Quality assurance manager: job desc

Quality assurance manager: job description
Quality assurance managers work with other staff within organisations to determine and establish procedures and quality standards and to monitor these against agreed targets.
Shift and on-call work may be required, particularly where manufacturing/production equipment is in continual 24-hour operation.
What does a quality assurance manager do? Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills

Responsibilities of the job include:

determining, negotiating and agreeing in-house quality procedures, standards and/or specifications
assessing customer requirements and ensuring that these are met
setting customer service standards
specifying quality requirements of raw materials with suppliers
investigating and setting standards for quality/health and safety
ensuring that manufacturing processes comply with standards at both national and international level
working with operating staff to establish procedures, standards, systems and procedures
writing management/technical reports and customers’ charters
determining training needs
acting as a catalyst for change and improvement in performance/quality
directing objectives to maximise profitability
recording, analysing and distributing statistical information
monitoring performance
supervising technical or laboratory staff.
Typical employers of quality assurance managers
Manufacturing companies
Engineering companies
Automotive companies
Textile companies
Pharmaceutical companies
Processing companies
Service industries
Banks
Educational establishments
Government departments
Opportunities are advertised online, by careers services, in newspapers and trade publications such as Quality World and vacancy lists produced by the Chartered Quality Institute. Some of the larger employers operate graduate training schemes – early applications for these are advisable.

Qualifications and training required
A degree or HND in any subject is acceptable. However, employers may prefer qualifications in subjects such as business studies/management, materials science/technology, food science/technology, textile technology, polymer science/technology, process engineering, physics, mathematics or production engineering.

For some positions a postgraduate qualification or a technical background may be beneficial. Relevant work experience is highly desirable and may be gained via final year project work, work shadowing, sponsorship, vacation work or 'year out' placements.

Key skills for quality assurance managers
Confidence
Excellent technical skills
Organisational skills
Planning skills
Interpersonal skills
Communication skills
Problem solving skills
Teamworking skills
IT skills
Communication skills.
It is also essential to have good numerical skills and an understanding of statistics.

Next: search graduate jobs
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Extra information elsewhere:
British Quality Foundation
Chartered Quality Institute
BSI Group
Find and compare postgraduate study courses on TARGETpostgrad
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