How to hire a senior quality manager

How to hire a senior quality manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior quality manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior quality manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior quality manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior quality manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior quality manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect senior quality manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior quality managers.

   Type of Senior Quality Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Quality Manager	Industrial production managers oversee the daily operations of manufacturing and related plants. They coordinate, plan, and direct the activities used to create a wide range of goods, such as cars, computer equipment, or paper products.	$43-85
   Quality Control Supervisor	A quality control supervisor specializes in carrying out and implementing systems and procedures that ensure product quality within an organization. They are primarily responsible for devising priorities and standards, managing schedules to abide by the production timeline, monitoring activities, coordinating with production and quality control personnel, assessing employee performance, and thoroughly discussing new systems for all staff... Show more	$22-41
   Quality Assurance Supervisor	A quality assurance supervisor oversees and leads the quality control operations within a manufacturing plant or similar establishment. They are primarily responsible for crafting and implementing policies that prioritize the efficiency of products or services, supervising and evaluating the performances of the workforce, and setting standards and procedures that align not just with the goals of the company, but the national and international level of production standards... Show more	$22-45

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Continuous Improvement
   • Oversight
   • Project Management
   • FDA
   • Quality Standards
   • Corrective Action
   • GMP
   • CAPA
   • Product Quality
   • ISO
   • Process Improvement
   • Sigma
   • Quality Management System
   • Quality Issues

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage material review board (MRB) reviews to address issues.
   • Manage the daily activities consisting of a team of 3 QC inspectors and 1 Jr.
   • Manage all aspects of change control for business operational, overseeing all CAPA programs and management.
   • Assist Sr. Director QRC in producing QC metrics and managing corrective and preventive action (CAPA) system.
   • Manage FRB, MRB, FMEA, product alert/recall of the approved vendor list and resultant underperformance management.
   • Manage personnel to complete all quality assurance, regulatory, and validation activities for QC and production relate activities.

   More senior quality manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior quality manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A senior quality manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a senior quality manager in Tennessee may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level senior quality manager usually earns less than a senior-level senior quality manager. Additionally, a senior quality manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average senior quality manager salary

   $127,285yearly

   $61.19 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior quality manager salary

   $90,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

   Average senior quality manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$171,791	$83
   2	Washington	$148,407	$71
   3	Arizona	$141,515	$68
   4	Connecticut	$134,245	$65
   5	Massachusetts	$129,237	$62
   6	New Jersey	$124,254	$60
   7	New York	$121,131	$58
   8	Maryland	$119,875	$58
   9	Pennsylvania	$119,550	$57
   10	Texas	$118,343	$57
   11	Michigan	$118,285	$57
   12	Virginia	$108,536	$52
   13	North Carolina	$108,114	$52
   14	Indiana	$107,918	$52
   15	Illinois	$104,886	$50
   16	Georgia	$104,388	$50
   17	Colorado	$104,324	$50
   18	Florida	$100,227	$48
   19	Wisconsin	$95,522	$46

   Average senior quality manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Upstart Network	$182,866	$87.92
   2	Apple	$165,385	$79.51	92
   3	Parsons	$161,626	$77.70	37
   4	Safeway	$157,457	$75.70
   5	Accenture	$157,408	$75.68	128
   6	Rivian	$157,318	$75.63	7
   7	Mayo Clinic	$152,650	$73.39	6
   8	Genentech	$152,022	$73.09	14
   9	Biogen	$150,411	$72.31	6
   10	SiFive	$150,262	$72.24
   11	Tesla	$149,784	$72.01	56
   12	Adobe	$148,383	$71.34	2
   13	Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc.	$146,999	$70.67
   14	Fitbit	$144,594	$69.52
   15	Cedars-Sinai	$144,387	$69.42	6
   16	Quidel	$144,382	$69.41
   17	Oshkosh	$144,250	$69.35	28
   18	LendingClub	$143,521	$69.00
   19	Dana Incorporated	$142,510	$68.51	2
   20	Citi	$141,971	$68.26	5

4. Writing a senior quality manager job description

   A senior quality manager 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a senior quality manager job description:

   Senior quality manager job description example

   Job Title
   Senior Manager, Quality Operations - Device
   
   Requisition
   
   JR000012516 Senior Manager, Quality Operations - Device (Open)
   
