Checking the quality of products and services is the overall responsibility of a Quality Manager. Companies in the customer service, manufacturing, software development and food processing fields all use Quality Managers. They oversee a department of professionals who do quality checks, and inspect materials; here they also demonstrate their management and human resources capabilities through delegating tasks, conducting job assessments and mentoring junior professionals. Managers are required to have industry experience to do their jobs and be very familiar with quality control procedures and regulations. They receive very good salaries and benefits.

A Quality Manager usually performs many of the following tasks:

•  Documenting procedures
• Maintaining controls
•  Defining quality procedures
• Maintaining a quality plan
• Analyzing performance data
•  Setting QA compliance objectives
•  Preparing management systems reports
• Supervising technical staff

• Leadership
• Math and statistics
• Written and verbal communication
• Motivating employees
• Analyzing data
• Information technology
• Creating graphs and charts
• Team-building
• Professionalism
• Personal and professional development
• Traveling to different locations
• Being analytical and thorough

Quality Managers need to get certifications in their area. The American Society for Quality offers certification options to professionals like the Six Sigma certification, Quality Engineer certification and a Quality Auditor certification. To complete these certifications, managers need to have several years work experience. Another requirement for the Quality Manager post is having a higher education; this means pursuing at least a Bachelors Degree. Universities offer programs in Engineering, Quality Technology and Quality Assurance Management; science degrees like Physics are also acceptable.