Associate director, quality assurance vs lead quality control

The differences between associate directors, quality assurance and lead quality controls can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an associate director, quality assurance and a lead quality control. Additionally, an associate director, quality assurance has an average salary of $131,112, which is higher than the $85,375 average annual salary of a lead quality control.

The top three skills for an associate director, quality assurance include qa management, FDA and GMP. The most important skills for a lead quality control are GMP, safety procedures, and quality checks.

Associate director, quality assurance vs lead quality control overview

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Lead Quality Control
Yearly salary	$131,112	$85,375
Hourly rate	$63.03	$41.05
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	67,521	83,633
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	6	6

What does an associate director, quality assurance do?

Quality analysts act as problem solvers and testers of products or services in the production phase. They are responsible for the development and support of testing, process planning, design, and execution. These professionals need to have skills such as good communication skills, logic and reasoning, information technology skills, and a creative mindset. They should also be equipped with knowledge about the testing techniques. A computer science bachelor's degree or any of its associated fields is necessary to become a quality analyst.

What does a lead quality control do?

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.

Associate director, quality assurance vs lead quality control salary

Associate directors, quality assurance and lead quality controls have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Lead Quality Control
Average salary	$131,112	$85,375
Salary range	Between $93,000 And $183,000	Between $66,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Brookhaven, NY
Highest paying state	Alaska	New York
Best paying company	Corcept Therapeutics	Bloomberg
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between associate director, quality assurance and lead quality control education

There are a few differences between an associate director, quality assurance and a lead quality control in terms of educational background:

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Lead Quality Control
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Associate director, quality assurance vs lead quality control demographics

Here are the differences between associate directors, quality assurance' and lead quality controls' demographics:

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Lead Quality Control
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 59.8% Female, 40.2%	Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between associate director, quality assurance and lead quality control duties and responsibilities

Associate director, quality assurance example responsibilities.

Create and manage worldwide GCP, GMP, and GLP audit program.
Manage and report quality data metrics including audits, investigations, CAPA, for management review meetings and steering committee meetings.
Manage large scale automation platform to perform regression and functional verification.
Manage initial USDA regulatory visits, working collaboratively with USDA inspectors leading audit preparation and follow-up activities and reports.
Authore SVMP and SMF for MHRA (EU) certification.
Train company on QSR, cGMP, and ISO regulations.

Lead quality control example responsibilities.

Manage production line, accountable for production quotas and safe food handling procedures are continually meet according to USDA guidelines.
Own, manage, and oversight to comprehensive quality management systems including leading policy deployment process within quality assurance function.
Oversee all quality operations to ensure FDA regulations are meet.
Analyze raw material, in-process and finish products using HPLC and IR.
Inspect plant and employees to ensure all are utilizing safe food handling by USDA standards
Involve in testing disintegration time, hardness of tablets and assist in HPLC tests on all finish products.

Associate director, quality assurance vs lead quality control skills

Common associate director, quality assurance skills

Qa Management, 8%
FDA, 6%
GMP, 6%
GCP, 5%
ICH, 4%
CAPA, 4%

Common lead quality control skills

GMP, 9%
Safety Procedures, 8%
Quality Checks, 7%
Production Lines, 7%
Corrective Action, 6%
Internal Audit, 5%

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Associate Director, Quality Assurance
Associate Director, Quality Assurance vs Lead Quality Control

Updated January 8, 2025

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