Product Quality Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Product Quality Engineer evaluates and tests products and manufacturing systems, to ensure that products are produced that meet quality and performance standards as well as safety and regulatory requirements. Develops product quality standards and monitors production and product testing.
Job Outlook
There were 71 Product Quality Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2075 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Validation Engineer industry, which includes the Product Quality Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Product Quality Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $94,971.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $94,971.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Product Quality Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $83,302.
Education and Experience
Posted Product Quality Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 78.36% |
| Master's Degree | 19.33% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.02% |
| Other | 3.37% |
Posted Product Quality Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 21.68% |
| 3 to 5 years | 58.3% |
| 6 to 8 years | 12.76% |
| 9+ years | 7.25% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Product Quality Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Problem Solving (42.27%)
- Communication (39.04%)
- Quality Assurance (33.59%)
- Management (32%)
- Operations (25.49%)
- Leadership (22.84%)
- Customer Service (21.11%)
- Planning (19.23%)
- Investigation (18.36%)
- Microsoft Excel (16.14%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Continuous Improvement Process (29.18%)
- Quality Management Systems (36.75%)
- Auditing (47.75%)
- Quality Management (22.01%)
- Lean Manufacturing (19.99%)
- New Product Development (45.94%)
- Process Improvement (20.75%)
- Root Cause Analysis (28.67%)
- Product Quality (QA/QC) (56.18%)
- Statistical Process Controls (20.55%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Statistical Analysis (10.55%)
- Process Validation (6.97%)
- Supply Chain (8.28%)
- Advanced Product Quality Planning (18.12%)
- Six Sigma Methodology (17.16%)
- Electrical Engineering (9.69%)
- Process Failure Mode And Effects Analysis (PFMEA) (10.75%)
- Quality Improvement (11.76%)
- Medical Devices (13.93%)
- Eight Disciplines Problem Solving (8D) (12.97%)
- Corrective And Preventive Action (CAPA) (22.26%)
- Change Management (5%)
- ISO 9000 Series (17.62%)
- Aerospace Basic Quality System Standards (9.69%)
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (8.48%)
- Electronic Engineering (1.56%)
- Design For Six Sigma (6.36%)
- Product Lifecycle Management (7.57%)
- Computer Science (6.56%)
- Process Engineering (3.58%)
- Supplier Quality Management (12.57%)
- ISO 13485 Standard (9.04%)
- Data Analysis (19.94%)
- Risk Management (12.97%)
- Test Planning (7.98%)
- Cost Reduction (6.71%)
- International Automotive Task Force (3.89%)
- Mechanical Engineering (15.65%)
- Define Measure Analyze Improve And Control (DMAIC) (3.74%)
- Manufacturing Engineering (15.6%)
- Failure Causes (4.75%)
- Failure Mode And Effects Analysis (16.96%)
- Marketing (9.29%)
- Safety Standards (3.38%)
- Project Management (18.02%)
- Machining (7.98%)
- Manufacturing Processes (24.48%)
- Production Part Approval Process (13.58%)
- SAP Applications (6.41%)
- Risk Analysis (11.56%)
- Product Design (16.36%)
- Production Process (7.87%)
- Tooling (4.19%)
- Metrology (5.15%)
- Test Method (8.23%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Statistical Process Controls (49.69%)
- Root Cause Analysis (69.35%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Product Quality Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Quality Engineer
- Quality Assurance Engineer
- Production Quality Engineer
- Product Quality Assurance Engineer
- Product Assurance Engineer
- Product Development Quality Engineer
- Product Quality Manager
- Quality Engineering Intern
- New Product Development Quality Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Manufacturing Quality Manager
- Supplier Quality Engineer
- Industrial Engineer (General)
- Quality Manager (General)
- Manufacturing Product Design Engineer
- Director of Quality Assurance
- Quality Engineering Manager
- Manufacturing Engineer (General)
- Product Development Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Product Quality Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Gast Manufacturing (98)
- Actalent (87)
- Lockheed Martin (34)
- Raytheon Technologies (32)
- GE Aerospace (28)
- Amazon (24)
- L3Harris Technologies (22)
- Apple (22)
- ManpowerGroup (21)
- Micron Technology (20)
North Carolina
- Actalent (6)
- Qorvo (5)
- Volvo (4)
- Raytheon Technologies (3)
- Honda (3)
- Randstad (3)
- Columbus Mckinnon (2)
- Tti Floor Care North America (2)
- Ecrs (2)
- Oreck Direct (2)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.