How to hire a quality control engineer

How to hire a quality control engineer, step by step

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

What does a quality control engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your quality control engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a quality control engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A quality control engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, quality control engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of quality control engineer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Quality Control Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Quality Control 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.	$25-45
   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
   Quality Lead	A quality assurance (QA) lead is responsible for organizing and managing the testing of products prior to its release. Your duties will include defining testing standards and strategies, establishing formal QA processes, and overseeing all aspects of QA, such as using best practices and establishing metrics... Show more	$30-61

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Product Quality
   • Quality Standards
   • Corrective Action
   • ISO
   • Continuous Improvement
   • R
   • Test Procedures
   • Quality Issues
   • Management System
   • Sigma
   • Data Analysis
   • Quality System
   • Process Control
   • Internal Audit

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage PPAP and quality process analysis for launch, cost reduction, quality improvement activities and efficiency improvement.
   • Develop and coordinate strategic relationships with international OEM and ODM partners to achieve business goals.
   • Acquire knowledge of vehicle wiring harness systems, fiber optics, CATIA, AutoCAD, PPAP, APQP.
   • Lead and participate in Kaizen events.
   • Implement and document CAPA to resolve failures during productions.
   • Execute statistical analysis of the QMS processes and its effectiveness.

   More quality control engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the quality control engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A quality control engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a quality control engineer in Kentucky may be lower than in Wyoming, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level quality control engineer. Additionally, a quality control engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average quality control engineer salary

   $70,845yearly

   $34.06 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level quality control engineer salary

   $53,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average quality control engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$86,175	$41
   2	Massachusetts	$81,863	$39
   3	Virginia	$78,107	$38
   4	Minnesota	$77,805	$37
   5	Maryland	$77,507	$37
   6	Michigan	$74,503	$36
   7	Texas	$73,482	$35
   8	District of Columbia	$72,941	$35
   9	Hawaii	$72,353	$35
   10	New York	$71,513	$34
   11	North Carolina	$71,069	$34
   12	Nebraska	$70,606	$34
   13	Ohio	$69,270	$33
   14	New Jersey	$67,832	$33
   15	Tennessee	$66,818	$32
   16	Alabama	$64,705	$31
   17	Pennsylvania	$57,181	$27
   18	Florida	$54,835	$26
   19	Puerto Rico	$51,115	$25

   Average quality control engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Intuitive Surgical	$105,355	$50.65	10
   2	Fortinet	$103,160	$49.60	21
   3	MathWorks	$92,971	$44.70
   4	MUFG EMEA	$87,413	$42.03
   5	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$87,395	$42.02	23
   6	iDE	$86,762	$41.71
   7	Bell Flight	$86,532	$41.60
   8	Supermicro	$86,330	$41.50	7
   9	Oceaneering	$86,293	$41.49	7
   10	Navistar	$85,277	$41.00	8
   11	Dassault Systèmes	$84,489	$40.62
   12	Federal Reserve Bank	$84,321	$40.54	1
   13	General Electric	$84,012	$40.39	177
   14	Fresenius USA Inc	$83,825	$40.30
   15	The HT Group	$83,572	$40.18	3
   16	Voith GmbH	$83,243	$40.02	3
   17	Atlas Copco Drilling Solutions LLC	$83,003	$39.91
   18	International Trucks	$82,905	$39.86
   19	Qualcomm	$82,620	$39.72	15
   20	Lucid Motors	$82,051	$39.45	35

4. Writing a quality control engineer job description

   A quality control engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a quality control engineer job description:

   Quality control engineer job description example

   1. Ability to interact with the public and other employees in a positive manner and promote a cooperative working environment.

   2. Ability to foster enterprise-wide thinking and drive execution of corporate programs and initiatives.

   3. Ability to speak clearly and persuasively in public or private setting. Excellent oral and written communications skills in English.

   4. Adaptable with ability to switch tasks based on shifting priorities.

   5. Ability to troubleshoot and analyze problems systematically and methodically.

   6. Good analysis, troubleshooting and communication skills.

   7. Attention to detail in composing, keying, and proofing professional business materials.

   8. Ability to demonstrate strong customer service and influencing skills.

   9. Possess strong time management and organizational skills.

   10. Typically faces situations that have a variety of interpretations and require careful evaluation.

   11. Typically solves problems by considering courses of action within the framework of company goals and standards.

   12. Computer proficiency required in Microsoft Office products with a higher level of proficiency in Excel.

   13. Ability to travel to any location where the Company operates and expand territory as business needs dictate.

   14. Ability to work days, weekends, evenings and holidays and participate with on-call rotation as needed.

   RESPONSIBILITIES:

   1. Work within a team environment to facilitate development, validation, and release of quality systems and software.

   2. Develop test strategies and acceptance test plans.

   3. Work with external/internal developer teams to solve problems and develop solutions for efficiency and productivity.

   4. Investigate and thoroughly communicate system/product defects.

   5. Problem solving while improving our testing procedures and implementing test case management software.

   6. Coordinate and communicate with the product owner and development team on bug fixes and required modifications.

   7. Identify test data required for testing and leverage backend systems and APIs to properly setup test data.

   8. Work directly with technicians, customers & stake holders. Including going to the field to collect data and troubleshoot.

   9. Establish automated testing tools.

   10. Employ independent discretion over matters of significance.

   11. Performs other related duties as assigned by supervisor.

   What You Need to Bring

   To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

   · Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or Systems, Computer Science or Systems & Network Administration.

   · Networking background & experience with knowledge in the following technologies: WiFi, MoCA, Bluetooth

   · Strong knowledge of validation test execution, requirements traceability, defect reporting, and automation concepts.

   · Linux & Windows OS, iOS and Android mobile device and Android TV testing experience

   · Proven track record in writing technical statements of work if required

   · Ability and willingness to work a flexible Full Time schedule that may include weekends and holidays.

   · Strong preference for experience with Kibana / Splunk, knowledge with JavaScript, html, Java, Python, other scripting languages, Cable / IPTV, Video Streaming, RF, Coax, Jira, Confluence and Postman or similar tools.

   · Must have active and clean, non-restrictive, state issued driver's license in State where hired.

   · Ability to work days, weekends, evenings and holidays and participate with on-call rotation as needed.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find quality control engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit quality control engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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 quality control engineer

   Once you've found the quality control engineer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new quality control engineer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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 quality control engineer?