What a quality assurance manager does
A quality assurance manager leads the quality management system for a company or site. They set quality objectives, maintain procedures and records, run internal audits and management reviews, manage corrective actions and customer complaints, and lead the team through certification and customer audits. Many companies certify to ISO 9001, and some sectors add their own standards, such as IATF 16949 for automotive suppliers, AS9100 for aerospace or GFSI-benchmarked schemes for food. A strong QA manager turns those requirements into daily practice.
The right QA manager understands both the standard and the shop floor. Finch asks which certifications a candidate has achieved or maintained, how they reduced defects or customer returns, and how they work with production leaders who are measured on output. We also look at supplier quality, since many quality problems start before materials arrive. Drug manufacturers usually need GMP-specific quality leadership, which we recruit separately; this search covers quality systems across manufacturing and other industries.
Typical responsibilities
- Maintain the quality management system and keep it aligned with ISO 9001 or sector standards
- Plan and lead internal audits, management reviews and certification audits
- Manage nonconformances, corrective actions and customer complaints
- Set supplier quality requirements and audit key suppliers
- Lead and develop the quality team, including inspectors and technicians
- Report quality performance and the cost of poor quality to leadership
Qualifications and credentials
- A degree or diploma in engineering, science or a technical discipline, or equivalent experience
- Experience maintaining ISO 9001 certification, plus sector standards where they apply
- Internal or lead auditor training
- Problem-solving methods such as root cause analysis, 8D, FMEA and statistical process control
- ASQ certifications such as Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE) or Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), or Lean Six Sigma training, which employers often value
Who hires a quality assurance manager
- Automotive, aerospace and metal parts manufacturers
- Food and packaging manufacturers
- Plastics, electronics and industrial products companies
- Distribution and contract manufacturing businesses
Where we recruit quality assurance manager candidates
We fill quality assurance manager roles for employers across Toronto and the GTA, including North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Burlington, Oshawa and Pickering, and for employers across Canada. GTA employers can meet us at our North York office by appointment.
What Finch checks before you meet a candidate
- Confirm the certifications they have achieved or maintained, and their role in each audit
- Review examples of corrective actions that solved recurring problems
- Ask about customer-specific requirements and how they managed customer audits
- Discuss how they lead and develop direct reports
- Check references from plant managers or operations directors
Interview questions to ask
- Tell me about a recurring defect you eliminated. How did you prove the fix worked?
- How do you respond when production wants to ship product that is borderline on a specification?
- What would you look at first if our last surveillance audit raised several nonconformances?