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The differences between 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 quality engineer, becoming a quality manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a quality manager has an average salary of $91,357, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality engineer.
The top three skills for a quality engineer include corrective action, continuous improvement and ISO. The most important skills for a quality manager are continuous improvement, corrective action, and quality standards.
| Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $79,672 | $91,357 |
| Hourly rate | $38.30 | $43.92 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 96,838 | 63,422 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
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.
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.
Quality engineers and quality managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Average salary | $79,672 | $91,357 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $103,000 | Between $64,000 And $128,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality engineer and a quality manager in terms of educational background:
| Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality engineers' and quality managers' demographics:
| Quality Engineer | Quality Manager | |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% | Male, 72.1% Female, 27.9% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |