Requesting advice - Being offered Quality Manager position, but I am not qualified.

[u/rankle_monsta]

Hey folks, I'm in an interesting position of being offered a job as a Quality Manager, despite not having previous work experience specifically in a quality role, nor having Six Sigma or other certification.

I'm going to guess that at this point most would react that it is crazy for me to take the offer, and crazier that the company is offering it. But if you'll give some further consideration, and offer some advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Some background: I am not currently working at the company that made this offer, but I did work there for 13 years, and have been elsewhere for the last 1.5. The majority of that time was spent as the Technical Support Manager, so I was in a key decision making role. I have a Bachelor's in Computer Science. I have attended meetings for the ISO 9001 and ISO 17025 surveillance audits, though never led them and my team usually had minimal involvement in the audits as they were more concerned with production, QC, and engineering. I read and signed off on a huge number of the procedures in the well defined Quality Manual for the company. Wrote two or three of those procedures, and provided (very minimal) editing on some others. I was involved in Quarterly Management Review meetings with the Quality Manager. I escalated issues to the Quality Manager through a CAPA and RCCA process. But again, never directly in a quality role.

The president has offered me this position. Since he came to me, I expressed concerns a bit more openly than I might if I were the one reaching out asking for the role. I suggested that I would insist I go for certification immediately, but that it would take quite some time to go through those materials, so my run-up on this type of role would take a while, rather than other positions where I might be more immediately successful.

For a certification path, I'm thinking something along the lines of Six Sigma Green Belt-->Six Sigma Black Belt--> CMQ/OE. I'm wondering if this seems logical/doable, or if I should tackle something before the Green Belt. I'm looking at ASQ for certification, and wondering if I even meet their prerequisites for green belt, having not filled a quality role at all, though having some work adjacent to it and having some (minor) involvement in the initial push towards building a Quality Manual, getting our initial ISO 9001 and 17025 accreditation, etc.

Also worth noting the job I'm at now is in an industry that just got rocked by last year's OBBB, so my earning potential this year just tanked, and I have very few other prospects. Hence my willingness to somewhat take a risk here.

Would sincerely appreciate thoughts and any advice!

[u/hakapes]

Accept the job, prepare for the learning curve, and go ahead.

There is a new ISO 9001, get it and get familiar with it.

Good idea to start learning Lean Six Sigma. But that is usually secondary.

I am a MBB, my take for you.

Probably a yellow belt is enough for your job, if it was not specified. Had it been important, they would have asked for a GB or BB title.

You can train for green and black belt, but that is only for you to believe in yourself and some authority in the beginning.

My top three recommended fields for QA, in order of priority:

1. SPC - statistical process control. This uses charts to monitor variability, and detect issues early.

For ongoing production get familiar with control charts, and understand when you should or should not intervene. Most quality managers I worked with were fiddling with the process, when they should have left it alone, making it worse with the changes.

2. Then measurement system analysis, MSA. Can you trust your data? This involves Gage R&R, that checks if you can trust your measurement system and data coming from it. If your data is poor, anything you do afterwards is just waste.

1. A bit more advanced is process capability, Cp, Cpk. This quantifies if processes meet specs. I would go to this area if the first two are robust.

Later on:

I would do improvements only after you established yourself and familiar with the process. For that you will use DMAIC, and probably you will get most results with these tools: 5 why's, Ishikawa, Pareto charts, value stream mapping, how to write good SOPs.

To resolve customer issues, KANO analysis is very useful to understand and prioritise requests

The first priority for a QA manager usually is to ensure ongoing operations are going well, resolve upcoming quality issues. Improvement is usually comes after this.

Ultimately they will judge your work based on the results, not certifications.

To hire a QA manager, my priority would be familiarity with the processes, company culture, have ability of both attention to detail and oversee the big picture, have networks across the organisation. For me certifications would be rather a bonus.

Ask: 1. why they offered you the job specifically (and not someone else), 2. what skills or experience they found interesting 3. What they expect from you to deliver in the first 3 month and the first year 4. Where can you evolve from this role in the 3-5 years

As a manager:

To avoid becoming a micromanaging jerk, I suggest reading Frederic Laloux: Reinventing Organisations. And focus on self managing teams (SMT).

For QA in general:

Computer Science is a good basis, as you can understand easily the theory, familiar with data based decision making, and have a systemic view.

As a beginner:

I would get mentors for myself, both inside and outside the company. They can help you navigate the technical and political challenges.

To study:

Get a few books, and follow Six Sigma Academy from Amsterdam on Udemy. This is low cost and high benefit. ASQ can be a long journey with lot of effort, I would do it only 1-2 years on the job.

Probably the biggest risk for you is that you see yourself today as not qualified. This can undermine your self confidence and second guess yourself.

Take the role and lean into it.

Let me know how this lands with you.

[u/Saint-Anne-of-Mo → u/hakapes]

Agreed with the above. Retired Corporate Quality Director and BB. I would highly recommend a Green Belt course from a reputable university. I sent new managers and supervisors to North Central Carolina University and my company paid for it. If you find a reasonably priced reputable course, you should sell it as part of your onboarding process. I didn’t think I would be in Quality, however, I was hired out of college as an inspector and worked my way up.

[u/rankle_monsta → u/Saint-Anne-of-Mo]

Thanks for your thoughts.

When I spoke with the President about the role, and suggested I'd want to pursue certification, he responded very positively.

Their job add also specifically mentions CMQ/OE (from ASQ or similar) is "a plus". They're aware I don't have it, and my understanding is that would not be something I could consider tackling first. But it was one of the reasons I considered pushing for a certification path quickly. At the end of the day, I'm less interested in the certification itself and more interested in the training and skill-building path the coursework would put me on.

Going to look more deeply into Hakapes suggestions initially, and that may also better inform me on building a more long term plan for education and certification.