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The differences between product quality engineers and quality managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a product quality engineer, becoming a quality manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product quality engineer has an average salary of $94,173, which is higher than the $91,357 average annual salary of a quality manager.
The top three skills for a product quality engineer include product quality, continuous improvement and sigma. The most important skills for a quality manager are continuous improvement, corrective action, and quality standards.
| Product Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $94,173 | $91,357 |
| Hourly rate | $45.28 | $43.92 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 152,621 | 63,422 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A product quality engineer is responsible for conducting quality check procedures for outputs and manufacturing processes to ensure high-quality deliverables according to business requirements and client specifications. Product quality engineers implement quality assessment criteria with strict adherence to internal guidelines and regulatory policies. They inspect the tools and equipment used for the production and solve inconsistencies, recommending and writing process reports to prevent fault reoccurrence that may affect product standards and market quality and cause distribution delays.
A quality manager is an individual who is responsible for ensuring that the level of quality of the company's product outputs is met for customers. Quality managers monitor and evaluate the internal production process so that they can produce statistical reports on the standard of quality and communicate them to upper management. To ensure health and safety standards, quality managers must create and maintain up-to-date product or process specifications. They also train employees on quality assurance standards and processes.
Product quality engineers and quality managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Average salary | $94,173 | $91,357 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $124,000 | Between $64,000 And $128,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product quality engineer and a quality manager in terms of educational background:
| Product Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between product quality engineers' and quality managers' demographics:
| Product Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.8% Female, 18.2% | Male, 72.1% Female, 27.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 15.1% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 8% |