How To Become A Quality Systems Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a quality systems engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

James Swisher

If you want to ensure the high quality of products and processes, you can become a quality systems engineer. Quality systems engineers conduct frequent and detailed quality checks to ensure these products and products are consistent with industry, legal, and client demands. They check tools and materials, conduct tests, and train employees to meet safety requirements.

One of the main duties of these engineers is to locate and fix defects. They follow the entire manufacturing process from beginning to end, documenting any problems. They may also be asked to establish and manage quality control standards, develop and maintain an evaluation process, propose process improvement opportunities, and maintain local quality systems metrics.

Quality systems engineers need to review and comprehend quality system standards, have strong problem-solving skills, build cross-functional teams. A quality systems engineer typically needs to have a Bachelor's degree in engineering. In some cases, previous experience in quality control, quality assurance, or another related area may be required.

What general advice would you give to a quality systems engineer?

James Swisher

Director of Continuing Education, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers

It's truly an exciting time to be an Industrial and Systems Engineer. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects demand for ISEs to grow by 10% over the next ten years, which is much faster than the rate for all occupations. Firms across a broad range of industries will continue to focus on the skills that ISEs bring to improve efficiencies, enhance quality, and lower costs. In addition, ISEs bring skills in the related fields of big data, artificial intelligence, and project management that make them extremely valuable to organizations. ISEs ability to quickly make an impact in an organization also means that their potential for promotion is very good. It's a great profession to be in.

ScoreQuality Systems EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $88,543

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 13.11%

Black or African American 4.63%

Hispanic or Latino 11.37%

Unknown 3.93%

White 66.79%

Gender

female 29.60%

male 70.40%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a quality systems engineer

Explore quality systems engineer education requirements

Most common quality systems engineer degrees

Bachelor's

71.6 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

9.9 %

Start to develop specific quality systems engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Continuous Improvement	6.45%
Medical Devices	6.07%
CAPA	5.48%
Corrective Action	5.21%
FDA	5.14%

Complete relevant quality systems engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New quality systems engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a quality systems engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real quality systems engineer resumes.

Research quality systems engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage CAPA systems integration of recent acquisitions.
Lead and drive product/process design responsibilities in a highly-regulate medical environment, including statistical validation per FDA requirements.
Participate in FDA and annual ISO investigations, and follow-up activities including implementation and evaluation of effectiveness.
Develop quality control plans and FMEA for all processes.

Prepare your quality systems engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your quality systems engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a quality systems engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable quality systems engineer resume templates

Build a professional quality systems engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your quality systems engineer resume.

Apply for quality systems engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a quality systems engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do quality systems engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Quality systems engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2021

Pros

Defined Quality test procedure validated test components and planned integration tests for leading parts manufacture for industry. • Prepares and maintained important company quality control documentations such as quality manuals quality procedure, quality standards and quality assurance • Prepared the final inspection report before the dispatched for the machining process • Resolved machining department complaints, took preventive measure to prevent future complaints and clearly, documented all feedback, Mechanical Engineer for Third Party Inspection jobs in Baroda • Typically deals with several problems of the same time

Cons

Yes

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019