Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between manufacturing quality managers and quality engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a manufacturing quality manager, becoming a quality engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a manufacturing quality manager has an average salary of $121,115, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality engineer.
The top three skills for a manufacturing quality manager include continuous improvement, lean manufacturing and ISO. The most important skills for a quality engineer are corrective action, continuous improvement, and ISO.
| Manufacturing Quality Manager | Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $121,115 | $79,672 |
| Hourly rate | $58.23 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 88,190 | 96,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A manufacturing quality manager ensures the manufacturing processes and products meet minimum standards of quality. In this position, they are required to ensure a certain level of quality is met, understand customer needs and requirements, develop quality control processes that meet the requirements provided, review specifications for products and processes, inspect final products to ensure they comply with legal standards, and set requirements for raw materials from suppliers.
A quality engineer's responsibilities include ensuring that the manufacturing processes are efficient and accurate, documenting findings that would raise concerns, conducting quality tests while observing parameters, and implementing changes as necessary to meet the highest quality standards. Quality engineers need to have excellent problem-solving and observation skills to detect any irregularities and possible malfunctions. They also must be able to communicate effectively with the clients for feedbacks and corrective adjustments, address complaints, and immediately resolve any inconsistencies made.
Manufacturing quality managers and quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Manufacturing Quality Manager | Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $121,115 | $79,672 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $178,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Washington |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a manufacturing quality manager and a quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Manufacturing Quality Manager | Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between manufacturing quality managers' and quality engineers' demographics:
| Manufacturing Quality Manager | Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2% | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 13.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 4% |