How to hire a lead quality engineer

How to hire a lead quality engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step lead quality engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a lead quality engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new lead quality engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a lead quality engineer do?

Post a lead quality engineer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your lead quality engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a lead quality engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect lead quality engineer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of lead quality engineer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Lead Quality Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Lead Quality Engineer	Industrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.	$38-64
   Quality Supervisor	A quality supervisor is a professional who manages and implements the quality assurance and control systems of a company to ensure the proper execution of products and customer satisfaction. Quality supervisors oversee a team of quality control analysts and train them on the latest product standards... Show more	$20-40
   Process Engineer	A Process Engineer is responsible for coming up with innovative ways to process particular raw materials into different kinds of products. They can also modify various existing machines or maintain their quality by monitoring its functions and conducting tests and examinations... Show more	$29-51

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Corrective Action
   • Continuous Improvement
   • Product Quality
   • Quality Standards
   • QA
   • Sigma
   • ISO
   • Project Management
   • Test Cases
   • Process Improvement
   • Supplier Quality
   • Quality Issues
   • SQL

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Conduct global supplier assessments to meet ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 14971 and FDA 21CFR820 requirements and regulations.
   • Train process engineers and supervisors in statistical techniques, experimental design, capability studies, FMEA and problem solving techniques.

   More lead quality engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the lead quality engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A lead quality engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a lead quality engineer in Pennsylvania may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level lead quality engineer. Additionally, a lead quality engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average lead quality engineer salary

   $104,296yearly

   $50.14 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level lead quality engineer salary

   $80,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average lead quality engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$139,380	$67
   2	Oregon	$117,287	$56
   3	Massachusetts	$114,682	$55
   4	New York	$111,947	$54
   5	Colorado	$105,623	$51
   6	Arizona	$104,811	$50
   7	Minnesota	$104,381	$50
   8	Florida	$103,268	$50
   9	Virginia	$103,222	$50
   10	Texas	$101,905	$49
   11	Iowa	$99,410	$48
   12	Illinois	$99,010	$48
   13	Nebraska	$91,869	$44
   14	Georgia	$91,821	$44
   15	Kansas	$89,470	$43
   16	Pennsylvania	$88,012	$42
   17	North Carolina	$86,531	$42
   18	Ohio	$85,539	$41
   19	Wisconsin	$84,441	$41

   Average lead quality engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$176,333	$84.78	40
   2	Apple	$152,626	$73.38	142
   3	Amazon	$136,856	$65.80	202
   4	Cohesity	$134,137	$64.49
   5	ServiceNow	$132,215	$63.56	3
   6	Macy's	$131,665	$63.30	1
   7	Five Below	$131,534	$63.24
   8	Crestron Electronics	$131,279	$63.11	1
   9	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.	$130,781	$62.88	1
   10	American Eagle Outfitters	$129,696	$62.35
   11	BigCommerce	$128,435	$61.75
   12	Sephora	$127,694	$61.39
   13	Nike	$126,025	$60.59	3
   14	Barclays	$125,491	$60.33	1
   15	Rackspace	$123,274	$59.27	2
   16	Indeed	$122,529	$58.91
   17	NBCUniversal	$122,264	$58.78	8
   18	Volvo Trucks	$119,914	$57.65	14
   19	Foot Locker	$117,418	$56.45	1
   20	Williams Sonoma	$117,148	$56.32	4

4. Writing a lead quality engineer job description

   A lead quality engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a lead quality engineer job description:

   Lead quality engineer job description example

   Minimum qualifications:
   
   + Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Material Science or equivalent practical experience.
   
   + 5 years of experience in subsea telecommunications systems, with a focus on quality, reliability or technical supplier management.
   
   + Experience working with Quality Management Systems, including ISO 9001:2015 or regional equivalents.
   
   + Experience working with system and component vendors and stakeholders to define roadmaps.
   
   Preferred qualifications:
   
   + Master's degree or PhD in engineering, physics, chemistry or material science.
   
   + 5 years of experience designing or assessing high-reliability products, including undersea cables and systems, insulation materials, or high-voltage equipment or components.
   
   + Experience directly in the manufacturing, design or testing of undersea systems.
   
   + Experience motivating others to act by creating a shared sense of vision or purpose.
   
   + Experience with metro and long-haul coherent Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical transport systems.
   
   Google is proud to boast a network that provides service to millions of Internet users around the world. The Network Engineering team is responsible for operating that network reliably and at scale. As a member of the team, you have a direct impact on design and feature enhancements to keep our systems running smoothly. You also ensure that network operations are safe and efficient by monitoring network performance, coordinating planned maintenance, adjusting hardware components and responding to network connectivity issues. Google's complex network generates a constant stream of challenges which require you to continually be innovative with an evolving set of technologies. Keeping the network reliable ensures that our users stay connected with our suite of applications, products and services.
   
   The Optical Networking Technologies team is responsible for designing and developing future optical architectures and evaluating the interactions between the foundational optical layer and Layer 3 to optimize network efficiency while ensuring that the network scales reliably.
   
   The submarine technologies team in Google Global Networking (GGN) is responsible for building a solid foundation that supports the explosive growth of all Google customers. The team oversees all technical decisions in submarine build projects, and works closely with partner teams in GGN who build and operate the submarine network.
   
   Behind everything our users see online is the architecture built by the Technical Infrastructure team to keep it running. From developing and maintaining our data centers to building the next generation of Google platforms, we make Google's product portfolio possible. We're proud to be our engineers' engineers and love voiding warranties by taking things apart so we can rebuild them. We keep our networks up and running, ensuring our users have the best and fastest experience possible.
   
   + Lead Quarterly Quality Reviews with submarine system suppliers.
   
   + Review, track, and improve Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for quality established with suppliers for the installed subsea system base.
   
   + Arrange and staff manufacturing quality and process audits.
   
   + Review and assess the strategic impact of Qualification Reports for equipment, modules, components or processes.
   
   + Support Project Managers and Strategic Negotiators during project implementation and post-acceptance periods.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right lead quality engineer for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your lead quality engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit lead quality engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting lead quality engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new lead quality engineer

   Once you've found the lead quality engineer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a lead quality engineer?