What does a manufacturing quality manager do?
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.
Manufacturing quality manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real manufacturing quality manager resumes:
- Manage quality assurance inspectors, conduct internal, customer FDA and ISO audits.
- Manage initial USDA regulatory visits, working collaboratively with USDA inspectors leading audit preparation and follow-up activities and reports.
- Assist with FDA inspection preparation.
- Revise and maintain a broken complaint handling and CAPA process.
- Conduct, review, and approve process and product CAPA investigations.
- Co-Host customer audits, ISO audits and are primary host for contract manufacturing customer.
- Address GMP issues and solutions and work with production group to implement quality changes.
- Review all GMP relate documentation in a timely manner meeting target launch dates supporting business targets.
- Assist in the hosting external audits and regulatory inspections such as FDA, EMA & MHRA audits.
- Conduct manual unit testing, end-to-end testing, and regression testing to validate functionality and conformance of application against specifications.
- Direct and facilitate all QS9000 and TS16949 elements maintaining certification and operations.
Manufacturing quality manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Manufacturing Quality Managers are proficient in Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing, and ISO. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Leadership skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Manufacturing Quality Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Continuous Improvement, 7%
Developed and implemented a plant-wide continuous improvement strategy, with emphasis on cross-functional continuous improvement teams.
- Lean Manufacturing, 6%
Introduced Operational Excellence tools of Lean Manufacturing to reduce cost and to improve quality in manufacturing.
- ISO, 6%
Created Multiple Quality Improvement Processes leading towards ISO certification, and organizational excellence.
- Product Quality, 6%
Developed customer specific and standard product quality plans and customer required documentation.
- Sigma, 5%
Provided initial start-up direction and development for 6 Sigma integration.
- Quality Management System, 5%
Managed staff and multiple components of the quality management system including but not limited to non-conforming material and internal audits.
Most manufacturing quality managers use their skills in "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "iso" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential manufacturing quality manager responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a manufacturing quality manager to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "industrial production managers must have excellent communication skills to work well other managers and with staff." Additionally, a manufacturing quality manager resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "demonstrate proven leadership ability and excellent interpersonal skills while mentoring and teaching the team effective problem solving. "
Leadership skills. Another essential skill to perform manufacturing quality manager duties is leadership skills. Manufacturing quality managers responsibilities require that "to keep the production process running smoothly, industrial production managers must motivate and direct employees." Manufacturing quality managers also use leadership skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided project management leadership to cross-functional product development teams. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for manufacturing quality managers to perform their duties. For an example of how manufacturing quality manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "production managers must identify and address problems that arise." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a manufacturing quality manager: "solved issues with all suppliers as well as all corrective actions that needed to be answered. ".
The three companies that hire the most manufacturing quality managers are:
- Accenture6 manufacturing quality managers jobs
- Associated Materials Group, Inc.
4 manufacturing quality managers jobs
- Sager Electronics4 manufacturing quality managers jobs
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Compare different manufacturing quality managers
Manufacturing quality manager vs. Vice-president of quality
A vice president of quality is responsible for monitoring the quality performance and delivery of the company outputs and deliverables to serve customers and clients. Vice presidents of quality analyze the production and operational processes to ensure that everything adheres to the internal guidelines and regulations. They also coordinate with the stakeholders for project updates and identify opportunities for revenue resources to increase the company's profits. A vice president of quality must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in minimizing loss from operational failures and increasing productivity results.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, manufacturing quality manager responsibilities require skills like "statistical process control," "erp," "ppap," and "sops." Meanwhile a typical vice-president of quality has skills in areas such as "oversight," "risk management," "patient safety," and "performance improvement." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Vice-president of qualities earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $122,006. On the other hand, manufacturing quality managers are paid more in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $127,878.The education levels that vice-president of qualities earn slightly differ from manufacturing quality managers. In particular, vice-president of qualities are 9.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a manufacturing quality manager. Additionally, they're 2.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing quality manager vs. Quality assurance supervisor
A quality assurance supervisor oversees and leads the quality control operations within a manufacturing plant or similar establishment. They are primarily responsible for crafting and implementing policies that prioritize the efficiency of products or services, supervising and evaluating the performances of the workforce, and setting standards and procedures that align not just with the goals of the company, but the national and international level of production standards. Furthermore, as a supervisor in the field, it is crucial to encourage and shape quality assurance workers into valuable members of the company.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, manufacturing quality manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "lean manufacturing," "quality management system," "lean six sigma," and "supplier quality." Meanwhile, a quality assurance supervisor has duties that require skills in areas such as "food safety," "customer service," "patients," and "haccp." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, quality assurance supervisors earn a lower salary than manufacturing quality managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, quality assurance supervisors earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $80,377. Whereas manufacturing quality managers have higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $127,878.quality assurance supervisors earn similar levels of education than manufacturing quality managers in general. They're 4.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing quality manager vs. Quality supervisor
A quality supervisor is an individual 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. They must make sure that customers are pleased with the finished product by communicating with them and setting realistic expectations. Quality supervisors must also provide reports on quality metrics to the other members of the management team.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a manufacturing quality manager is likely to be skilled in "quality management system," "qa," "statistical process control," and "erp," while a typical quality supervisor is skilled in "food safety," "quality procedures," "management system," and "customer service."
Quality supervisors earn the best pay in the automotive industry, where they command an average salary of $73,685. Manufacturing quality managers earn the highest pay from the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $127,878.When it comes to education, quality supervisors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to manufacturing quality managers. In fact, they're 3.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing quality manager vs. Quality assurance director
The job of a quality assurance (QA) director is to oversee all QA functions across the company. Your duties typically include working closely with other department heads to deliver high-quality products on time, hiring managers and analysts, and establishing and maintaining a quality system to make sure that company guidelines and regulatory standards are met. Additionally, you will be responsible for ensuring quality by monitoring, appraising job results, and planning. You are also expected to maintain technical and professional knowledge by reviewing professional publications, participating in professional associations, and attending workshops.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between manufacturing quality managers and quality assurance directors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a manufacturing quality manager might have more use for skills like "lean manufacturing," "lean six sigma," "qa," and "fmea." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of quality assurance directors require skills like "oversight," "test automation," "scrum," and "patients. "
In general, quality assurance directors earn the most working in the professional industry, with an average salary of $161,774. The highest-paying industry for a manufacturing quality manager is the pharmaceutical industry.quality assurance directors reach higher levels of education compared to manufacturing quality managers, in general. The difference is that they're 5.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of manufacturing quality manager
Updated January 8, 2025
