How To Become A Lead Quality Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead quality engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Davide Masato

If you are looking for a leadership position, and enjoy working with numbers, and have a knack for detail, then a position as a lead quality engineer can be a good career choice. Lead quality engineers are professionals who manage quality assurance teams whose main goal is to guarantee the quality of manufactured products. These professionals are responsible for implementing quality assurance protocols, as well as creating procedures to ensure that finished products are up to the client's standards. Lead quality engineers develop and execute quality standards and procedures while conducting internal audits to make sure that quality control procedures are followed.

Lead quality engineers create documentation, create quality tests, and define the criteria that a quality test result should meet. They play a key role in fixing issues when they arise and work with a team of professionals to ensure that the final products are safe, reliable, and meet customer expectations. These professionals also are tasked with keeping the manufacturing process effective and cost-efficient and possess strong analytical, critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills, in addition to being proficient in using computers, software and generating reports for clients and upper management.

Although most lead quality engineers have a degree or certificate in quality engineering, an advanced degree is not critical if the individual has comparable training and experience. Many quality engineers can make up to $106,000 a year, and through 2028, this career field is expected to grow by 8% in the US.

What general advice would you give to a lead quality engineer?

Davide Masato

Assistant Professor, Website

The high demand for plastics engineers facilitates maximizing starting salaries. Graduates with co-op experience enjoy a competitive edge. To grow both as engineers and team members, young professionals should actively seek professional development opportunities. Continuous learning and seeking advancement within the organization or externally are key. Pursuing advanced degrees or certifications, even remotely, enhances qualifications and marketability.

ScoreLead Quality EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $104,296

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 15.22%

Black or African American 4.42%

Hispanic or Latino 10.85%

Unknown 3.90%

White 65.43%

Gender

female 23.40%

male 76.60%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead quality engineer

Explore lead quality engineer education requirements

Most common lead quality engineer degrees

Bachelor's

68.1 %

Master's

16.5 %

Associate

11.3 %

Start to develop specific lead quality engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	5.13%
Corrective Action	4.99%
Continuous Improvement	4.87%
Product Quality	4.57%
Quality Standards	4.55%

Complete relevant lead quality engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead quality engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead quality engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead quality engineer resumes.

Research lead quality engineer duties and responsibilities

Develop SPC and MCA programs in the factory and lead defect reduction teams.
Manage ISO quality system, train company on procedures, and coordinate system and process improvements.
Develop and coordinate strategic relationships with international OEM and ODM partners to achieve business goals.
Facilitate APQP and FMEA meetings.

Get lead quality engineer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a lead quality engineer. The most common roles before becoming a lead quality engineer include quality engineer, quality assurance engineer team lead and quality manager.

Prepare your lead quality engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead quality engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead quality engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable lead quality engineer resume templates

Build a professional lead quality engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your lead quality engineer resume.

Apply for lead quality engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a lead quality engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do lead quality engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Lead quality engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2021

Pros

Defined Quality test procedure validated test components and planned integration tests for leading parts manufacture for industry. • Prepares and maintained important company quality control documentations such as quality manuals quality procedure, quality standards and quality assurance • Prepared the final inspection report before the dispatched for the machining process • Resolved machining department complaints, took preventive measure to prevent future complaints and clearly, documented all feedback, Mechanical Engineer for Third Party Inspection jobs in Baroda • Typically deals with several problems of the same time

Cons

Yes