Quality Assurance & Control (General) — M2
QUALIT1.QUALITYA469F.M2
Management of quality assurance and quality control operations spanning inspection, testing, and validation across both manufacturing/product-quality (metrology, SPC, CAPA, QMS standards) and software/test-engineering (test automation, release validation, test architecture) domains. Distinct from sibling focuses such as Regulatory/Compliance Affairs, Supplier Quality, or Reliability Engineering — this focus owns the day-to-day quality control systems, inspection/test teams, defect prevention, and quality signal ownership that gate production and release.
Management of quality assurance and quality control operations spanning inspection, testing, and validation across both manufacturing/product-quality (metrology, SPC, CAPA, QMS standards) and software/test-engineering (test automation, release validation, test architecture) domains. Distinct from sibling focuses such as Regulatory/Compliance Affairs, Supplier Quality, or Reliability Engineering — this focus owns the day-to-day quality control systems, inspection/test teams, defect prevention, and quality signal ownership that gate production and release.
Focus — Quality Assurance & Control (General)
Management of quality assurance and quality control operations spanning inspection, testing, and validation across both manufacturing/product-quality (metrology, SPC, CAPA, QMS standards) and software/test-engineering (test automation, release validation, test architecture) domains. Distinct from sibling focuses such as Regulatory/Compliance Affairs, Supplier Quality, or Reliability Engineering — this focus owns the day-to-day quality control systems, inspection/test teams, defect prevention, and quality signal ownership that gate production and release.
General focus — no material pay or skill differential vs the function baseline.
Responsibilities by level
What this person actually does at each level on the management track — escalating scope, not one generic blob. Your level is highlighted.
- Supervises a unit of inspectors and QA technicians executing test cases and dimensional inspections, assigning daily work and checking that procedures (blueprints, manuals, inspection routines) are followed correctly.
- Monitors production operations and test execution to ensure conformance to specifications, removing or quarantining product and equipment that fails to meet tolerance.
- Reviews recorded inspection and test data (weights, temperatures, grades, dimensional measurements, defect counts) for completeness and escalates recurring defects to engineering.
- Coordinates with production supervisors to analyze and correct immediate production problems within established practices and unit-level budget for tooling and consumables.
- Coaches inspectors on metrology tools (calipers, micrometers, CMM, vision systems) and test tools, ensuring measurement methods are applied consistently.
- Manages a skilled team of QA engineers and senior inspectors, owning tactical outcomes for a product line or test domain across web, API, and physical-product inspection.
- Plans and balances test and inspection coverage across the team, breaking large quality programs into assignable units and delegating to junior staff.
- Drives cross-functional cooperation with production, design, and compliance teams to close defect investigations and confirm processes operate within acceptable tolerance.
- Reviews measurements and test outputs against engineering specifications, approving adjustments to manufacturing procedures, tooling, or material selection within known factors.
- Owns the unit's quality KPIs (defect rates, test pass rates, rework) and manages tactical budget for inspection equipment, automation tooling, and team resourcing.
- Leads the quality department or test function for a product area, responsible for operations, headcount, and the annual quality/inspection budget.
- Evaluates inspection and test data trends to address diverse, recurring quality issues, directing root cause analysis and CAPA across multiple teams.
- Establishes the team's test strategy and inspection plans, standardizing SPC, FMEA, and test automation practices across the function.
- Leads functional and customer-facing teams during audits, supplier escalations, and customer quality reviews, representing the department's quality posture.
- May manage senior individual contributors and junior managers, setting performance standards and developing quality engineering capability.
- Manages multiple QA/QC sections (e.g., inspection, test automation, quality systems) where lapses could jeopardize production continuity or product release commitments.
- Sets quality strategy and policy aligned to business objectives, defining measurable quality signals (coverage, defect leakage, flakiness, lead-time-to-detect) across departments.
- Engages senior leaders on functional quality strategy, recommending go/no-go for major releases and production runs with evidence and risk framing.
- Oversees the quality management system and SOPs across multiple teams, ensuring readiness for ISO 9001 / AS9100 / IATF 16949 regulatory submissions and inspections.
- Drives organization-wide continuous improvement programs using Six Sigma, lean, and SPC to solve endemic, cross-team quality issues.
- Directs the quality assurance and control function across a division through subordinate managers, with decisions impacting overall division and company operations.
- Defines the methods, standards, and technical strategy for quality engineering and automated testing (including Generative AI) at organizational scale.
- Owns stop-the-line and release go/no-go authority for the division, framing quality risk to executives and balancing it against business and schedule pressures.
- Influences executives and major customers on key quality issues, representing the organization in critical audits, regulatory inspections, and customer escalations.
- Establishes mechanisms to raise the quality bar at scale, resolving endemic systemic issues and setting the strategic direction for quality control systems division-wide.
