What does a Quality Assurance Manager do?
A Quality Assurance Manager's responsibility varies on the organization or industry where one is assigned. Most of the time, the duties will revolve around quality control, such as overseeing a company's manufacturing operations, ensuring that the process followed all of the necessary protocols, and the products met all of the standards in adherence to the company's policies and regulations. Furthermore, one must be able to detect and identify mistakes, conduct constant inspections, coordinate with various staff and supervisors, develop the workforce's quality by training employees, and come up with strategies that will help the company attain financial gains.
Quality assurance manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real quality assurance manager resumes:
- Manage issues and risks (project and cross tower), via SharePoint.
- Manage two development teams writing test code for Java security features and all mobile 3D graphics.
- Lead cross functional teams to solve complex production problems and identify long term solutions using lean sigma tools.
- Manage teams of permanent and contract technicians and serve as the subject matter expert (SME) on calibration activities.
- Manage and maintain facility lighting, cosmetics, plumbing, electrical, recycling, trash, fire safety and HVAC.
- Lead test planning and defect mitigation process for back office functionality using JIRA and HPQC as issue tracking and testing tools.
- Administer development and implementation of food safety and sanitation programs under HACCP.
- Manage CAPA training and certification program, implementing consistent process application and skill development to ensure global regulatory compliance.
- Develop a supplier quality assurance program that include vendor services quality oversight, material supplier oversight and material qualification programs.
- Evaluate QMS activities and audits.
- Team member of AWS supplier weld audits.
- Represent BSC to external agencies (SME).
- Develop new GMPs and SSOP for more efficient production processes.
- Write QC and QA manual to cover all approval steps.
- Experience and familiarity with AWS codes, and NQA-1 program requirements.
Quality assurance manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Quality Assurance Managers are proficient in Continuous Improvement, Product Quality, and Corrective Action. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Leadership skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Quality Assurance Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Continuous Improvement, 6%
Identify and develop strategies for continuous improvements in quality engineering by keeping abreast of appropriate and emerging technologies and statistical techniques.
- Product Quality, 5%
Manage quality function for a major manufacturing facility, including coordination and administration of in-process and finished product quality control systems.
- Corrective Action, 5%
Managed non-conformance processes: reviewed deviations, disposition, performed root cause analysis, corrective actions, and worker documentation submissions.
- Food Safety, 5%
Created an executive food safety management team composed of key hotel managers from various departments relevant to food safety operations.
- ISO, 5%
Established and institutionalized an ISO process for managing organizations ISO-9001 audit training program for assigned Quality Assurance and Control auditors.
- Quality Standards, 5%
Increased quality awareness and quality standards throughout all functional areas of the Regional Call Center by monitoring and measuring quality standards.
Most quality assurance managers use their skills in "continuous improvement," "product quality," and "corrective action" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential quality assurance manager responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a quality assurance manager to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "industrial production managers must have excellent communication skills to work well other managers and with staff." Quality assurance managers often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "have a good understanding of sdlc best practices and strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills. "
Leadership skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling quality assurance manager duties is leadership skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "to keep the production process running smoothly, industrial production managers must motivate and direct employees." According to a quality assurance manager resume, here's how quality assurance managers can utilize leadership skills in their job responsibilities: "created organization's first quality assurance program and escalation desk, providing root-cause analysis to executive leadership. "
Problem-solving skills. quality assurance managers are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to quality assurance manager responsibilities, because "production managers must identify and address problems that arise." A quality assurance manager resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "conducted in-house and on-site audits fda audit reviews and trends completed % contracted crf data review tracked query generation and resolution"
The three companies that hire the most quality assurance managers are:
- Advance Auto Parts55 quality assurance managers jobs
- Walmart49 quality assurance managers jobs
- DDeloitte45 quality assurance managers jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable quality assurance manager resume templates
Build a professional quality assurance manager resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your quality assurance manager resume.
Compare different quality assurance managers
Quality assurance manager vs. Director of quality
In the manufacturing industry, a director of quality is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the daily operations in a quality assurance department. They work to ensure that products adhere to the company's quality standards and industry regulations by conducting research and assessments, developing quality test systems, and reviewing reports. As a director of quality, they have the authority to make significant decisions, establish protocols and guidelines, set objectives and timelines, and implement rules and policies, creating new ones as necessary.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a quality assurance manager are more likely to require skills like "food safety," "sqf," "quality audits," and "test cases." On the other hand, a job as a director of quality requires skills like "healthcare," "quality improvement," "patients," and "oversight." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Directors of quality tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $155,704. In contrast, quality assurance managers make the biggest average salary, $109,944, in the finance industry.The education levels that directors of quality earn slightly differ from quality assurance managers. In particular, directors of quality are 9.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a quality assurance manager. Additionally, they're 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Quality assurance manager vs. Lead quality control
Lead quality control agents are manufacturing professionals who are responsible for supervising and coordinating the activities of workers to meet the required quality standards of finished products. These professionals are required to review the calibration of manufacturing equipment to ensure they perform correctly and on time. They must assist in identifying and developing procedures and processes that are related to the quality management system. Leads quality control must also perform quality testing on materials while participating in team meetings to discuss safety and quality issues.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that quality assurance manager responsibilities requires skills like "continuous improvement," "food safety," "customer service," and "project management." But a lead quality control might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "safety procedures," "quality checks," "production lines," and "hplc."
On average, lead quality controls earn a lower salary than quality assurance managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, lead quality controls earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $82,007. Whereas quality assurance managers have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $109,944.lead quality controls earn lower levels of education than quality assurance managers in general. They're 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Quality assurance manager vs. Quality control supervisor
A quality control supervisor specializes in carrying out and implementing systems and procedures that ensure product quality within an organization. They are primarily responsible for devising priorities and standards, managing schedules to abide by the production timeline, monitoring activities, coordinating with production and quality control personnel, assessing employee performance, and thoroughly discussing new systems for all staff. There are also instances when a quality control supervisor must perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and assessments, responding to calls and correspondence, even disseminating notices.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, quality assurance managers are more likely to have skills like "customer service," "project management," "quality management system," and "regulatory compliance." But a quality control supervisor is more likely to have skills like "safety procedures," "lab equipment," "hplc," and "quality system."
Quality control supervisors earn the highest salary when working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they receive an average salary of $74,165. Comparatively, quality assurance managers have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $109,944.quality control supervisors typically earn lower educational levels compared to quality assurance managers. Specifically, they're 6.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Quality assurance manager vs. Manager
Managers are responsible for a specific department, function, or employee group. They oversee their assigned departments and all the employees under the department. Managers are responsible that the department they are handling is functioning well. They set the department goals and the steps they must take to achieve the goals. They are also in charge of assessing the performance of their departments and their employees. Additionally, managers are responsible for interviewing prospective candidates for department vacancies and assessing their fit to the needs of the department. Managers also set the general working environment in the department, and they are expected to ensure that their employees remain motivated.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between quality assurance managers and managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a quality assurance manager might have more use for skills like "continuous improvement," "corrective action," "iso," and "quality standards." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of managers require skills like "payroll," "financial statements," "management," and "powerpoint. "
Managers enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $71,781. For comparison, quality assurance managers earn the highest salary in the finance industry.managers reach lower levels of education compared to quality assurance managers, in general. The difference is that they're 5.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of quality assurance manager
Updated January 8, 2025
