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What Does a Quality Analyst Do?

Page Coleman
Page Coleman

A quality analyst helps ensure that an organization’s products or services meet its quality standards. The analyst may work in industries such as software development, manufacturing, or customer service. Although the specifics of a job description for this position will differ depending on the industry and organization, many duties of the position are conceptually similar. This position frequently requires higher education, strong analytic skills, and attention to detail.

Quality analysts may play key roles in establishing their organizations’ quality standards. They often use industry benchmarks and experience to recommend quality-related practices that can be used throughout the organization. Quality improvement initiatives often take advantage of the analysts’ expertise to ensure programs are successful.

A quality analyst may develop plans to ensure quality requirements are met in manufacturing.
A quality analyst may develop plans to ensure quality requirements are met in manufacturing.

Usually, quality analyst jobs focus on developing plans to ensure quality requirements are met. In manufacturing, this may involve determining the number of samples to take per lot, type of tests to be performed, and at which points in the process sampling and testing should occur. In software development, the analyst will likely develop plans and write test cases to ensure computer applications meet their requirements. Those who work in customer service organizations may establish plans to audit and survey a sample of customer service transactions.

A quality analyst may develop plans and test cases to ensure computer applications meet requirements.
A quality analyst may develop plans and test cases to ensure computer applications meet requirements.

A quality analyst frequently reviews product or service specifications as a part of her role. She can use her expertise to suggest improvements in the specifications, which will lead to improvements in the final product or service. Correcting quality issues in the specification phase reduces the organizations’ costs.

Analyzing and reporting testing results is another essential task for quality analysts. They often gather extensive statistics and use techniques such as root cause analysis to find the sources of defects. The analyst may make suggestions for improving products and processes to reduce or eliminate defects based on the findings.

A quality analyst may establish plans to survey a sample of customer service transactions.
A quality analyst may establish plans to survey a sample of customer service transactions.

People employed in these jobs are often highly educated. Employers typically request an undergraduate degree in a related field. Someone who would like to work as a software development quality analyst will benefit from computer science classes. Chemistry or engineering classes may benefit someone who wants to work in manufacturing. A strong mathematics and statistics background will be useful for any quality analyst.

Quality analysts are usually detail-oriented and analytical. They must be persistent and willing to work through difficult issues. Learning quickly will be useful in this profession, as is the ability to communicate orally and in writing to people with varying backgrounds.

Discussion Comments

anon1002596

I was searching about it, and I started to read this small article, I found it really interesting because I am currently working as a Quality Auditor but I intend to take a position as a Quality Analyst in the near future. I graduated in quality management and recently I finished a post-graduation in teaching in higher education.

anon991886

As a quality analyst of 8 years, having a strong technical background has been extremely beneficial. Of course, the industry you enter will determine how much technical knowledge you will need. Working with medical devices my background in computer science and electrical engineering has helped immensely since I routinely work with software and hardware engineers to ensure that our products have been designed to function as intended and that we maintain a high level of manufacturability.

Again, it really depends on your industry and they type of QA role you pursue (manufacturing, new product development, software, process, etc).

Handycell
I’m a freshman in college who is currently a psychology major. I took an Intro to Business class on a whim and I found it really interesting, so now I’m considering either switching majors or double majoring.

My professor talked about a ton of different jobs in the field and Quality Analyst was one of them. Since I love analyzing and I’m very observant, I think this job would be right up my alley. However, I still love psychology and think I might be able to blend the two.

Just reading this description, I’m thinking that focusing on industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology might be the best option for me so that I can become a Quality Analyst. Of course, I would also major in business. Any Quality Analysts out there have any advice on how to academically prepare for this kind of job? What did you major in? Would majoring in I-O Psychology be a good idea?

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    • A quality analyst may develop plans to ensure quality requirements are met in manufacturing.
      By: michaeljung
      A quality analyst may develop plans to ensure quality requirements are met in manufacturing.
    • A quality analyst may develop plans and test cases to ensure computer applications meet requirements.
      By: gordand
      A quality analyst may develop plans and test cases to ensure computer applications meet requirements.
    • A quality analyst may establish plans to survey a sample of customer service transactions.
      By: Marzky Ragsac Jr.
      A quality analyst may establish plans to survey a sample of customer service transactions.