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Manufacturing and Production | Director of Quality Assurance

Director of Quality Assurance

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Director of Quality Assurance oversees and directs the overall operations of quality assurance within a company to ensure continuous improvement and compliance.

Job Outlook

There were 284 Director of Quality Assurance job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 8287 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Quality Control Systems Manager industry, which includes the Director of Quality Assurance career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Director of Quality Assurance jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $147,751.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $147,902.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Quality Assurance postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $115,686.

Education and Experience

Posted Director of Quality Assurance jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree72.5%
Master's Degree35.97%
Doctoral Degree5.91%
Other3.64%

Posted Director of Quality Assurance jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years8.63%
3 to 5 years34.21%
6 to 8 years17.7%
9+ years39.46%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Quality Assurance positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Leadership (60.31%)
  • Management (55.34%)
  • Quality Assurance (52.94%)
  • Communication (45.13%)
  • Operations (37.08%)
  • Problem Solving (31.36%)
  • Quality Control (25.52%)
  • Safety Assurance (25.09%)
  • Planning (22.02%)
  • Investigation (17.88%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Continuous Improvement Process (37.59%)
  • Quality Improvement (28.25%)
  • Auditing (46.91%)
  • Quality Management (44.71%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Supply Chain (7.71%)
  • Data Analysis (13.49%)
  • Six Sigma Methodology (10.27%)
  • Quality Management Systems (34.65%)
  • Change Management (7.47%)
  • Biology (7.79%)
  • ISO 9000 Series (9.2%)
  • Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) (10.24%)
  • Patient Safety (12.03%)
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (15.26%)
  • Risk Management (19.91%)
  • Regulatory Compliance (14.71%)
  • Internal Auditing (10.37%)
  • Lean Six Sigma (6.74%)
  • Chemistry (9.29%)
  • Corrective And Preventive Action (CAPA) (19.38%)
  • Change Control (9.53%)
  • Risk Analysis (7.51%)
  • Good Manufacturing Practices (20.28%)
  • Performance Improvement (17.83%)
  • Pharmaceuticals (15.21%)
  • External Auditing (8.68%)
  • Nursing (11.48%)
  • Product Quality (QA/QC) (15.49%)
  • Project Management (19.49%)
  • Lean Manufacturing (10.44%)
  • New Product Development (11.21%)
  • Process Improvement (24.21%)
  • Root Cause Analysis (13.49%)
  • Industry Standards (9.06%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Continuous Improvement Process (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Quality Assurance skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Director of Quality
  • Director of Quality Management
  • Quality Manager
  • Director of Quality Improvement
  • Director of Quality Control
  • Director of Continuous Improvement
  • Director of Global Quality Assurance
  • Associate Director of Quality Control
  • Quality Improvement Intern

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Quality Assurance jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • The Judge Group (113)
  • Molina Healthcare (89)
  • Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma (89)
  • Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany (74)
  • Fujifilm (67)
  • Clinical Management Consultants (56)
  • ScionHealth (56)
  • Eli Lilly (55)
  • CSL (48)
  • Actalent (44)

North Carolina

  • Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany (11)
  • Adaptive Medical Partners (10)
  • Partners Health Management (8)
  • Actalent (7)
  • Eli Lilly (7)
  • EPM Scientific (6)
  • GlaxoSmithKline (5)
  • First Citizens Bank (5)
  • Fujifilm (5)
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific (4)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!