Level guidelines
The universal leveling rubric applied to this function — how scope, complexity, collaboration, and experience step up across levels.
| Level | Knowledge & Application | Complexity & Problem Solving | Collaboration & Interaction | Typical Degree & Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Functional expert in inspection and test execution; applies established practices, procedures, and specifications (blueprints, manuals, inspection routines) within a defined unit. | Limited scope; resolves immediate, well-defined production and test problems using established practices and escalates ambiguity to engineering. | Daily interactions with inspectors, QA technicians, and production peers; first-line escalation point for defects found on the line. | Functional QA/QC expert with some leadership exposure; typically a senior inspector or QA engineer stepping into supervision. |
| M2 | Applies deep quality and test knowledge (metrology, SPC, test automation) to make judgments within known factors across a product line or test domain. | Resolves tactical quality issues by interpreting measurements and test results against specifications; influences manufacturing and process adjustments. | Cross-functional cooperation with production supervisors, design, compliance, and architecture; bridges engineering and quality. | 2–5 years in team leadership or specialist QA roles; manages skilled ICs and junior QA engineers. |
| M3 | Applies broad quality engineering judgment to evaluate trends across diverse issues and standardize SPC, FMEA, RCA, and test strategy across the team. | Addresses diverse, recurring quality problems through trend evaluation, directing CAPA and root cause investigations across multiple teams. | Leads functional and customer teams during audits, escalations, and quality reviews; may lead managers or cross-functional professionals. | 5–7+ years managing QA professionals and budgets; department or team lead responsible for operations and budgets. |
| M4 | Translates business objectives into quality strategy and policy across multiple sections; defines measurable quality signals and QMS standards. | Solves complex, cross-department quality issues where failures could jeopardize business activities; aligns strategic quality policy with risk. | Engages senior leaders on functional quality strategy and recommends release/production go/no-go decisions with risk framing. | 8–10+ years; complex multi-team or critical-function quality leadership with QMS and regulatory accountability. |
| M5 | Defines organization-wide methods, standards, and technical strategy for quality engineering and automated testing with division-wide implications. | Resolves complex org-wide quality issues, defining the methods and frameworks that solve endemic systemic problems at scale. | Influences executives and major customers on key quality issues; leads through subordinate department managers. | 10–12+ years including second-level management and quality strategy work; directs strategic quality areas with business-wide impact. |
Skills
Focus-specific skills the role applies — the relevance layer beyond the occupational base.
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Monitoring critical process parameters in real-time using control charts to detect process variations early and direct teams to act on out-of-control signals.
- Quality Data Analysis
- Analyzing inspection and test data across teams to reveal patterns of recurring problems and drive systemic prevention decisions.
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Tracing deviations back to their fundamental causes using tools such as 5 Whys and Fishbone Diagram, and overseeing investigations across teams.
- CAPA
- Corrective and Preventive Action; directing the QMS process to identify and rectify root causes of non-conformance ensuring products meet safety and quality standards.
- QMS Standards Knowledge
- Understanding and stewardship of frameworks such as ISO 9001, IATF 16949, ISO 13485, AS9100, and food safety standards across the organization.
- Six Sigma / Lean
- Leading continuous improvement and variation/waste reduction initiatives using DMAIC, lean, and Six Sigma methodologies across multi-functional teams.
- FMEA
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis; directing systematic prioritization of potential failure modes based on severity, occurrence, and detectability.
- Release Validation Design
- Designing validation strategy for complex systems using feature flags, progressive delivery, and canary validation, and setting go/no-go criteria.
- Test Architecture Design
- Setting standards for maintainable test automation frameworks, code libraries, and anti-flake techniques across platforms and teams.
- Quality Signal Definition
- Establishing measurable quality signals such as coverage, defect leakage, flakiness, and lead-time-to-detect to govern quality at scale.
- People Leadership
- Directly supervising inspectors and QA engineers, developing capability, setting performance standards, and managing through subordinate managers at senior levels.
- Budget & Operations Management
- Owning departmental quality operations, headcount, and budgets for inspection equipment, automation tooling, and team resourcing.
- Metrology / Dimensional Inspection
- Oversight of measuring devices and electronic inspection equipment to confirm dimensional accuracy against specifications across a unit or department.
- Stakeholder & Executive Influence
- Engaging senior leaders, executives, and major customers on quality strategy, risk framing, and go/no-go decisions during audits and escalations.
Provenance
The evidence base behind this profile — every layer is sourced; quality is scored by an adversarial review panel (1–5; passes at ≥4 on the minimum dimension).
Level — M2 — Manager II
Manages an established team or sub-function; owns planning and performance for the group.
- Scope
- An established team or sub-function
- Autonomy
- Owns planning for the group
- Complexity
- Cross-project coordination and priorities
- Impact
- Group delivery and development
- Decision rights
- Owns staffing, priorities, performance for the group
- Leadership
- Manages a team; sometimes manages leads
- Typical experience
- 5–8 yrs
Adjacent roles
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O*NET / SOC
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