Associate director, quality assurance vs senior quality manager

The differences between associate directors, quality assurance and senior quality managers 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 senior quality manager. Additionally, an associate director, quality assurance has an average salary of $131,112, which is higher than the $127,285 average annual salary of a senior quality manager.

The top three skills for an associate director, quality assurance include qa management, FDA and GMP. The most important skills for a senior quality manager are continuous improvement, oversight, and project management.

Associate director, quality assurance vs senior quality manager overview

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Senior Quality Manager
Yearly salary	$131,112	$127,285
Hourly rate	$63.03	$61.19
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	67,521	62,683
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
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 senior quality manager do?

A senior quality manager is in charge of designing and developing quality control measures to ensure that a company's products are according to standards. They typically coordinate with analysts and other experts to identify the market and clients' needs, evaluate existing quality control methods, and create strategies to improve production procedures. Aside from optimizing quality control, a senior quality manager must also monitor the workflow and the workforce's performance to ensure efficiency and their adherence to the company's standards and regulations.

Associate director, quality assurance vs senior quality manager salary

Associate directors, quality assurance and senior quality managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Senior Quality Manager
Average salary	$131,112	$127,285
Salary range	Between $93,000 And $183,000	Between $90,000 And $178,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	Corcept Therapeutics	Upstart Network
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Professional

Differences between associate director, quality assurance and senior quality manager education

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

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Senior Quality Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Biology	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Associate director, quality assurance vs senior quality manager demographics

Here are the differences between associate directors, quality assurance' and senior quality managers' demographics:

	Associate Director, Quality Assurance	Senior Quality Manager
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 59.8% Female, 40.2%	Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6%
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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.4% Asian, 9.3% White, 69.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between associate director, quality assurance and senior quality manager 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.

Senior quality manager example responsibilities.

Manage material review board (MRB) reviews to address issues.
Manage the daily activities consisting of a team of 3 QC inspectors and 1 Jr.
Manage all aspects of change control for business operational, overseeing all CAPA programs and management.
Assist Sr. Director QRC in producing QC metrics and managing corrective and preventive action (CAPA) system.
Manage FRB, MRB, FMEA, product alert/recall of the approved vendor list and resultant underperformance management.
Manage personnel to complete all quality assurance, regulatory, and validation activities for QC and production relate activities.

Associate director, quality assurance vs senior quality manager skills

Common associate director, quality assurance skills

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

Common senior quality manager skills

Continuous Improvement, 8%
Oversight, 5%
Project Management, 4%
FDA, 4%
Quality Standards, 4%
Corrective Action, 4%

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Associate Director, Quality Assurance
Associate Director, Quality Assurance vs Senior Quality Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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