What does a Quality Specialist do?
Quality specialists are responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and proposing measures to correct or improve a company's final products and processes to meet established quality standards. They prepare and implement quality assurance policies and procedures and perform routine inspections and quality tests. They identify and resolve workflow and production issues and ensure that standards and safety regulations at the company are observed. The address and discuss issues and proposed solutions with superiors and document activities creating audit reports. They make recommendations for improvement and create training materials and operating manuals.
Quality specialists also elaborate on the sampling and guidelines procedures for collecting and reporting quality data and oversee implementation to ensure inspection efficiency. They analyze customer grievances and other non-compliance issues and make their recommendations based on their findings. They ensure the company continues to comply with industry regulatory and quality requirements, analyze audit outcomes, carry out appropriate corrective procedures, and oversee risk management procedures. Quality specialists need a minimum high school diploma or equivalency and certification in quality assurance.
- Identify gaps in efficient process workflow and suggests steps for supplier quality process improvement.
- Collect, prepare and analyze data for corrective action and process improvement.
- Support production operations and critical business situations.
- Ensure materials and products meet defined product specifications and standards.
- Provide clear direction for change and assists in change management.
- Document the results of all inspections.
- Review, compile, and analyze information to prepare reports.
- Utilize data monitoring tools to highlight analysis priorities.
- Accept responsibility for own safety and that of others.
- Assist in defining and improving processes as part of a team.
- Responsible for the revision or development of new material specifications.
- Investigate quality issues to identify root causes and ensure issues are addressed and resolved.
- Play an active role in the development of inspection requirements.
- Analyze all customer feedback for trends and continuous improvement.
- May be required to lift and transport up to 40 pounds.
- Prepare and present materials/findings both internally and externally.
- Associate's or Bachelor's Degree in business, computer science or engineering, or high school diploma and equivalent experience
- Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
- Meticulous attention to detail.
- Requires leadership abilities and good communication skills.
- Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning programs.
Quality Specialist Salaries
Average Base Pay
Quality Specialist Career Path
Learn how to become a Quality Specialist, what skills and education you need to succeed, and what level of pay to expect at each step on your career path.
Years of Experience Distribution
Quality Specialist Insights
Pharmatech Associates“Project Manager meets with you weekly to see how assignment is going and to provide advice if needed.”
Celestica“Main benefit was at the freedom to do pretty much whatever I wanted within the scope of the job.”
Ideas2IT“And the best part is...you have the advantage of working on the latest cutting edge technologies here.”
Home Care Delivered“The best thing about the role was that this role was remote plus the members on the clinical team were awesome.”
EJ Group“401k and medical insurance the best in Oklahoma.”
Johnson Matthey“Incredibly pleasant and understanding people to work with.”
Cellink“Good and amazing team work.”
Jabil“There are some really amazing people that do want to see you succeed and will push you to do so.”
Frequently asked questions about the role and responsibilities of a Quality Specialist
- Quality Engineer
- QA Engineer
- Quality Manager
- QA Manager