Quality Manager
Impact: Quality assurance, risk mitigation, customer satisfaction
Oversees and directs quality assurance and control processes to ensure products and services meet established standards and regulatory requirements. Develops and implements quality management systems, conducts audits, and leads continuous improvement initiatives. Manages quality teams and collaborates with other departments to resolve quality issues.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 70% Team / 30% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- 10-20% domestic
- Schedule flexibility
- Flexible
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $105,000
- Entry-level
- $75,000
- Senior
- $145,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 5% (average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High to 93% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $20,000 - $40,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Quality Management Systems (QMS)
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Root Cause Analysis
- Lean Manufacturing
- Six Sigma
- ISO 9001
- Audit Management
Soft skills
- Leadership
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Attention to Detail
- Critical Thinking
- Collaboration
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 5-7 years
- Years to senior
- 10-15 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Quality Engineer
- Senior Quality Engineer
- Quality Manager
- Director of Quality
- VP of Operations
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% to low risk due to judgment and leadership components
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.5/10
- Meaning
- 3.8/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.2/10
- Prestige
- 7.5/10
- Social perception
- High