Also called: Supplier Quality Engineer, QE
Builds the systems that catch defects and make sure products are right every time.
A customer found cracked parts. You pull samples, measure them, and trace the problem to one supplier's heat-treat oven. You write a corrective action plan and fly out to audit their factory.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering; ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE).
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 11% over 10 years). Tracks industrial engineers.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI vision inspection and data analysis catch more defects automatically; audits, root-cause digging and supplier fixes stay human.
Classes: Statistics, Chemistry, Physics, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2112.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.