   Location
   
   Field Based Location - USA082
   
   Additional Locations
   
   Job Description
   
   SummaryThe Senior Manager, Quality Operations is responsible for assuring the overall quality and compliance of products designed and manufactured by or for the Mallinckrodt - Specialty Brands organization. The Sr. Manager, Quality Operations assures that work conducted to design or change the design of products is conducted in a compliant manner that yields a product that is safe and reliable. Works closely with Operations/Manufacturing and Global Device Engineering to support new product development and improve product design. Conducts sound investigations of potential product failures in support of the complaint and CAPA processes. The Sr. Manager will ensure that decisions are made taking into consideration the right risk level and is also responsible to communicate to management situations affecting the safety of the product or pose a compliance risk. Exercises sound decisions in assuring compliance to regulations, practices and policies. Interprets regulations and maintains an awareness of industry trends on compliance issues. Ensure effective relationship management of third party CMO's and internal stakeholders to ensure effective and sustained compliance and product quality improvement.Essential FunctionsExercises sound decisions in assuring compliance by internal functions and Contract Manufacturers to regulations, practices and policies on device related development and post launch activities for products.Establishes and maintains the Quality Engineering function to ensure an efficient pre and post production quality assurance program, from design and development through manufacture and release of medical devices.Balances the need for technical insight whilst ensuring CMO ownership and execution of assigned tasks and responsibilities.Lead design/development change control activities in accordance with all applicable SOPs. Assures the content of design file documents meet regulatory and company requirements. Assure process maps, control plans, design verification and design validation activities are complete, statistically sound and compatible with the risk of the operation and device.Provides oversight of and is the key quality contact with contract manufacturers.Lead Investigations of potential product failures in support of the complaint and CAPA processes. Assure that work is conducted in a sound, scientific manner and documented using compliant practices. Utilize applicable quality engineering and six sigma tools as part of the process.Escalation of all applicable product and product issues to senior leadership through the appropriate escalation processes. Conducts Risk Management activities such as FMEA, HACCP, FTA, etc. as required.Directs manufacturing process validation and assures processes are verified, validated and implemented.Supports inspections and audits by external bodies of Mallinckrodt - Specialty Brands and contract manufacturers.Subject matter expert for the Quality function for the products that are supported.Develops and manages metrics for product reviews, quality management reviews, contract manufacturer oversight and other quality data in support of management and the CAPA system.Approves qualification of material and component suppliers and supports all quality management functions.Lead strategic quality efforts for projects identified by the business unit/region Lead/Host regulatory inspection and respond to inspection observations Support and/or lead product launch activities Perform activities as directed by the Sr. Director of External Manufacturing QualityMinimum RequirementsEducation / Experience / Skills:Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science required. Prefer Masters within Engineering/ Engineering Management or Science discipline or equivalent experience. Minimum seven (7) years as a Quality Engineer/Manager in the Medical Device industry.Excellent communication skills, self-motivated, a demonstrated ability to lead, and proven effectiveness interacting and coaching team members Demonstrated experience with Design Control, Process Validation, Failure Investigations, Root Cause Analysis and the application of statistics to the practice of Quality Assurance.Must have demonstrable creative problem solving and project management skills Experience leading risk assessments inclusive of FMEA, FTA, HACCP or other risk activities.Good understanding of process, internal and external audits Basic knowledge of statistical techniques, acceptance sampling, and SPCThorough knowledge of Medical Device Regulations - US and Europe - inclusive of Quality System Requirements, ISO 13485, ISO 14971, and Process ValidationAbility to travel up to 20% of the time Deep understanding of quality improvement tools and statistical decision making methods This managerial role is expected to be “hands on” and “working” manager. The manager, within discretion will be expected to execute work activities indicative of a direct report work activities.Preferred Skills/QualificationsDemonstrated experience in improvement business process related to the design and manufacture of Medical DevicesExperience in the Pharmaceutical manufacturing industry Knowledge of reliability engineering Basic knowledge of sterilization techniques and validation Certification as a CQE, Manager of Quality, Six Sigma black belt Experience being part of inspections (FDA, Certified Body) Experience leading process / supplier audits Other Skills / Competencies:Demonstrated commitment to excellent customer service Conflict resolution skills Requires mature judgment in problem solving situations Requires negotiation skills to effectively influence others Ability to identify and drive continuous quality improvement Organizational Relationship/Scope:This position interacts with all levels of the internal organization as well as external CMO partnerships. This position interacts with external regulatory agencies, vendors, suppliers and customers. This position may be required to manage remote/field based company employees.Working Conditions:This position works within a normal and/or remote office environment. This position will travel domestically and internationally, as required. Travel is expected to be 20% on average.
   
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5. Post your job

   To find the right senior quality manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior quality managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior quality managers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior quality managers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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 senior quality manager

   Once you've selected the best senior quality manager candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   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 senior quality manager. 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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