly corrected.
- Promote a culture where employees take ownership of the quality of their work.
Areas of Inspection
The Quality Control Manager should be comfortable inspecting or verifying items including:
- Exterior body and paint condition
- Interior condition and workmanship
- Seats, seat mounting, and passenger areas
- Emergency exits and emergency equipment
- Warning lights and school-bus lighting systems
- Stop arms and crossing-control equipment
- Mirrors and visibility systems
- Exterior and interior lighting
- Electrical accessories and installed equipment
- HVAC operation
- Doors and entrance systems
- Wheelchair lifts and accessibility equipment, when applicable
- Tires, wheels, and visible chassis components
- Fluid leaks or other visible mechanical concerns
- Driver controls, gauges, switches, and warning indicators
- Cameras, radios, GPS, and other customer-specified equipment
- Decals, lettering, unit numbers, and customer-specific markings
- Installed aftermarket equipment
- General fit, finish, cleanliness, and presentation
- PDI documentation and required inspection records
Qualifications
Preferred qualifications include:
- Previous experience in quality control, fleet maintenance, commercial vehicles, school buses, heavy trucks, automotive service, or a related field.
- Strong mechanical knowledge and ability to recognize vehicle defects and workmanship issues.
- Previous supervisory or management experience preferred.
- School-bus industry experience strongly preferred.
- Experience with vehicle PDI or final inspection processes is highly desirable.
- Understanding of DOT, FMVSS, state school-bus requirements, or commercial-vehicle safety standards is a plus.
- Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.
- Ability to read work orders, specifications, inspection forms, and technical documentation.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Basic computer skills and ability to maintain electronic inspection records.
- Ability to communicate deficiencies professionally and hold employees accountable to established standards.
- Valid driver's license with an acceptable driving record.
- CDL with passenger and school-bus endorsements is a plus but not required unless otherwise specified.
What We Are Looking For
The ideal candidate is someone who takes pride in doing things correctly and understands the responsibility associated with putting a school bus into service.
We are looking for someone who is:
- Extremely detail-oriented
- Consistent and organized
- Mechanically knowledgeable
- Comfortable making decisions
- Comfortable holding others accountable
- Able to communicate clearly with technicians and management
- Focused on solutions rather than simply identifying problems
- Able to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple vehicles moving through production
- Unwilling to sacrifice safety or quality simply to meet a delivery deadline
This position requires someone who understands that every vehicle carrying students must leave our facility safe, complete, properly documented, and ready for service.
Physical Requirements
This position requires regular work in and around commercial vehicles and a shop environment. The employee must be able to:
- Enter and exit school buses repeatedly throughout the workday.
- Bend, kneel, crouch, climb, and reach while performing inspections.
- Work both indoors and outdoors as necessary.
- Safely work around vehicles, shop equipment, and active service operations.
- Perform visual inspections underneath, inside, and around vehicles as required.
Why This Position Matters
Quality Control is more than checking boxes on an inspection sheet.
The Quality Control Manager protects our customers, passengers, employees, company, and reputation by ensuring problems are identified and corrected before a vehicle is delivered.
The expectation is simple:
If a bus does not meet our standards, it does not leave until it does.
