Also called: VP of Quality, Quality Assurance Director
Owns the quality of everything a company makes, setting the rules and stepping in when things go wrong.
A customer just found a defective part in a car recall investigation, and everyone is looking at you. You lead the war-room meeting, decide whether to stop shipments and report to the CEO. On calmer days you prepare for audits, coach your quality managers and track defect trends across several plants.
Estimated from industry surveys; medical device and aerospace pay most.
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 or science plus 10+ years in quality; many have an MBA or Six Sigma Black Belt.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Business Administration.
Growing about average. No separate BLS projection; tied to production manager growth (about average).
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI dashboards and document tools cut paperwork; owning recalls, customer trust and regulatory calls stays human.
Classes: AP Statistics, Business class, Chemistry or physics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-3051.
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.