Quality Manager

Inked Brands is a fast-growing, technology-driven company built around one simple idea: turning passion into product. We partner with creators, entrepreneurs, and innovators to bring their brands to life through full-service e-commerce, design, production, and fulfillment.

With an expansion underway and a brand-new headquarters on the horizon, we’re doubling our space, growing our team, and continuing to push the limits of what’s possible in creator commerce, wholesale distributing, and mass retail partnerships. Our culture is collaborative, hands-on, and focused on innovation - blending creativity, data, and technology to make real impact.

At Inked, every role matters. Whether you’re coding, designing, accounting, or strategizing, you’ll have the opportunity to own your work, learn from industry experts, and help shape the future of digital commerce.

The Quality Assurance Manager is responsible for leading and maintaining Inked Brands’ Quality Assurance program across incoming products, internally produced products, outsourced finished goods, supplier quality, and final product release. This role owns the day-to-day execution and continued development of the Quality Management System (QMS) and works closely with Production, Product Development, Design, Warehouse, Logistics, Customer Experience, and external suppliers to prevent defects, resolve quality issues, and ensure products meet approved requirements before release.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The QA Manager is expected to spend time on the production floor, inspect products, coach employees, investigate problems, analyze quality data, maintain documentation, and continuously improve Inked Brands’ quality systems.

• Own and maintain Inked Brands’ QMS, including QA SOPs, work instructions, forms, inspection records, quality standards, and controlled documentation.
• Ensure current QA documents and approved specifications are available and used at the appropriate work areas.
• Maintain the QA Document Master Index and ensure obsolete documents are removed from use.
• Conduct periodic internal audits and correct identified gaps.
• Recommend quality-system changes as products, equipment, suppliers, and operations evolve.

• Oversee incoming inspection of raw materials, blanks, components, packaging, and finished products received from suppliers.
• Establish inspection levels based on product risk, supplier history, and previous quality performance.
• Place questionable or nonconforming incoming product on HOLD when necessary.
• Manage supplier NCRs, Supplier Corrective Action Requests (SCARs), supplier scorecards, and quality performance.
• Partner with Product Development and Operations when supplier performance requires corrective action, increased inspection, or reevaluation.
• Verify supplier corrective actions are effective before closing SCARs.

• Oversee First Article Inspections before normal production begins.
• Ensure hourly, changeover, start-up, and post-adjustment production checks are completed.
• Verify the correct SKU, blank, artwork, color, placement, orientation, components, packaging, barcode, and approved reference standards are used.
• Monitor production for recurring defects, process drift, or quality risks.
• Partner with Production leadership to determine the Last Known Good point when a process defect is discovered and establish containment requirements.
• Verify reworked or sorted product before release and review machine downtime when equipment issues may have affected quality.

• Ensure finished goods receive required inspection before release.
• Verify results against approved…