How to hire a manufacturing quality engineer

How to hire a manufacturing quality engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step manufacturing 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 manufacturing quality engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new manufacturing quality engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a manufacturing quality engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The manufacturing quality engineer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

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   Hiring the perfect manufacturing 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.

   This list shows salaries for various types of manufacturing quality engineers.

   Type of Manufacturing Quality Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Manufacturing 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.	$31-58
   Process Improvement Engineer	A process improvement engineer specializes in conducting research and analysis to develop new strategies and ideas to improve the processes in a manufacturing plant or a similar setting. They prioritize efficiency and profitability... Show more	$29-52
   Engineer	Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects... Show more	$31-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Continuous Improvement
   • Corrective Action
   • Sigma
   • Product Quality
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • ISO
   • Quality Issues
   • Process Control
   • Quality Standards
   • FMEA
   • Process Improvement
   • SPC
   • Supplier Quality
   • R

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Assist with several remediation efforts that lead to a 483b lift from the FDA.
   • Manage supplier commodities and support manufacturing operations ensuring product conformance to print specification and monitoring production processes on the line level.
   • Conduct, support, and provide analysis for machine/process/quality information following FMEA and APQP standards.
   • Implement QMS process improvements from audit findings.
   • Provide support for CAPA relate activities to products and processes.
   • Own CAPA investigation, implementation and tracking on product lines.

   More manufacturing quality engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your manufacturing quality engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A manufacturing quality engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a manufacturing quality engineer in Vermont may be lower than in California, and an entry-level manufacturing quality engineer usually earns less than a senior-level manufacturing quality engineer. Additionally, a manufacturing quality engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average manufacturing quality engineer salary

   $89,693yearly

   $43.12 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level manufacturing quality engineer salary

   $65,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average manufacturing quality engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$135,901	$65
   2	Washington	$116,053	$56
   3	Arizona	$95,705	$46
   4	Massachusetts	$90,815	$44
   5	Texas	$85,644	$41
   6	Minnesota	$83,407	$40
   7	Michigan	$79,139	$38
   8	Colorado	$77,669	$37
   9	South Carolina	$75,088	$36
   10	Illinois	$74,569	$36
   11	North Carolina	$73,040	$35
   12	Wisconsin	$73,007	$35
   13	Ohio	$72,314	$35
   14	Georgia	$71,474	$34
   15	Alabama	$70,092	$34
   16	Indiana	$68,018	$33

   Average manufacturing quality engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$152,046	$73.10	336
   2	Google	$136,725	$65.73	56
   3	Apple	$133,265	$64.07	153
   4	Dell	$122,558	$58.92
   5	Zoox	$121,446	$58.39	22
   6	Nutanix	$117,357	$56.42	3
   7	Cisco	$116,593	$56.05	58
   8	Amazon	$116,117	$55.83	290
   9	Applied Materials	$115,479	$55.52	73
   10	Compunetix	$106,783	$51.34	3
   11	Radisys	$103,951	$49.98
   12	Vicor	$101,925	$49.00	2
   13	Philips Medical Systems	$100,612	$48.37
   14	Fusion LLC	$99,763	$47.96
   15	Stepan	$99,526	$47.85	1
   16	Abbott	$98,420	$47.32	147
   17	General Electric	$97,844	$47.04	339
   18	Mack Trucks	$97,724	$46.98
   19	Mevion Medical Systems	$96,414	$46.35
   20	BD	$95,725	$46.02	24

4. Writing a manufacturing quality engineer job description

   A job description for a manufacturing quality engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a manufacturing quality engineer job description:

   Manufacturing quality engineer job description example

   Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, Inc. is looking for a Quality Manufacturing Engineer to work for our client in Lapeer, MI. This is a DIRECT HIRE opportunity! Pay will be based on experience, up to $70K.
   
   The Quality Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for building collaborative relationships between the supplier, customer and plant, implementation and improvement of statistical methods, quality cost analysis, specification and procedure development, following ISO/IATF requirements, effective problem solving and assisting with plant quality audits. Work with the production departments to eliminate Quality defects through the analysis of data and the implementation of Poka-Yoke systems in the manufacturing process. Responsible for maintaining the quality and integrity of the products assigned in order to meet customer’s requirements / expectations.
   ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
   1. Analyze the customer complaint information to develop perato charts in order to set priorities
   2. Analyze and drive scrap reduction projects within each department
   3. Support Operation departments with quality meetings, problem solving, reject/defect (DMR) investigations associated with internal processes and purchased parts.
   4. Assist in writing project charters based on Quality defects which were analyzed
   5. Assist in finding root cause of customer concerns
   6. Assist in writing 8D’s based on the root cause analysis and 5-why process
   7. Work with supplier on SCAR and continual improvement
   8. Assist in conducting annual plant audits (VDA, LPA and IATF) systems surveys, assist in providing feedback to improve Quality procedures and systems.
   ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
   1. Participate as an active member of one of the KPM / TPM pillar teams
   2. Track ongoing Quality projects and report on progress monthly
   3. Review and assist in validation process used for closed 8D’s
   4. Review improvement projects with customers during plant tours
   5. Review SPC data to understand production process limits and recommend improvements from this data
   6. Performs other duties as assigned.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find manufacturing quality engineers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any manufacturing quality engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level manufacturing quality engineers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting manufacturing 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to 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 manufacturing quality engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect manufacturing quality engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   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.)

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