Quality assurance director vs lead quality control

The differences between quality assurance directors and lead quality controls can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a quality assurance director and a lead quality control. Additionally, a quality assurance director has an average salary of $140,937, which is higher than the $85,375 average annual salary of a lead quality control.

The top three skills for a quality assurance director include continuous improvement, quality standards and oversight. The most important skills for a lead quality control are GMP, safety procedures, and quality checks.

Quality assurance director vs lead quality control overview

	Quality Assurance Director	Lead Quality Control
Yearly salary	$140,937	$85,375
Hourly rate	$67.76	$41.05
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	66,888	83,633
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	6	6

What does a quality assurance director do?

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.

What does a lead quality control do?

Lead quality control agents are manufacturing professionals who are responsible for supervising and coordinating the activities of workers to meet the required quality standards of finished products. These professionals are required to review the calibration of manufacturing equipment to ensure they perform correctly and on time. They must assist in identifying and developing procedures and processes that are related to the quality management system. Leads quality control must also perform quality testing on materials while participating in team meetings to discuss safety and quality issues.

Quality assurance director vs lead quality control salary

Quality assurance directors and lead quality controls have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Quality Assurance Director	Lead Quality Control
Average salary	$140,937	$85,375
Salary range	Between $97,000 And $203,000	Between $66,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Brookhaven, NY
Highest paying state	Alaska	New York
Best paying company	Upstart Network	Bloomberg
Best paying industry	Professional	Manufacturing

Differences between quality assurance director and lead quality control education

There are a few differences between a quality assurance director and a lead quality control in terms of educational background:

	Quality Assurance Director	Lead Quality Control
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Quality assurance director vs lead quality control demographics

Here are the differences between quality assurance directors' and lead quality controls' demographics:

	Quality Assurance Director	Lead Quality Control
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2%	Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between quality assurance director and lead quality control duties and responsibilities

Quality assurance director example responsibilities.

Manage the USDA inspection process including coordinating daily production and communicating with federal personnel.
Manage initial USDA regulatory visits, working collaboratively with USDA inspectors leading audit preparation and follow-up activities and reports.
Direct and coordinate quality and regulatory affairs activities to support new product development, improving GMP compliance.
Provide GxP support and oversight for all Genocea development programs.
Set and execute vision for QRM consistent with corporate objectives and ICH Q9.
Develop and update metrics within the QMS to provide meaningful feedback to stakeholders.

Lead quality control example responsibilities.

Manage production line, accountable for production quotas and safe food handling procedures are continually meet according to USDA guidelines.
Own, manage, and oversight to comprehensive quality management systems including leading policy deployment process within quality assurance function.
Oversee all quality operations to ensure FDA regulations are meet.
Analyze raw material, in-process and finish products using HPLC and IR.
Inspect plant and employees to ensure all are utilizing safe food handling by USDA standards
Involve in testing disintegration time, hardness of tablets and assist in HPLC tests on all finish products.

Quality assurance director vs lead quality control skills

Common quality assurance director skills

Continuous Improvement, 8%
Quality Standards, 7%
Oversight, 5%
Test Automation, 5%
Scrum, 4%
FDA, 4%

Common lead quality control skills

GMP, 9%
Safety Procedures, 8%
Quality Checks, 7%
Production Lines, 7%
Corrective Action, 6%
Internal Audit, 5%

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Quality Assurance Director
Quality Assurance Director vs Lead Quality Control

Updated January 8, 2025

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